January 13th, 2010 4:01 pm

Gugu Mbatha-Raw lands female lead in ‘Undercovers’

Gugu Mbatha-Raw has been cast as the female lead in the J.J. Abrams pilot ‘Undercovers’ for NBC.

J.J. Abrams has found his female lead for ‘Undercovers’, British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Mbatha-Raw will play Samantha Bloom, a former CIA agent who’s drawn back into the field along with her husband and fellow agent Steven (Boris Kodjoe).

While having appeared on several hit UK dramas including ‘Spooks’ and ‘Doctor Who’, Mbatha-Raw is new to US television scene.

Her casting in ‘Undercovers’ follows the trend with other J.J. Abrams produced projects. The writer/director/producer is know for casting relatively unknown female leads in his projects, including Keri Russell in ‘Felicity’, Jennifer Garner in ‘Alias’, Evangeline Lilly in ‘Lost’ and Australian actress Anna Torv in ‘Fringe’.

‘Undercovers’, was co-written by Abrams and fellow ‘Felicity’ writer Josh Reims.

Abrams also will direct the pilot, marking the first directorial television project since the $10 million 2-hour ‘Lost’ pilot in 2004.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter