Studio Open to Having Social Workers Advise Actress
Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Photo courtesy of IMDB.com.
Fox Television is open to having social workers advise actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who is set to portray a member of the profession in the proposed series “Touch,” a Fox official said.
“Touch,” which stars Kiefer Sutherland as Martin Bohm, a father who finds his mute son Jake (actor David Mazouz) can predict the future. Mbatha-Raw will play Clea Hopkins, a social worker who is concerned about Jake’s care but later teams up with the father and son when she learns about Jake’s psychic abilities.
Mbatha-Raw, 28, is the daughter of a South Africa doctor Patrick Mbatha and nurse Anne Raw. She was born in Oxford, England and has been acting since she was 11 years old. Her first name is short for the Gugulethu, which in the Xhosa language means “our pride.”
Mbatha-Raw previously starred in the British sci-fi series “Dr. Who” and prison drama “Bad Girls” More recently Mbatha-Raw played opposite Boris Kodjoe in “Undercovers,” a NBC series about husband and wife former CIA agents who are pulled back into a life of espionage.
Fox is currently filming the pilot of “Touch,” which will also star Danny Glover as Arthur DeWitt, a professor and expert on children with special abilities.
SocialWorkersSpeak.org met with a Fox official last week in Los Angeles to get an update in the project. According to news reports “Touch” could air as a midseason replacement.
That official said the pilot is still filming. However, the studio would be open to having social workers meet with Mbatha-Raw after the pilot is complete and before the series begins filming to give her advice on making the portrayal as accurate as possible.
We look forward to making such a meeting reality.
To learn more about how real-life social workers help children overcome life’s hurdles, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.
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This is great news…hopefully social work advisors will catch on and establish a more realistic portrayal of the profession in the media.
I am not sure what “teams up” with father and son means in the description of her role in the show. What kind of relationship does she develop with father and son? This will be interesting to see.
This better be real….Tired of being protrayed wrongly….
Oh well I can guess it won’t be…
Love these TV projects I just want the truth to be told the good, bad, and the ugly. Many decision get made for this profession by people that are so disconnected from the true issues inner city youth and families face and some social worker find themselves supporting decisions that they don’t agree with and they know is morally and ethically wrong. I hope they shine light on the internal struggles of this profession.
I am interested in participating in showing the public the real lives of Social Workers in the workplace. Social Workers are underpaid and are looked upon in a negative way in some cases. If there is anything I can do present Social Workers as hard working workers that want to make a positive difference in the patient lives.
As a child I wanted to become an actress. Perhaps this is in opputunity for me to live my dreams and become an actrees portraying what I have passion in “The Social Wrok field”.
If you are interested in please feel free to email me at mirach72003@aol.com
Thank you
Nancy Mirach MSW