Gugu Mbatha-Raw moves into thriller territory in ‘The Girl Before’

Gugu Mbatha-Raw had just finished “Loki” for Marvel when along came “The Girl Before,” a decidedly different miniseries, a psychological thriller about a woman, an extraordinary house, its demanding architect and her predecessor there.

When Mbatha-Raw’s Jane Cavendish moves into this magnificent if minimalist house, she gets a ridiculously low rent but must agree to a series of demands by the architect (David Oyelowo, “Selma”). They range from adding nothing to the walls to what clothing she can wear.

“There’s a style to this world, in terms of the architecture, the clothes. It’s this luxurious, privileged, in some ways, aesthetic,” the actress, 38, offered in a Zoom interview.

“But I also really loved that it was grounded with emotional traumas. There’s a real psychological authenticity of the grief and the experiences that the characters have been through. So although there are nightmarish elements, it’s all very much rooted in the psychology of complex human relationships.”

Which is why Mbatha-Raw laughs when simply asked if Jane is plain nuts to agree to something so weird.

“Well, you know I try not to judge my character. Jane is in the context of the show looking for a fresh start. And so often we make ill-advised choices in life when we are in a fragile state, when we’ve lost our power.”

For Mbatha-Raw, “Jane’s journey is very much her getting her power back in a sense. She’s gone through this horrendous experience; it’s totally knocked her off-center. I think we all make maybe not the most wise choices when we’re grieving. When we’re in pain, when we’re vulnerable.

“So I try not to judge that as a choice. And the thing is, once you’ve made that leap, that’s where it gets interesting. All humans have difficult choices to make when they’re in difficult circumstances.”

Finding her way into Jane was easy, given “the characters are so nuanced and complex. I loved the fact that this show” — four episodes on HBO Max beginning Thursday — “works on many different levels.

“What was refreshing for me about this was that it had so much psychological nuance to it. Also really interesting was speaking with Lisa Brühlmann, our director, who spoke about the idea of control and exploring that theme.

“Jane is a character looking for a fresh start. I liked the idea of exploring that restraint and that control within her, wrestling with her emotions. I thought that there would be a lot to chew on that.”