The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN actress Chipo Chung has joined the star-studded cast of Home Box Office (HBO) blockbuster series, Her Dark Materials, in what is scheduled to be its third and final season.
The eight-episode season, which is currently in production, is based on “The Amber Spyglass,” the final novel in Philip Pullman’s series of novels.
‘His Dark Materials’ is a fantasy mystery series based on the eponymous trilogy by author Philip Pullman. Adapted for the screen by Jack Thorne, the show initially released in the UK on November 3, 2019, on BBC One and subsequently in the USA on November 4, 2019, on HBO.
The fantasy-adventure drama revolves around a young girl called Lyra, an orphan living at Jordan College, Oxford. The series is set in an alternative world where the Magisterium controls people’s connection to magic and their animal spirits, referred to as “daemons.”
Season 3 of “His Dark Materials” follows Lyra (Dafne Keen) and Will (Amir Wilson), the bearer of The Subtle Knife, as they travel through multiple worlds to find and protect each other.
Also starring Ruth Wilson, Simone Kirby, Will Keen, Jade Anouka, Ruta Gedminstas and James McAvoy, “His Dark Materials” is produced by Bad Wolf in association with New Line Cinema for BBC One and HBO. Executive producers include Jane Tranter, Dan McCulloch, Joel Collins and Julie Gardner for Bad Wolf; Philip Pullman, Jack Thorne, Tom Hooper; Deborah Forte, Toby Emmerich and Carolyn Blackwood for New Line.
Chung studied directing at Yale University and then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Her vast repertoire includes theatre, television, and film. She currently lives and works in London, but has in the past spoken about how she still feels connected to Zimbabwe. “There’s always this umbilical cord back home to where family is and for me, where my mother is.”
Chung has also spoken about what she feels is the authenticity of Zimbabweans.
“In the developed world, what is cool is manufactured whereas in Zimbabwe, what is cool is completely original”.
