Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a different kind of superhero in new movie 'Fast Color'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In the new movie "Fast Color," Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a woman named Ruth who's struggling with her super power. When she can't control her gift, she has seizures that can cause earthquakes. And that has some creepy government officials wanting to capture her. So Ruth goes on the run!

"She was kind of feral, this woman was," said Mbatha-Raw. "We didn't know what she was running from or running to, you know, and I thought it was so refreshing that this story really started to get interesting because it really sort of takes off where most stories end-- which is that the lead character goes home."

Home...to her mother and her daughter...who also have special powers.

"And I just thought, Wow, I've never seen, you know, this kind of unconventional super hero story where the main, sort of, powerful super hero is a mother, you know?" said Mbatha-Raw. "And I say unconventional because it's, you know, we're not talking like in the Marvel world of sort of capes and suits, you know? This is a very grounded story."

Mbatha-Raw loved playing a complex, flawed character-- a recovering addict who needed her mother to raise her daughter. She's struggling. But she's trying. Ultimately, it's an uplifting story about the power of women, motherhood and family.

"I hope that people are inspired to connect with the other women in their family, inspired to connect with their moms," said Mbatha-Raw. "And I hope people just also understand and have a remembering that, as I say, you know, you have all this power inside of you already. You don't need to make something outside of yourself."