Actress Wunmi Mosaku, based in Los Angeles, recently discussed her career trajectory and cultural identity. She is currently involved in the awards season campaign for Ryan Coogler's film "Sinners," a 1930s deep south vampire thriller, where her performance as Hoodoo priestess Annie has garnered significant attention.
Mosaku announced her second pregnancy in Vogue, coinciding with the Golden Globes, to address public speculation. She noted that her Nigerian culture typically keeps such news private but felt compelled to share due to scrutiny over actresses' bodies, an experience she referenced in relation to her "Sinners" co-star Hailee Steinfeld. She had previously managed to conceal her first pregnancy during the filming of ITV's "Passengers."
Her career includes a BAFTA win in 2017 for her role as Damilola Taylor's mother in a BBC drama, followed by work in the US on Marvel's "Loki" and David Simon's "We Run This City."
Mosaku's parents, academics from Nigeria, relocated to Manchester when she was one. Despite initially considering a career as a maths professor, she pursued acting. Her mother supported her decision to audition for Rada, where she was accepted. Mosaku described her upbringing on a council estate in Manchester, where her parents faced challenges finding work in their professional fields.
Her time at Rada was marked by being the sole Black girl in her class, and she recounted instances where she felt teachers limited her to certain types of roles. She later bonded with director Ryan Coogler over similar experiences with influential and unsupportive teachers.
In preparing for her role in "Sinners," Mosaku studied Hoodoo, which facilitated a deep connection to her Yoruba roots and the language she had begun learning years prior. She reflected on a personal detachment from her culture, attributing it to her Manchester upbringing where parents were discouraged from teaching native languages to avoid