Wunmi Mosaku

Early life

Mosaku was born in Zaria, Nigeria, to Yoruba parents who were both professors. When she was one year old, the family emigrated to Manchester, England, where she was raised and attended the Trinity Church of England High School and Xaverian Sixth Form College. She sang for eleven years in the Manchester Girls Choir. Her mother started a business and her father eventually returned to Nigeria. Mosaku studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2007 with a BA in Acting Degree (H Level).

Career

Mosaku made her professional stage debut in 2007, at the Arcola Theatre in a production of Pedro Calderón de la Barca's The Great Theatre of the World. In 2008, she appeared in Rough Crossings, directed by Rupert Goold and based on the book by Simon Schama, at the Lyric Hammersmith; The Vertical Hour (2010), by David Hare, and Truth and Reconciliation (2011), both at the Royal Court Theatre.

In 2008, she appeared in the first of the UNDEREXPOSED exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery, designed to raise the profile of black role models and celebrates the talent that exists among the Black British community. Her photo also appeared on Commercial Way, Peckham, London, as part of the exhibition. In 2009, she starred in the BBC Two series Moses Jones, for which she won Best Actress in a Miniseries at the Rome Fiction Festival.

She featured on the front cover of Screen International magazine June–July 2009, as one of the UK Stars of Tomorrow, and in 2011 was featured in Nylon Magazines 2011 Young Hollywood issue. In 2010, Wunmi Mosaku was named one of The Seven Fresh Faces of Toronto International Film Festival, for I Am Slave, in which she starred. She plays Malia, a girl who has been kidnapped from her village in Sudan and sold into slavery. Her performance garnered several awards: Best Actress at the Birmingham Black Film Festival, Best Onscreen performance at the Cultural Diversity Awards, and Best Female performance at the Screen Nation Awards.

In 2011, Mosaku appeared in Vera in the role of Holly Lawson. In 2015, Mosaku played the part of Quentina, a traffic warden, in the three-part BBC series Capital, based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name. In 2016, she appeared in Playtest, an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.

Mosaku won the 2017 BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Gloria Taylor in the TV film Damilola, Our Loved Boy.

In 2025, Mosaku appeared as the hoodoo healer Annie in Ryan Coogler's vampire film Sinners. The New York Times called her performance "the soulful core" of the movie.

In January 2026, Wunmi Mosaku received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Annie in the film Sinners at the 98th Academy Awards. Sinners led the field with a record 16 total nominations, including Mosaku's supporting acting nomination.

Personal life

When asked to list her personal heroes, Mosaku included her grandmother Anike Adisa, whom she described as having "taught me so many lessons"; actor Albert Finney, who was her inspiration for attending the RADA; her colleague and former instructor at RADA, William Gaskill; Paul Newman, whom she admired, not just for his acting, but also for his philanthropic efforts with Newman's Own; and Oprah Winfrey, whom Mosaku considers "a superwoman".

Mosaku lives in the United States. She is married and has one daughter, born in 2024. In 2026, she announced that she was expecting her second child. She has been taking Yoruba language lessons since 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

• Drama on 3: The Vertical Hour (2008) on BBC Radio 3, as Terri Scholes
• Drama on 4: Normal and Nat (2009) on BBC Radio 4, as Shanice
• Drama on 4: Amazing Grace (2010) on BBC Radio 4, as Grace

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

References

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2. "TEN MINUTES WITH... WUNMI MOSAKU".
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4. (23 December 2018). "Wunmi Mosaku interview: Idris Elba's new Luther sidekick on how she got into acting by watching Annie". [[The Times]].
5. Wade, Joseph. (2021-02-18). "2020 British Independent Film Awards – Winners List".
6. "Wunmi Mosaku credits". tvguide.com.
7. "Sarcasm: News, Sports, Entertainment & Marketing.".
8. (19 April 2025). "Wunmi Mosaku lights up the screen in Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners'". The Lagos Review.
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10. "Wunmi Mosaku. (1986–), Stage and screen actress". National Portrait Gallery.
11. Peter J. Thompson. "I am Slave's Wunmi Mosaku on Being Mende Nazer".
12. . ["BBC One: Capital"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qrqlf).
13. (9 May 2025). "Wunmi Mosaku on Why 'Sinners' Is the 'Greatest Love Story Ever Told'". The New York Times.
14. "Oscar nominations 2026 full list: ‘Sinners’ leads with record 16 nods {{!}} The Daily Star".
15. (22 January 2026). "’Sinners’ breaks record with 16 Academy Award nominations including Best Supporting Actress for Wunmi Mosaku". TheWrap.
16. "Wunmi Mosaku: my heroes and heroines". The Telegraph.
17. D.M. (2025-05-11). "Wunmi Mosaku Keeps It Cute and Confidential but Here's What We Know About Her Husband".
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