Photographer: Ashley Randall
Stylist: Shameelah Hicks
Hair: Vernon Francois
Makeup: Uzo
By Ava Branch
When Wunmi Mosaku appears on screen in Sinners, it’s with a stillness that commands the audience to lean in. The psychological horror—directed by Ryan Coogler, and also starring Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld—follows two brothers in the American South during the 1930s, grappling with an evil presence that has been brought upon them. It’s a performance that’s both feral and restrained, one that crackles under the surface. The film premiered this past Friday, April 18, and is already generating much anticipation—not just for its genre stylings, but for Wunmi’s singular ability to anchor the uncanny in something deeply human.
Sinners is far more than the psychological horror its listed as on IMDB—at least to Wunmi it is. “I learned so much about Yoruba and Ifa culture, history…the religion,” she explains, reflecting back on her time on set. Sinners afforded Wunmi the opportunity to gain an even deeper understanding of New Orleans, “the myth and mythologies” that shaped the narrative of one of America’s oldest cities.
So, what does she want audiences to take away from Sinners?
“I don’t know if it’s about taking something away,” she says after a pause. Sinners, Wunmi explains, is less about answers and more about reflection—on trust, intimacy, and the quiet legacies we inherit. “There were so many questions that it [Sinners] brings up,” Wunmi noted. “It’s about who you invite in…what, what’s precious and what’s been given and passed down.” She isn’t interested in spoon-feeding a message, but rather in sitting with the uncertainty—the kind of storytelling that lingers, unsettles, and asks you to look closer.
By the time Wunmi reached the end of Sinners, she wasn’t thinking about blood or jump scares. “I had forgotten that it was a horror by the end of the read through,” she says. “I had forgotten it because of the heart. The heart was still 100% there, even with the scary stuff. There’s always heart, there’s always meaning.”
Photographer: Ashley Randall
Stylist: Shameelah Hicks
Hair: Vernon Francois
Makeup: Uzo
That seems to be the continuous thread woven throughout all her work: an invitation to always look deeper, to question, to sit with discomfort—and maybe, to come out the other side seeing things a little differently. It’s that deeper emotional undercurrent—the mythology, the legacy, the inheritance—that drew her in. For Wunmi, Sinners is horror with purpose. “There’s a reason it’s not horror for horror sake. There is—there is depth there. So I feel like, yes, there might be things that might make you jump and…want to shut your eyes. But ultimately, I hope that…it will force you to ask questions and feel things.”
Wunmi Mosaku—thoughtful, unpretentious, and grounded. It’s the same steadiness her presence brings to every performance, from her breakout role in Damilola, Our Loved Boy to the critically acclaimed His House and the Marvel multiverse hit series Loki. Her choices are often bold, but always rooted in something real.
Her journey to this point started with a small but significant act: a £30 bet on potential. Her mother took a chance, giving her the money to audition for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Smiling, Wunmi reflects on how her mother’s support drove her to success. “If it wasn’t for all those people, she [mother] may not have been like, here’s £0 pounds try out for the top drama school in the country.” That small gesture—equal parts faith and risk—set Wunmi on the path toward one of the most respected acting careers of her generation.
BUT—Wunmi didn’t grow up seeing acting as a viable career—especially not in her household. “I had come from a very scientific household,” she explains. “Just, you know, on a practical level, like doing animal study…getting into a ton of student debt.” She remembers feeling like “maybe I’ve lost the plot here because I don’t know why…I don’t know how this works.”
For her, drama school changed that. “I am grateful for my time there,” she says. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn and to…to have a craft.” It gave her a sense of direction she hadn’t before. “Because before that, I think I was, you know, just improvising it, you know, being an actor. Like, it was, it wasn’t a—it wasn’t a real—it wasn’t even a real job in my mind before drama school.”
And then came the break: “I’m sure you’ve heard this, the Albert Finney Daddy Warbucks story. And that’s how I heard about drama school.” RADA enabled her to connect with the right people. “I got an agent, was introduced to casting directors, like I was able to get a career because of it. So I will never, never not give it its props for that.” Still, it wasn’t easy. “It was hard, though. It was hard. I was a child and really didn’t understand what 18 [was] like. I just turned 18 and [was] away from home in a very different environment. It was difficult.”
How does Wunmi navigate the difficult roles she takes on? Reflecting on her role in Call Jane, the 2022 film about a secret network of women helping others access abortions during pre-Roe America. “When I signed on for it, I didn’t think—I had no idea that had dire repercussions in the future.”
“I thought it was just a loosely-historical piece.” For Mosaku, the timing was jarring. “I learned a lot about the American political systems during the pandemic,” she recalls, “I had no idea Roe v. Wade could be overturned.”
WUNMI MOSAKU as Annie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SINNERS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Wunmi is incredibly deliberate—not just about the roles she plays, but about the space they occupy in culture. She’s aware of what her presence onscreen can mean, especially in the stories that intersect with one’s identity, power, and politics.
When asked what draws her to roles like these, she shrugged gently. Wunmi is constantly driven by stories that make her feel something—that tend to challenge her and others around her to be better, to think more deeply about the contexts we live in. “I want to do the thing that makes me—feel good,” she explains. “I feel like, as long as people are being inspired, being around you then, you’re doing your work right.”
That complexity is something she’s become known for—women carrying quiet storms, balancing resilience with vulnerability. It’s what made her turn in His House so memorable. It’s what gave depth to Hunter B-15 in Loki, a role that started out tough and enigmatic but slowly peeled back to reveal something much more human. This is the same drive that drove her to audition for Sinners in the first place. “In the first seven pages I was like, ‘wow,” thanking Ryan Coogler for “writing something that’s got me chomping at the bit to be a part of it.”
When asked about what she misses most at home, Wunmi couldn’t help but be blatantly honest, and refreshingly real. She misses Hobnobs….and crumpets…and a solid bar of good UK chocolate. It’s one of the first things she says when she sits down with us, her voice warm and inviting. “My family’s there, so I go as much as I can.” But when it comes to getting her snack fix in LA? “I do gingersnaps,” she laughs, “but it’s so expensive… I’m not going to spend $2.50 on a roll when they’re £0.50 pounds at home.”
As with many of her roles, she’s thinking beyond the screen. Her hope is that Sinners resonates on a deeper frequency—that it invites the audience to reflect, to listen. “Look into things, listen to the blues,” she says. “Like hear the—the progression and feel the progression from the motherland to the future…I hope you feel all of that stuff. The mythology and the—the grounded reality.”
It’s clear that for Wunmi, storytelling isn’t just about performance—it’s about legacy, meaning, and honoring where we come from while imagining where we go next. And if she happens to do all that while craving a Hobnob and dodging overpriced biscuits in LA? All the more reason to root for her.
WUNMI MOSAKU as Annie in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SINNERS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
BAFTA award-winning actress Wunmi Mosaku has solidified her reputation as a dynamic and versatile talent. She made a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine, sharing the screen with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, where she reprised her role as TVA agent ‘Hunter B-15’ from Loki. Other film credits include Call Jane opposite Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver; Lionsgate’s Alice Darling opposite Anna Kendrick; JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice opposite Amy Adams, Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill; and Stephen Frear’s Oscar-nominated Philomena with Steve Coogan and Dame Judi Dench.