Oluwunmi Mosaku (born 1986) is a Nigerian-born British actress. She is known for her roles as Joy in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

miniseries ''

Moses Jones ''Moses Jones'' is a British television crime drama series first broadcast on BBC Two in February 2009. The series was written by Joe Penhall, directed by Michael Offer and produced by Cameron Roach. The series follows DI Moses Jones (Shaun Pa ...

'' (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

) and Holly Lawson in the ITV series ''

Vera Vera may refer to: Names * Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...

'' (2011–2012). She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Gloria Taylor in the TV film '' Damilola, Our Loved Boy'' (2016). In 2019, she starred in the fifth series of ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (gi ...

''. In 2020, she starred as Ruby Baptiste in HBO's ''

Lovecraft Country Lovecraft Country is a term coined for the New England setting used by H. P. Lovecraft in many of his weird fiction stories, which combines real and fictitious locations. This setting has since been elaborated on by other writers working in the ...

'', and starting in 2021, starred as Hunter B-15 in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

(MCU) television series ''

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...

''. She was nominated for the

BAFTA for Best Actress Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film. * From 1952 to ...

and won the BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film for her role as Rial in the film '' His House'' (2020).

Early life

Mosaku was born in Nigeria, and subsequently emigrated to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, England, when she was one year old. She attended Trinity Church of England High School and Xaverian Sixth Form College. She also sang for eleven years in the Manchester Girls Choir. Her parents were both professors in Nigeria but were unable to do the same jobs in the UK. Her mother started a business and her father ended up returning to Nigeria.

Career

Mosaku graduated from the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

in 2007 and made her stage debut at the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dals ...

in a production of Pedro Calderón de la Barca's ''

The Great Theatre of the World ''The Great Theater of the World'' (''El Gran Teatro del Mundo'') is a c. 1634 play from Spanish writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca (17 January 1600 – 25 May 1681). The play is an allegorical explanation of man's place in world according to the ...

''. Since then she has also appeared in '' Rough Crossings'', directed by Rupert Goold and based on the book by

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He fi ...

, at the Lyric Hammersmith; ''

The Vertical Hour ''The Vertical Hour'' is a play by David Hare. The play addresses the relationship of characters with opposing views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and also explores psychological tension between public lives and private lives. Productions The pl ...

'' by David Hare and Truth and Reconciliation, both at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

; and ''Mules'' at the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...

. In 2009, she appeared in ''Katrina'', a verbatim play which told six people's stories of their struggles of survival when

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

devastated

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

August 2005. Mosaku was originally cast as Sophie in the UK premiere of ''

Ruined Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

'' by

Lynn Nottage Lynn Nottage (born November 2, 1964) is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are Black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for h ...

at the Almeida Theatre but had to pull out due to an injury. 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

series ''

'', for which she won Best Actress in a Miniseries at the Roma Fiction Festival. She featured on the front cover of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' magazine June–July 2009 as one of the UK Stars of Tomorrow, and in 2011 was featured in ''

Nylon Magazine ''Nylon'' is an American multimedia brand, publishing company, and lifestyle magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel. Originally a print publication ...

''s 2011 Young Hollywood issue. In 2010, Wunmi Mosaku was named one of The Seven Fresh Faces of

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, for '' I Am Slave'', in which she starred. She plays Malia, a girl who has been kidnapped from her village in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, and sold into slavery. For her performance Mosaku won awards such as 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 The Screen Nation Film & TV Awards, formerly the bfm (black filmmaker) Film and TV Awards, was founded in September 2003 by independent film producer Charles Thompson MBE, as a platform to raise the profile of black British and international fil ...

. In 2011, Mosaku joined the cast of ''

'', playing the role of Holly Lawson, but left the show after just one year. In 2015, Mosaku played the part of Quentina, a traffic warden, in the three-part BBC series ''

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

'' based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name. In 2016, she appeared in ''

Playtest A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...

'', an episode of the

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

'' 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''.

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 Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960 ...

, who was her inspiration for attending the

; her colleague and former instructor at RADA, William Gaskill;

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

, whom she admired, not just for his acting, but also for his philanthropic efforts with Newman's Own; and

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

, who Mosaku considers "a superwoman".

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

*''Drama on 3'': ''

'' (

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

) on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...

, as Terri Scholes *''Drama on 4'': ''Normal and Nat'' (

) on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

, as Shanice *''Drama on 4'': ''Amazing Grace'' (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) on BBC Radio 4, as Grace

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wunmi Mosaku
at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the S ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosaku, Wunmi 1986 births Living people Actresses from Manchester Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners Black British actresses English film actresses English people of Yoruba descent English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People from Chorlton-cum-Hardy People from Zaria Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Yoruba actresses 21st-century English actresses 21st-century Nigerian actresses English people of Nigerian descent Expatriates in England