{"id":1567063,"date":"2026-01-09T19:04:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/?p=1567063"},"modified":"2026-01-09T19:04:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:04:32","slug":"sinners-star-wunmi-mosaku-talks-magical-filming-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/sinners-star-wunmi-mosaku-talks-magical-filming-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sinners\u2019 Star Wunmi Mosaku Talks \u2018Magical\u2019 Filming Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Wunmi Mosaku thought her work was done months ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It was just last spring when the \u201cSinners\u201d star sat before journalists like myself, explaining alongside her co-stars why <\/span>Ryan Coogler<\/span><\/a>\u2019s audacious Southern vampire thriller starring twin Michael B. Jordans was a must-see for audiences worldwide. It\u2019s an industry routine the 39-year-old has grown accustomed to by now, with over 15 years into the acting game, getting her start in TV shows and films like \u201cMoses Jones\u201d and \u201cI Am Slave\u201d before landing more recent breakthrough roles in \u201cLoki,\u201d \u201cLovecraft Country\u201d and \u201cWe Own This City\u201d (the latter of which helped Coogler cast her in \u201cSinners\u201d). <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But now, thanks to the monumental (commercial and cultural) success of \u201cSinners,\u201d Mosaku is back in full force on the press circuit for awards season, navigating a part of the industry she hadn\u2019t experienced firsthand until recently but is getting a full-on crash course in. On Wednesday, she notched a supporting actress nod for her turn as Annie, the strong-willed hoodoo healer who anchors the heart of \u201cSinners.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cOh no, this is very new,\u201d Mosaku shared with a laugh when I asked if she\u2019s experienced a buzz quite like this before. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve always heard about awards season,\u201d she added, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t know what it really entailed and the stamina that\u2019s requested of you. I thought the press tour for \u2018Sinners\u2019 was the big thing. I thought the whole thing was like, make people come see the film.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Audiences have done more than that.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Since becoming a <\/span>box-office smash<\/span><\/a> and a critically acclaimed phenomenon, every symbolic element of \u201cSinners\u201d has been dissected by film fanatics twice over, from the storied history of the blues nestled in Preacher Boy\u2019s guitar to the time-colliding juke joint montage <\/span>that\u2019s still the talk of the internet<\/span><\/a> to the <\/span>Irish dancing vampires scene<\/span><\/a> that Oscar-winning director <\/span>Christopher Nolan<\/span><\/a> called \u201cthe most spectacular musical inversion since [Stanley] Kubrick made \u2018Singin in the Rain.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSinners\u201d memes<\/span><\/a> quickly permeated social media after the film\u2019s April release, cementing its place in pop culture almost instantly. Even old Hollywood legends have hailed Coogler\u2019s original opus as a groundbreaking film that \u201c<\/span>cannot be ignored<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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No matter what, \u201cSinners\u201d has remained the topic of conversation, and still is, something Mosaku can hardly believe after all this time. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s just a testament to the script Ryan wrote that people feel so passionately about it,\u201d Mosaku explained, \u201cand they love it <\/span>so<\/span><\/em> much.\u201d So much so that news of the screenplay going public <\/span>went viral<\/span><\/a> last month, as many things tend to do in the captivating \u201cSinners\u201d universe. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mosaku said she \u201ccan\u2019t complain\u201d about audiences\u2019 insatiable appetite for the film. Why would she? She and her castmates \u2014 Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton<\/a>, Delroy Lindo, Jack O\u2019Connell, Omar Benson Miller and Jayme Lawson \u2014 can count themselves among the stars of one of 2025\u2019s most talked-about films<\/a>, one poised to be remembered as one of the decade\u2019s most important, if not already.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m very grateful,\u201d Mosaku added. \u201cVery, very grateful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I don’t think there’s anyone I’ve played before that felt as superhuman as [Annie],” said Mosaku.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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When I speak with Mosaku, we\u2019re a few days removed from Christmas and New Year\u2019s Eve is just around the corner \u2014 an apt moment, I note, to take stock of the whirlwind year she\u2019s had following the runaway success of \u201cSinners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI really have been taking all the moments I possibly can outside of being a mom and working and \u2018Sinners\u2019 press and the [awards] campaign,\u201d she told me, snuggled in a cozy jacket at home. \u201cI\u2019ve really been trying to be quiet with it, and reflect and enjoy, but also maintain my energy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mosaku will certainly need plenty of it to carry her through an already-bustling awards season, with \u201cSinners\u201d one of the top contenders at the major upcoming ceremonies. The film has already picked up several honors, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Casting and Ensemble at the Critics\u2019 Choice Awards. It\u2019s nominated in seven categories at Sunday\u2019s Golden Globes \u2014 among them, Best Picture – Drama \u2014 and five at SAG\u2019s <\/span>Actor Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Last month, Mosaku took home a Gotham Award for her searing \u201cSinners\u201d performance, and now there\u2019s talk of a potential Oscar nomination, which would be a career first.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But accolades aren\u2019t on Mosaku\u2019s mind right now. At least, not during our afternoon Zoom call, as she recalls the goosebumps she got the first time she laid eyes on Coogler\u2019s script for \u201cSinners\u201d (technically, she only received one scene initially). Still, she knew then and there that the horror flick was something special.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI mean, I felt that from the moment I read the first scene with Smoke and Annie,\u201d Mosaku said. \u201cI was like, <\/span>Who writes like this<\/span><\/em>? This is so exquisite. I feel like I know the souls of these characters. I know their griefs, their hopes and joys, their faith, the depth and the capacity of their love in seven pages.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mosaku made a point of expressing her reverence for the \u201cSinners\u201d material to Coogler even before officially landing the role of Annie. Little did she know that the director had already written the character with her in mind after seeing a trailer for HBO\u2019s limited 2022 crime drama \u201cWe Own This City.\u201d Even so, Mosaku still went through an audition, which included a chemistry read with Jordan, a process she\u2019s ultimately grateful for because it\u2019s \u201csomething that makes me work\u201d and \u201ctrust myself a bit more.\u201d Regardless of whether she booked the part, Mosaku had already fallen in love with Smoke and Annie\u2019s deep backstory.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think in my first meeting with Ryan, I said to him, \u2018Thank you for writing something that has gotten me so excited about this industry again,\u2019\u201d the actor recalled.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Once Coogler finally told Mosaku what \u201cSinners\u201d was <\/span>all<\/span><\/em> about \u2014 Delta blues! Cursed vampires! Gangster twins! Jim Crow! A one-night-only juke joint! But wait, there\u2019s more! \u2014 then the actor was truly blown away.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI was like, \u2018How?! How does this all work?\u2019\u201d Mosaku remembered of her reaction. \u201cWhen I read the surreal montage scene, I mean, I threw the script down, and I ran into my husband, and I was like, \u2018Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. This is amazing. This is the most amazing thing I\u2019ve ever read.\u2019 And I think this is the most amazing thing that I\u2019ve ever been a part of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As Mosaku sits back and recaps her \u201cSinners\u201d experience \u2014 from the read-through where Jordan showed up \u201cfully formed\u201d as the Smoke-Stack twins (\u201cI could <\/span>hear<\/span><\/em> the difference between the two characters\u201d) to listening to Caton\u2019s soul-shaking singing on set to filming on ancestral Southern grounds in New Orleans \u2014 she speaks almost with a twinkle in her eye, perhaps because \u201ceverything felt magical.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI keep saying magical because it just felt like the most amazing time,\u201d Mosaku elaborated, in comparison to some of her past projects. \u201cIt felt like everything was conspiring for my nourishment, my joy, my fulfillment, my artistic creativity, my space as a mom, and it just\u2026 I loved every second of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In “Sinners,” Mosaku stars as Annie, the strong-willed hoodoo healer and love interest to Michael B. Jordan’s twin Smoke, who anchors the heart of the horror thriller.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Mosaku\u2019s \u201cSinners\u201d journey would be nothing without the work it took to bring Annie to life. As a conjure woman and healer in the Clarksdale, Mississippi, community, her character plays a vital role when supernatural dangers (aka O\u2019Connell\u2019s Remmick and his gang of vampires) descend upon the twins\u2019 Club Juke and turn it into a deadly bloodbath on opening night. When evil comes knocking (literally), Annie teaches Smoke, Stack and the others how to fight haints with garlic cloves and wooden stakes. Herbs and medicines adorn Annie\u2019s quaint, shaded home, as the resident hoodoo priestess in town. All of this was new to Mosaku and certainly different from the impression mainstream media gave her of the spiritual practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI was thinking of voodoo and witchcraft, and it\u2019s so much more spiritually enlightened than what I had experienced of voodoo and the conjure woman from \u2018James Bond\u2019 and \u2018The Crucible,\u2019\u201d Mosaku shared. \u201cIt was so much more than what I had been fed in the media that I consumed. For me, I played [Annie] and felt like I revered her. There was no judgment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSinners\u201d gave Mosaku the opportunity to do a lot of learning and unlearning as she prepared her portrayal of Annie, which included many conversations with spiritualists and hoodoo practitioners that helped her realize, \u201cI had been sold a lie.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Not only did the film expose the Nigerian-born, U.K.-raised actor to a whole new spiritual culture, but it also inspired her to probe its connection to her West African roots, specifically If\u00e1, a traditional Yoruba religion. And while Mosaku\u2019s deep dive into hoodoo was only intended to inform her of Annie\u2019s background and story, it ultimately gave her a better understanding of herself, both personally and ancestrally.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI very quickly believed in the power of the conjure woman and their ancestral wisdom and power,\u201d the actor said. \u201cIt very much made me go, \u2018Oh, wait, there is more than what I\u2019ve been told.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to Mosaku, the desire to explore those unknowns has only grown since filming \u201cSinners.\u201d Part of it goes back to the actor\u2019s childhood, when she and her parents immigrated from Zaria, Nigeria \u2014 \u201ca country that was colonized,\u201d she noted \u2014 to Manchester, England, when she was barely 2 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy desire is to learn about what we lost in that colonization,\u201d Mosaku said. \u201cI lost a lot of it through being moved to England when I was one and a half, and so I want to know more. I want to reconnect to my mother tongue. I want to know the ancestral wisdom that I have been disconnected from. I <\/span>want<\/span><\/em> to reconnect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s been part of the gift of playing Annie. Such a dynamic character has urged Mosaku to reclaim pieces of herself in ways she never expected, with a powerful arc that resonated deeply with the actor. Thanks to that personal awakening, Annie has also given her the role of a lifetime.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mosaku said it’s been “healing” to hear women say “they feel seen, loved, lovable, powerful, connected, reconnected and exploring all sides of their personhood” after watching her turn as Annie in “Sinners.”<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Annie isn\u2019t Mosaku\u2019s first run at portraying a richly drawn character. Her scene-stealing turn in \u201cLovecraft Country\u201d as Ruby Baptiste, who, at one point, drinks a race-swapping potion in pursuit of a dream retail job and the privileges denied to her, ranks among her most potent performances to date. So does her role in Remi Weekes\u2019 horror debut \u201cHis House,\u201d where a refugee couple escapes violence in South Sudan, only to find their fresh start haunted by a sinister force.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI definitely feel like Rial in \u2018His House\u2019 was a very complicated character,\u201d Mosaku remarked. \u201cIt was a complicated script, emotionally.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Still, Mosaku makes it clear that Annie, who helped her discover a new internal power through research alone, is in a league of her own.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAnnie feels kind of super in a way,\u201d she said, \u201clike her wisdom, strength, love, knowledge and power. She seems elevated from just human, even though she is very much human, but she\u2019s so connected to the earth, the stars and the other worlds. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone who I\u2019ve played before that felt as superhuman as her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As much as Mosaku\u2019s character left a profound imprint on her, she\u2019s had an even greater resonance with audiences, who continue to laud the actor\u2019s compelling portrayal. From acting as Smoke\u2019s protector \u2014 both up close and from afar, thanks to the mojo bag she gave him (her Elijah) years earlier \u2014 to grappling with the grief of losing their child, to finding solace through intimacy in one steamy love scene with Smoke (a rare onscreen moment for a curvy dark-skinned Black woman), to bravely standing in the line of fire during the vampire invasion and ultimately sacrificing herself, viewers witnessed Annie\u2019s tender moments alongside her unyielding strength. Those characteristics, Mosaku has heard from fans, particularly women, struck a chord that\u2019s stuck with them since, and it\u2019s made her role feel all the more \u201chealing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think healing for myself because of those conversations,\u201d Mosaku explained. \u201cSometimes it just feels a little lonely out there. Like you\u2019re the only one who feels like this, or gets treated like this, or sometimes it feels like things are just not very fair, and they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHearing women say they feel seen, loved, lovable, powerful, connected, <\/span>reconnected<\/span><\/em>, exploring all sides of their personhood, it feels healing because it makes you feel like you\u2019re not alone in this experience,\u201d she added. \u201cIt felt like a really beautiful, harmonious chorus of people saying, \u2018I feel seen, I feel loved, I feel valued.\u2019 It felt like we were singing the same song.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mosaku is humbled by the tremendous response to her “Sinners” performance. “Nothing feels more fulfilling than doing what you love and knowing that it’s changing you, as well as others,” she said.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Mosaku is no longer the same person she was before \u201cSinners.\u201d She has Coogler and his award-winning screenplay to thank for that. But the prolific director \u2014 only five feature films into his career following \u201cFruitvale Station,\u201d \u201cCreed,\u201d \u201cBlack Panther\u201d and \u201cWakanda Forever\u201d \u2014 is still just getting started. After shaking up Hollywood and pop culture at large with his boldest work to date, Mosaku is eager to see the history Coogler will continue to write.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHe has such a sacred gift and responsibility in preserving, representing, loving our culture, the diaspora and the truth,\u201d Mosaku praised the filmmaker, though she acknowledged, \u201cthat feels very weighty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She continued: \u201cHe loves what he does. I want him to continue making the things that make his heart pound with excitement, but I also feel like it\u2019s a lot. I always say about him and Michael [B. Jordan], I want them to be able to rest, but I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s something that they\u2019ll ever feel able to do, because I feel like the responsibility feels so great. But I just want [Ryan] to get all his flowers. I feel like he\u2019s our greatest, I do. I think he\u2019s our greatest director and writer. I think he\u2019s one of our greatest human beings; just a good person who loves what he does. He loves his family, he loves his city, he loves his people and he loves the truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen you think about the people who are in charge and the people who have the loudest voices, it feels like, do they really have any of that? I want his voice to be the loudest,\u201d Mosaku added. \u201cI think through art, it is. It\u2019s evident from how many people turned up and loved the movie and are still talking about it. I just want him to feel fulfilled and feel like he\u2019s growing in the way he helps others to grow. I want him to feel however he wants to feel, to be honest, because his intentions are pure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mosaku can personally attest to the latter, having been entrusted to play such a commanding part that Coogler crafted specifically for her. The actor believes it was wise of the director to wait until the final day of filming to reveal that tidbit to her, joking, \u201cThere might have been a little arrogance\u201d if she had known earlier. Even so, Mosaku is thankful for every aspect of the journey, from the research and preparation to the long, demanding work and, most importantly, the personal growth that came with it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve been surrounded by incredible actors on this job that now if Ryan told me that and offered me a role without an audition, I\u2019ve now experienced that level of intense character work and quality, and because of the kind of person Ryan is, I don\u2019t think you can sit on your laurels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s hard for Mosaku to say if any other characters since \u201cSinners\u201d have rivaled the challenge and reward of Annie, though she notes her role in a forthcoming film adaptation of Neil LaBute\u2019s play \u201cThis Is How It Goes,\u201d directed by and starring Idris Elba, comes pretty close.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt was a really challenging movie because of everything I\u2019d learned from Annie,\u201d she said. \u201c[Me and this character] were just so opposite, and it was very triggering for me. It was like therapy, actually, because I had to interrogate myself and my judgment and the why.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Still, for Mosaku, her \u201cSinners\u201d character may always remain in a category of her own.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI feel like Annie\u2019s just on a different planet for me, personally,\u201d she concluded. \u201cShe\u2019s like a guiding light for me now. Forever, she will be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n