Wunmi Mosaku on How Ryan Coogler’s New Film 'Sinners' Helped Improve Her Yoruba

Born in Nigeria and raised in the U.K., Mosaku seemed destined for a life in theatre, but ever since winning a BAFTA in 2017 for her performance as Gloria in Damilola, Our Loved Boy, she has flourished onscreen. Roles in Luther, the Loki TV series, Deadpool & Wolverine, and more have kept raising her profile. In Sinners, Coogler's latest since the record-setting Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, Mosaku stars alongside Michael B. Jordan, who plays the twins Smoke and Stack.

The character Annie has a complicated past with Smoke, which resurfaces when the twins return to the Mississippi Delta after making their fortune in Chicago to open a juke joint. The film draws on various West African traditions, including voodoo elements, as the story unfolds to become more than just an everyday horror film. Coogler, who wrote and produced it, conducted extensive research on life in the Prohibition-era Delta. In an interview with OkayAfrica, Mosaku explains that this historical grounding also helped to make Annie a standout role in her career.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

OkayAfrica: You're no stranger to horror films; how do you see the genre as an allegory that can speak to some pressing and important issues that are relevant right now?

Wunmi Mosaku: Horror is a powerful genre because of the fear. People often underestimate the fear of losing one's culture and connection - the true horror of assimilation. When we talk about people from different backgrounds, we sometimes forget the enormous sacrifices they've made. Whether someone is seeking asylum or migrating for economic reasons, their journey often involves profound loss. There's violence in having parts of your identity taken away, whether through colonization, forced assimilation, or not being accepted or celebrated.

Horror is a great genre in which to tell this story because you can feel the jeopardy. You can feel the fear of losing oneself or part of oneself in a way you might not have thought about if you were thinking about people who look different, sound different, or someone you've othered. I think horror is a great genre for that.

I imagine you're as much a fan of Black Panther and of director Ryan Coogler's previous work as we are. What was your expectation of working with him like going in?

Working with Ryan was a dream come true. I had never met him before, and I got a call saying Ryan Coogler wanted to meet me for his next movie. I was like, "Wow, Ryan Coogler knows who I am?" I did not expect that. Then we jumped on a Zoom call. He sent me a seven-page scene, which just blew me away. I was like, "How did you get so much depth and quality and history? How did you get me to love these two people so utterly in seven pages without bashing me over the head with exposition?" He writes so delicately.

And [the Zoom] was really long. I was expecting it to be 30 minutes, but we ended up talking for an hour and a half. We just shared ideas and talked. He told me about the film, and we talked about our childhood, school, and why we do what we do. And I came off that call so inspired. I was like, even if that was it, that interaction was meaningful. It was meaningful for my future in this industry. It was inspiring.

So, I had high expectations going into the set because of that interaction. But being on the set, it again surpassed that. He has a way about him and surrounds himself with people he trusts. It is a feeling of family, safety, and creative freedom. We feel like equals. And his wife, Zinzi, and our producer are such incredible people. I felt excited again about my job and career, and it stopped feeling like a job.

What did the idea of him tapping into your past and background bring to this? For you, someone born in Nigeria but who grew up in England, was that connection to your past renewed for you during this process?

Absolutely. The character of Annie is a Hoodoo priestess, and Hoodoo derives from Ifá, a traditional Yoruba religion. It's something I have never looked into. It's never been a part of my upbringing. Doing the research for Annie introduced me to a part of me and my ancestry, and it resonated very deeply with me.

I've been taking Yoruba lessons for five years, and finally, in the last six months, the language has started sticking with me. I felt so connected. I felt so inspired. This character reminded me of who I'm from, where I'm from, my duty and purpose in this lineage, and where it might go.

This character, this film, did all of that for me. It's amazing how you can find a piece of yourself in this strange, fictional character, but it feels so real and tangible.

Was there anything particularly about Voodoo that blew your mind, was really interesting, or was something you didn't know?

My understanding of Voodoo was limited to what I'd seen in James Bond films and Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. I thought it was something dark and scary. I discovered it's a healing religion - loving, spiritual, and connected. While anything can be misused, the women I met were community healers, mothers, and guardians of tradition. I learned to embrace rather than fear it. Voodoo is something beautiful that contributes to my strength. It's part of traditional medicine and part of why I'm here.