“I watched Annie every single day after school,” the 39-year-old actress recalled during a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show. Even at that age, she knew her ambitions lay far from conventional expectations. “I said to my mum and sister, ‘I don’t want to do maths and economics, I think I want to act.’ They were like, ‘How do you do that?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know.’”
Determined to find an answer, Mosaku turned to the internet, searching for clues about how actors actually made it into the profession. One name stood out while she was researching the cast of her beloved film: Albert Finney. The acclaimed actor, who grew up in Salford near where Mosaku lived, had trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
“That’s the first time I ever heard of drama school,” she said. “So I auditioned for RADA and got in. It changed my whole life. I will love that film forever.”
That early inspiration has now come full circle. Mosaku has just received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Annie, a hoodoo priestess, in Sinners. The nomination follows a strong awards-season run that includes a supporting actress nod at the Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards) and a place on the BAFTA longlist.
A genre-defying breakout
Written and directed by Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Ryan Coogler, Sinners is a genre-bending film set in 1930s Mississippi. Michael B. Jordan stars in a dual role as twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, who are forced to defend their hometown from a vampire threat. Mosaku’s character, Annie, plays a central spiritual role in the story, grounding the supernatural narrative in history, belief, and emotional depth.
During the film’s press tour last year, Mosaku spoke about the profound personal impact of playing Annie and how the role stayed with her long after filming wrapped.
“I do think about it deeply,” she said. “What did I learn from Sinners? What did I learn from Annie? What did I have to unlearn?”
She explained that the character has become a touchstone during moments of self-doubt. “When I feel worry and fear, I do come back to those things a lot. Every time someone asks me something in the moment, I think, ‘This is where Annie has come in handy today.’”
A career built on powerful storytelling
The Oscar nomination is the latest milestone in a career that has long been defined by critically acclaimed performances. In 2016, Mosaku won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Gloria Taylor in Damilola, Our Loved Boy. The television film examined the murder of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, who was stabbed and left to die in a south London stairwell in November 2000.
Mosaku was just 15 years old when the killing occurred, and the story resonated deeply with her. Speaking to the BBC in 2016, she reflected on her own upbringing as a Nigerian immigrant in the UK.
“I came from Nigeria as a child,” she said. “Until I read the script, I didn’t know how long they’d been in the country, so I thought he was probably just like me, having just started school.”
She added that growing up on a Manchester estate exposed her to the realities of violence at a young age. “People I’ve known from school have died in gang trouble. I always thought, if I’d been on a different estate at a different time, it could have been me.”
From stage to screen—and beyond
Mosaku’s professional career began on stage with The Great Theatre of the World, before she moved into television and film. Over the years, she has built a diverse body of work, appearing in the BBC Two miniseries Moses Jones, ITV’s Vera as Holly Lawson, and the BBC’s Luther as Detective Sergeant Catherine Halliday. More recently, she starred as former Met Police detective Riya Ajunwa in ITV’s Passenger.
She also gained international recognition for her role as Dr Verity Willis—also known as Hunter B-15—in Marvel’s Loki, later reprising the character in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Protecting privacy in the spotlight
Amid the heightened visibility brought by Sinners and the awards season, Mosaku recently chose to address speculation about her personal life on her own terms. Earlier this month, she shared what she described as an “anti-announcement pregnancy announcement” in British Vogue, revealing that she is expecting her second child.
In an open letter to readers, Mosaku explained why the decision to share the news publicly was not an easy one. “In my Nigerian culture, we don’t really announce this kind of news,” she wrote. “It’s meant to be protected.”
She added that the instinct to keep the pregnancy private came from a desire to preserve something that felt deeply personal. “Everything in me resists sharing it publicly—not because I’m not grateful or joyful, but because this feels like one of the few things that truly belongs to me.”
However, she acknowledged that the success of Sinners and the attention surrounding the film made silence difficult. “The success of Sinners… has also given me a new visibility,” she wrote. “I’ll be in the public eye for the coming weeks during awards season, and I will be doing it with an ever-growing bump.”
From a childhood spent rewatching Annie to standing among the world’s most celebrated actors, Mosaku’s journey reflects a career shaped by determination, emotional honesty, and a commitment to meaningful storytelling—one that continues to resonate both on and off screen.