Wunmi Mosaku Biography

Wunmi Mosaku is a Nigerian-British actress renowned for her versatile performances across film, television, and stage.

Born Oluwunmi Olapeju Mosaku in Zaria, Nigeria to Yoruba parents who were both professors, she moved to Manchester, England, at 18 months old when her mother pursued a Ph.D. at UMIST. Raised there, she attended Trinity Church of England High School and Xaverian Sixth Form College, sang in the Manchester Girls Choir for 11 years, and later graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2007 with a BA in Acting.

Wunmi debuted professionally on stage in 2007 at the Arcola Theatre in The Great Theatre of the World, followed by roles in Rough Crossings (2008), The Vertical Hour (2010), and Truth and Reconciliation (2011) at the Royal Court Theatre. Her screen breakthrough came with the BBC miniseries Moses Jones (2009) as Joy, earning her Best Actress at the Rome Fiction Festival.

She gained wider acclaim as Holly Lawson in ITV's Vera (2011–2012), and later starred in Damilola, Our Loved Boy (2016), winning a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress, plus roles in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), His House (2020) with a British Independent Film Award, Marvel's Loki (2021), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and Sinners (2025), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. Other credits include I Am Slave (2010), multiple awards winner, and TV series like Temple (2019) and Boarders (2024).

Married with one daughter, Wunmi enjoys gardening, running, cooking, and music; she serves as an ActionAid ambassador and favors Nigerian crumpets and films like Black Panther. She overcame dyslexia diagnosed at 18 and has spoken about facing racism in childhood.