BAFTA-winning actress Wunmi Mosaku says she found parts of herself “I thought I had lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in” as she took the best supporting actress prize for her role in the film Sinners.
The 39-year-old, who was born in Nigeria and grew up in Manchester, has drawn widespread acclaim for her role as Hoodoo priestess Annie in the musical horror film.
She is the first Black British winner of the supporting actress category at the BAFTA Film Awards.
Mosaku said, “I found a part of myself in Annie, a part of my hopes, my ancestral power and connection, parts I thought I had lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in.”
She moved with her family from the historic Nigerian city of Zaria to Manchester when she was a one-year-old baby.
Speaking at the winners’ press conference, she said, “It always feels good when you feel like your story and your experience are being represented with integrity and creativity.
She said she had been pleased to see “the response of Black women feeling seen, loved, valued, treasured, and the power of our ancestry and the spirituality.”
“For me, seeing that response made me realise how lonely I felt, and all of a sudden these women were in my life, who I’d never met, and I felt a kinship to.”
BAFTAs for her role in the BBC drama Damilola, Our Loved Boy—about the death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, which drew national attention when he was stabbed while walking home from a library in London.
When the programme aired in 2016, she said, “I grew up on an estate in Manchester, and people I’ve known from school have died in gang trouble, and I always thought, ‘If I’d been on a different estate at a different time, it could have been me.'”
Speaking about her victory on Sunday, Mosaku, who is pregnant, said, “I was like, ‘That can’t be right.’ I was really shocked, and I lost my breath and couldn’t quite believe it.”
The actress, who has also appeared in TV dramas Luther and Black Mirror as well as Marvel movies, also thanked her daughter, adding, “You are my greatest teacher.”
Mosaku was inspired to become an actress after watching the 1980s musical film Annie “every single day after school”, she recently told The Graham Norton Show.
When she shared her hopes with family, they asked her how she was going to achieve the ambition, prompting her to do an online search on the movie cast.
She then became aware of drama schools after finding out Salford-born actor Albert Finney, who played Daddy Warbucks in the film, had trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.
Mosaku later followed in his footsteps by taking a £3.50 journey on the Megabus for a successful audition there.
She was also a member of the Manchester Girls Choir for 11 years, describing her time there as “one of my most precious memories.”
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