BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Wunmi Mosaku
| Wunmi Mosaku | |
|---|---|
Mosaku at The Old Vic, Sunday, 14 November, 2010
| |
| Born | Oluwunmi Olapeju Mosaku 31 July 1986 Zaria, Nigeria |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2006–present |
Wunmi Mosaku (born 31 July 1986) is a Nigerian-born British actress,[1] best known for her role as Joy in the 2009 BBC Twominiseries Moses Jones, for which she was awarded "Best Actress in a Miniseries" at the Roma Fiction Festival.
Early life
Mosaku was born in Zaria, Nigeria, and subsequently emigrated to Manchester, England, where she attended Trinity Church of England High School and Xaverian Sixth Form College. She also sang for eleven years in the Manchester Girls Choir.
2007 to Present
Mosaku graduated from RADA in 2007 and made her stage debut at the Arcola Theatre in a production of Pedro Calderón de la Barca's The Great Theatre of the World. Since then she has also appeared in Rough Crossings, directed by Rupert Goold and based on the book by Simon Schama, at the Lyric Hammersmith; The Vertical Hour by David Hare and Truth and Reconciliation, both at the Royal Court Theatre and Mules at the Young Vic. In 2009 she appeared in Katrina a verbatim play which told six people's stories of their struggles of survival whenHurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans August 2005. Mosaku was originally cast as Sophie in the UK premiere of Ruined by Lynn Nottage at the Almeida Theatre but had to pull out due to an injury.
In 2008, she appeared in the first of the UNDEREXPOSED exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery designed to raise the profile of black role models and celebrates the talent that exists among the Black British community. Her photo also appeared on Commercial Way, Peckham, London, as part of the exhibition.
She featured on the front cover of Screen International magazine June–July 2009 as one of the UK Stars of Tomorrow, and in 2011 was featured in Nylon Magazine's 2011 Young Hollywood issue.
In 2010 Wunmi Mosaku was named one of The Seven Fresh Faces of Toronto International Film Festival, for I Am Slave,[2] in which she starred. She plays Malia, a girl who has been kidnapped from her village in Sudan, and sold into slavery. For her performance Mosaku won awards such as Best Actress at the Birmingham Black Film Festival, Best Onscreen performance at the Cultural Diversity Awards and Best Female performance at the Screen Nation Awards.
Personal life
When asked to list her personal heroes, Mosaku included her grandmother Anike Adisa, whom she described as having "taught me so many lessons", actor Albert Finney who Mosaku said was her inspiration for attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, her colleague and former instructor at RADA, William Gaskill, Paul Newman who she stated she admired not just for his acting but also for his philanthropic efforts with Newman's Own, and Oprah Winfrey who Mosaku said she considers "a superwoman."[3]
Filmography
Television
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | *Sold: Episode #1.5 | Firefighter | ITV |
| 2008 | Never Better: "First Week Euphoria" | Server | BBC Two |
| 2008 | Doctors: "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding?" | Nurse Kelly Strathairn | BBC One |
| 2008 | The Bill: "Trial and Error: Part 1" | Sophie Oduya | ITV |
| 2009 | Moses Jones | Joy | BBC Two |
| 2010 | Silent Witness | Charlie Gibbs | BBC One |
| 2010 | One Night in Emergency | Beautiful Nurse | BBC Scotland television film |
| 2010 | Father & Son | Stacey Cox | RTÉ One, ITV |
| 2010 | Law & Order: UK | Tamika Vincent | ITV |
| 2011 | Vera | Holly Lawson | ITV |
| 2011 | 32 Brinkburn Street | Joy | BBC One |
| 2011 | The Body Farm | Rosa Gilbert | BBC One |
| 2011 | Jo | Angélique Alassane | |
| 2013 | Dancing on the Edge | Carla | BBC Two |
| Truckers | BBC One | ||
| 2014 | In the Flesh | Maxine Martin | BBC Three |
| 2015 | Don't Take My Baby | Belinda | BBC Three |
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Women of Troy | Helen of Troy | Phil Hawkins |
| 2010 | Honeymooner | Seema | Col Spector |
| 2010 | Womb | Erica | Benedek Fliegauf |
| 2010 | I Am Slave | Malia | Gabriel Range |
| 2011 | Stolen | Sonia Carney | Justin Chadwick |
| 2011 | Citadel | Marie | Ciaran Foy |
| 2013 | Philomena | Young nun | Stephen Frears |
Radio
- Drama on 3: The Vertical Hour (2008), on BBC Radio 3, as Terri Scholes
- Drama on 4 Normal and Nat (2009) on BBC Radio 4 as Shanice
- Drama on 4 Amazing Grace (2010) on BBC Radio 4 as Grace
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