If you haven’t seen Sinners yet, you’re becoming a rare breed.
The Ryan Coogler film, starring Michael B. Jordan as twins Smoke and Stack, Hailee Steinfeld, and Wunmi Mosaku, burst into the zeitgeist last week and quickly became the only thing in pop culture anyone was talking about.
The film blends an examination of Black culture and music with a historical look at Jim Crow Mississippi, and also, vampires. But while there are plenty of moments that will make you scream, the film also manages to be insightful and heartbreaking, especially thanks to Mosaku’s performance as Smoke’s longtime love, Annie.
For the 38-year-old Nigerian-British actor, the accolades for the film feel like a dream, because she and everyone else on set were personally so invested in the project.
“We all felt that connection, the meaning and the inspiration, we all felt inspired and we showed up so fully every day at work because we really believed in it,” she tells Glamour. “So to see that it’s being received in that same way with that same love and people feel the same as we felt, it just feels amazing.”
She adds, “It really does feel like that from beginning to end, from beginning to this moment right now, everything was magical.”
Glamour chatted with Mosaku about how she prepared to play Annie, her colorful red carpet fashion, and the scary (non-vampire) critters that made it to the Louisiana set.
Glamour: The film goes from historical drama to vampires pretty quickly. Did you know what was coming when you read the script for the first time?
Wunmi Mosaku: Well, I met with Ryan before I read the script, and I was sent the seven pages of an Annie and Smoke scene. When I read those seven pages, I was completely blown away by the quality of the writing; the love and the grief and the connectedness, and the things that connect the characters and the things that pull them apart, how honestly they love each other, and deeply, and powerfully.
I remember I said to Ryan, “Thank you for writing something that’s gotten me so excited about this industry. Thank you for writing something that’s gotten me so excited about the possibilities my job can take me into.” And that was before I was offered the job. He talked me through the script before I read it. So, I knew what was coming, but I didn’t know how. But another thing about being in Ryan’s presence is that there is such ease and trust. There was never any doubt. His vision, his capabilities, his heart, his humanity. So when he told me the story, I was in. I was in from the moment I knew Ryan Coogler wanted to meet me.
You were like, “Ryan Coogler? Immediately yes.”
Whatever it is, I’m down. And then when I read the script again, I was really bowled over by the humanity. I felt enlightened by his script. I felt like I was learning about myself, my place in the world, and how my ancestry brought me to this place, and how I’m a keystone in the future. That message was just so strong. I went in for my audition with Michael, and I mean, I was just in it.
How was working with the rest of the cast?
I really feel like they inspired me every day. I learned so much from them, whether they were old timers or absolute newbies, I felt so inspired and learned so much. I can’t wait to put what I learned from these guys into practice for my next role. I just really feel really, really blessed that I got to experience them all on such a joyful and magical set.
I’ve seen Annie described as the heart and soul of the film. Her relationship with Smoke (real name Elijah) feels so real, especially when we learn they lost a child as an infant. How did you prepare to play her?
My process was really researching Hoodoo, because that’s just a key anchor for her. It’s her faith, it’s her power, it’s her truth….I felt enlightened. I didn’t know anything about it. So I met with a lot of consultants, and I read a lot of books. I read about the traditional Yoruba religion, indigenous Yoruba religion, which it derives from.
Honestly, that was quite a profound experience for me; I felt like I found a piece of myself within Annie because I didn’t know anything about it. But her practice is my ancestral practice, and learning about the power of it, the strength of it, and the wisdom and the love—that’s part of my survival, why I’m here today. That practice and that faith, that was my main research. And also, just understanding [Annie and Smoke’s] love, the depth of their love. I feel her love for Smoke. It kind of supersedes so much. It’s part of her power.
One of the comments I’ve seen online is that they wish the film was a miniseries because they want background on certain characters, especially more information about how Annie and Smoke fell in love. Do you have any backstory on them you can share?
Ryan had a timeline for us from the beginning. When [Annie] moved from Louisiana to Mississippi, she was 18. She met Smoke at 18, and I think they had the baby at 22. We know our character’s middle names, we know our daughter’s name. We have the whole thing, we have the whole history. We had to have the whole history, because we meet them when they’re reunited, and there’s so much history, there’s so much grief. There’s so much love and understanding and forgiveness. We did talk through their whole backstory.
What do you think it was that drew her to him?
They just are soulmates. I think she is a person he can be soft with. She’s a person he can be vulnerable with; he’s had such trauma in his life, and she is kind of like a mother lover in a way to him…so when you know someone without their mask, she knows Elijah. She knows Elijah, and she accepts Smoke because she knows Elijah needs Smoke too.
Switching gears a bit, you all spend a lot of this film covered in blood, or fighting vampires and the like. What was the craziest part to film?
Well, I was lying in a pool of blood for a whole day and saying my emotional goodbye to Smoke, and then in between takes, just lying in the blood, just trying to stay as still and in the moment as possible. There’s a lot of chaos, burning farm doors, and stunts and everything, and trying to stay in the emotional story whilst there’s a lot of technicalities going on around was crazy. I mean, yeah, that was probably the most difficult, technically. But then there’s also the bugs and the mosquitoes and the alligators turning up to set those things in a while too.
Wait, alligators?
They just turned up on set. The snake wrangler was very busy on that job with all the dangerous wildlife. And honestly, if I saw him, I would feel a little bit better. But we didn’t see him very often because he was so busy.
You filmed in Louisiana, so in addition to critters, I can imagine it was pretty hot.
It got really, really hot. We had a termite season at one point. I thought it was raining one day, and it was just the termites hitting the window. And I think when you’re filming, if there is any lightning, you have to stop filming and it’s 30 minutes before you can film again. On the 29th minute, if there is lightning again, you have the clock start again. That happened numerous times.
It was a lot. But one thing we couldn’t do on the set was complain because Michael never complained. He was in a wool suit with a shirt, with a waist coat, a jacket, and hat, so much in that weather. If he wasn’t complaining, we weren’t allowed to complain.
Speaking of fashion, I have been loving your red carpet looks for promoting the film. How have you and your stylist been selecting your looks?
I really wanted to wear Black designers as much as possible, and I think we did all but one, except for the orange dress for the London premiere. I really wanted to do that because I feel like a part of the message of the film is artistry, and it being celebrated and your purpose and it being included in. So that was my dream, my goal, and my stylist Shameelah Hicks delivered. She actually did a lot of research. That was the brief, and she smashed it.
I really love color. I think that’s something that looks great on our skin. I also think Annie has this rich depth of the heart and the love and the color. I didn’t want to go down the dark, scary vampire route. I wanted to keep her African ancestry and connectedness. And so many of the designers are from Nigeria as well, made on the continent by people on the continent. I really wanted to do that. I wanted to feel like I was supporting the people who don’t always feel seen in the fashion industry. I don’t always feel seen in the fashion industry, but I wanted to go this way. I didn’t want to feel any way other than amazing, connected. I was representing myself and my style and the people who I feel are supporting me and support them too.
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