Wunmi Mosaku channels ancestral power after Bafta win
wunmi mosaku won the Bafta for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Sinners, a victory that she said left her “really shocked” and has amplified conversations about representation, ancestry and the film’s awards run at Baftas 2026.
Wunmi Mosaku on her Bafta win and immediate reaction
Wunmi Mosaku said she was "really shocked" after winning a Bafta for her role in Sinners and described being breathless at the moment of announcement: "I was like, 'That can't be right'. I was really shocked and I lost my breath and couldn't quite believe it. " The 39-year-old, who is pregnant, thanked her daughter and added "you are my greatest teacher. " She won the best supporting actress prize for her portrayal of Annie.
Annie, ancestral power and representation
Mosaku has said she found elements of herself in the character Annie, including "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 has spoken of being pleased by "the response of black women feeling seen, loved, valued, treasured, and the power of our ancestry and the spirituality, " and said that seeing that response made her realise "how lonely I felt" and brought a sense of kinship with women she had never met. Annie is a Hoodoo priestess in the musical horror film.
Sinners' creative team, style and audience reach
Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, casts Mosaku as Annie, the wife of Smoke, played by Michael B Jordan. The film, described as part musical, vampire thriller, romance epic and period drama, is set against the blues of a Jim Crow–era Mississippi Delta and is said to stretch time and genre. In the 10 months since its release the film has become an instant classic, been a box-office smash and a critical darling; Mosaku has met people who have seen the film more than 20 times. Sinners also won a Bafta for best original screenplay, and Mosaku and Jack O'Connell drew praise for their performances. Mosaku has been tipped for an Oscar for her portrayal of Annie.
How Mosaku built the role and her wider career
Mosaku has recalled being inspired to become an actress after watching the 1980s musical film Annie "every single day after school. " When she told family of her ambitions they asked how she would achieve them, prompting an online search of the movie cast and a discovery that Salford-born actor Albert Finney, who played Daddy Warbucks, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) in London. She has appeared in television dramas including Luther and Black Mirror as well as in Marvel movies.
Past awards, early life and formative experiences
Her Bafta film award comes nine years after she won the same category at the TV Baftas for her role in the drama Damilola, Our Loved Boy, about the death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, who was stabbed while walking home from a library in London. When that programme aired in 2016 Mosaku 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'. " Mosaku was born in Nigeria and moved with her family from the historic city of Zaria to Manchester when she was a one-year-old baby, and she grew up in Manchester.
Baftas 2026 night and red carpet moments
Baftas 2026 handed best film to One Battle After Another, which defeated Hamnet and Sinners, while Robert Aramayo was named best actor for I Swear and Jessie Buckley won best actress for Hamnet. The ceremony opened with a long list of films set to a Goldfrapp song and the red carpet featured a montage in which one guest threatened to vomit. Wale Davies and Akinola Davies were noted for looking seriously suave, and someone yelled "Is the monarchy in peril?" at Prince William during his red carpet walk. An official Bafta social video showed Timothée Chalamet on the red carpet. Paul Mescal and singer Gracie Abrams, who have been dating since about 2024, made a red carpet appearance and shared a kiss; Mescal wore Prada while Abrams wore a beaded floral look from Chanel. Teyana Taylor promoted a red carpet trench, and collars drew attention on Archie Madekwe. Prince William described One Battle After Another as "weird, " said he had not seen Sinners because it was "a bit dark, " and mentioned that he liked F1.
Preparations, the gown and a busy awards week
Ahead of the Baftas Mosaku was juggling hair and make-up, interviews and publicist schedules while trying to secure tickets to the play All My Sons at the Wyndham Theatre. She described the period as day five of what she called a "14-day week. " For the BAFTAs she called upon an independent London designer for her gown.
wunmi mosaku's win and the night’s other results have intersected with conversations about representation, cinematic ambition and the red carpet—threads that have followed Sinners through its first 10 months and that, for Mosaku, have triggered a personal reconnection with ancestry and storytelling.
