Top 40 Wunmi Mosaku Quotes

There’s an African proverb that I always quote as I think it’s incredible which is, ‘if the children are not initiated into the village, then they’ll burn it down just to feel its warmth.’

It is humbling to be a part of ‘Our Loved Boy.’

I’m always playing someone grumpy or sad or grieving or downtrodden or stoic. As people get to know me within the industry, they know it’s completely the opposite of what I’m like because I am a hyperactive, energetic ball.

I feel like I present the way I need to present in order to survive and feel like I can navigate.

I would say my first big break would’ve been ‘Moses Jones.’ That was the first time I had a lead.

I honestly never wanted to come to America. It wasn’t part of my goal as an actor.

I don’t just have the patriarchy to compete with. I have systemic racism and white supremacy and inequality to compete with.

I think, for me, just trying to be the ‘non-threatening black woman,’ constantly being, like, super-bubbly! And relatable! It takes a lot of energy! The energy you have to put into playing into the system of white supremacy, so that you can be just given a chance.

Some people think that gender equality is the biggest issue on the table, and to me, that’s a privilege to even think that that’s the biggest issue, because I am subject to much more inequality.

My mum was very supportive, and I don’t really understand why when I think of her humble beginnings. She grew up in one room with my grandma, my grand-dad and her siblings and a fire-pit outside to cook on. Now she’s a homeowner in Manchester and has a business.

In Nigeria, my grandma sold everything – everything – for my mum’s education.

I’m healthy, but I’m not thin.

I go into every audition and I come out and I say, ‘I did my best.’

I don’t know what can be done about knife crime, gang culture and people carrying weapons because it’s a world I don’t know about, but I hope that people decide to disarm and walk away from conflict.

I feel so British, but people would look at me and see a very African woman – the way I cook is very Nigerian, the way I dress I guess is quite Nigerian.

I definitely think things are changing… I thought I would never be cast on network TV in America and here I am, cast on network TV – and not skinny!

I’ve always been quite scared about talking about race. You don’t wanna rock the boat because you want to keep working.

I grew up on a council estate.

The rage of someone who continues to strive so hard and work so hard but is interrupted every day by society, by racism, by white supremacy, by the patriarchy – how can you not feel empathy?

I censor myself all the time.

When you get to a place where a person is so angry that they can do anything – it’s a dark dark place.

I’ve been very much the kind of person who’s very quiet about my own experiences.

The scary thing is that I sometimes think, ‘Oh, I’ve won a Bafta. This could be the top of the precipice.’

The beauty with U.K. productions is that, most of the time, you get all of the scripts when you audition for them.

I plant vegetables and every time I see a flower I’m like, ‘I’m going to get a vegetable in a few weeks!’

I feel like I have a very typical west African physique, and that is part of my blackness!

I’ve been woken up by things like the MeToo movement. I didn’t realize how much of the patriarchy was ingrained within my spirit.

I love myself, I love my skin, and I love my history. I’m grateful for who I am, grateful for the people who made me, my ancestors, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

I would always say I can sing, but I’m musical. I’m very good at following instructions, reading the music, and singing as it’s written down, but there was a challenge when I had to improvise.

I was always treated older than I am when I was a kid, so I had to be like, ‘No, I’m sweet,’ and this has continued into adulthood because of the way society portrays Black women.

I actually sewed my own wedding dress and I sewed my flower girl dresses.

Sci-fi and horror feel so relevant to me as a woman.

I come from a very matriarchal family and it’s important to me that women are protected and saved and educated and loved and valued.

The problem isn’t being a woman, and the problem isn’t being Black; the problem is the people out there making it difficult for us – the patriarchy, the racism.

But there are times, as an actor, where you are like, ‘Although I am really sad that I did not get this, I am really, really excited to watch it and just be a spectator.’

Christine Bottomley and Navin Chowdhry were really fun to work with.

You know, I had never heard of the Tulsa Riots – and I think something like 42 percent of Americans hadn’t – until ‘Watchmen’ on HBO. And that’s just crazy. I really saw how history is manipulated.

I don’t think revenge is necessarily a good emotion to explore, personally.

I dropped chemistry because there was a cute boy, and I figured out if I dropped chemistry, I would be in his drama class.

My parents are professors. My sister is a Ph.D. student. My other sister has a business.