‘We Own This City’ Has the Good Taste to Cast Rising ‘Lovecraft Country’ and ‘Loki’ Star Wunmi Mosaku

The ensemble cast of HBO’s We Own This City continues to grow and thankfully now includes Wunmi Mosaku.

Coming off her roles in HBO’s Lovecraft Country and Disney’s latest MCU series Loki, Mosaku is a quickly rising star and welcome addition to the six-hour limited series. Previously announced cast members include Jon Berenthal, Josh Charles, and Jamie Hector. With Reinaldo Marcus Green set to direct and executive produce the series, the show sounds promising, especially coming from The Wire creator David Simon.

Set in the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s murder, a young Black man killed in police custody, the series will center around the 2015 Baltimore riots as citizens demand justice for Gray. With violent crimes surging, the city reaches its highest murder count in more than two decades: 342 homicides in a city of 600,000 people.

The series will center on rampant police corruption in a city that turns to drug prohibition and mass arrests. Via Deadline, Mosaku will play a Civil Rights Attorney investigating the police practices in Baltimore prior to the Gun Trace Task Force criminal investigation. The series will be written by David Simon and George Pelecanos.

Wunmi Mosaku is a Rising Star

Mosaku has been showing up across screens this past year, starring in shows on HBO and Disney+, along with the recent Netflix horror film His House. Not only is her range astounding, but she clearly has a knack for picking interesting projects.

HBO’s Lovecraft Country was a hot topic of discussion during its 2020 release period. Mosaku played the no-nonsense Ruby Baptise, who grinded her way through life on the Southside of 1950s Chicago. Over the course of the series, Ruby goes through a darkly magical metamorphosis. Her arc explores the concept of whiteness as currency, all the while seeding in horror, grief, and paranoia. It’s not unlike her role as Rial in His House, a character that struggles against a society trying to mold her, balancing blending in and maintaining any semblance of her own identity. Despite struggles and missteps, Mosaku portrays these women with compassion and independence — wonderfully complex all the way through.

As Hunter B-15, a member of the Time Variance Authority, Mosaku is chronicling yet more growth in a complex woman, consistently stealing scenes. Mosaku was racking up credits long before her recent parts, with roles in blockbusters Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Other notable credits include a four-episode stint on Luther, the Idris Elba-led crime drama, and a recurring role in season 2 of Netflix’s dark-comedy The End of The F***ing World.

In 2017, Mosaku earned A British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for her supporting role in the film Damilola, Our Loved Boy, becoming the second Black actress in 62 years to win a BAFTA. In a recent interview with Essence, Mosaku noted that even history-making awards don’t make waves in the industry or change the roles available to her. She added:

“It’s still up to the people who are making the shows. A writer can write something, and then an executive producer can say, ‘No, we want them to look like this.’ Nothing happens overnight. But the only reason why I have a BAFTA is the Black actresses who came before me, who put in the legwork. It’s changing, but it’s slow.”

These tendencies of Hollywood should come as no surprise, least of all when it’s about a dark-skinned, curvy Black woman. But Mosaku is immensely talented and will undoubtedly deliver on her role on We Own This City. Hopefully, she continues getting roles that allow her talent to shine. The more on-screen time she gets, the better for audiences.

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