Wunmi Mosaku Interview: Loki

When Loki first appears in his new TV show, it's crashlanding into the Mongolian desert before having his first meeting with the TVA in the form of a minutemen squad led by Wunmi Mosaku's Hunter B-15. From that moment, there's a clear and bitter rivalry between the two, explored via time-rotating devices through the Loki premiere. Mosaku has become a regular on British TV drama over the past decade, and most recently appeared in HBO's Lovecraft Country. Now, she's taking on the God of Mischief.

Screen Rant sat down with Mosaku to discuss her work on Loki, getting immersed in the weird world of the TVA, and the liberation of creating a character not from the comics.

Hunter B-15 gives side eye to another character in Loki

What was the initial pitch that you got for both the show and your character?

I auditioned not knowing what I was auditioning for, then got a phone call saying I got offered a part in Loki. I had no idea when I had auditioned for Loki. And then I was like, "Of course I'll be in Loki." I had no idea what part or anything. And then a couple weeks later, I had a phone call from Kate Herron, and she just explained the whole of the MCU to me: from Captain America and Iron Man to the finale of Loki. And I was like, "Yeah!" I mean, I'd already said yes. But I was like, "Oh, yeah, good. Because I've already said yes, and I really like the sound of this." So, I just got told the whole story. The whole of the MCU.

You hadn't seen any of the previous movies? Was this was all quite new to you, even the multiverse?

I had seen Black Panther, and I had seen Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Yeah, basically everything that came after Black Panther. So very, very new.

Did you pick up on the Loki moment in Endgame when you saw it, then? Did you think that it was setting something up, or were you just completely oblivious to it?

I saw that moment. I didn't think anything of it, obviously, because I had never seen or heard of Loki the TV show. And then when we had that call, I was like, "Oh, yeah, what happened? What happened to Loki?" And she was like, "Well, this happens. The TVA." So, that moment meant nothing to me when I watched it, and then everything after I got offered with this.

You mentioned Kate, who's by all accounts a very big Loki fan and bringing an awful lot of passion for the character and the universe. What was it like to work with her?

She is so passionate about it and so excited. She's so excitable about it all and, honestly, that first phone call with her was like two and a half hours long; maybe three hours. She explained everything in all the details, and I'm like, "How do you even know all of this? How do you know all this and keep it in your head?" She's just great. She's just a lovely, lovely person. A great director; very easy to be around. Yeah, she's a good egg.

Marvel secrecy is a massive thing, as I'm sure you've come to know. What's the experience of that been like, having to keep what I imagine is an awful lot of secrets?

It's fine, because anyone in the industry is not going to ask you. And then my friends are not gonna ask me, because they don't really care. My family don't want to know, because they aren't great with secrets. My mum, she's like, "I just think I'll tell everyone in church," so she doesn't even know until something's coming out what I was working on. I'll tell her, but she won't remember and retain it. But my sister's a huge, huge Marvel fan. There is no way I would ruin this show for her. Like, no one wants it to be ruined. And then no one else - like all the actors and producers and everyone - they all know, "I can't ask you about this," so they don't. So, any journalists...

I'll keep it safe! I do want to talk about your character a bit now. I want to get an idea of how you play her, because it's such an interesting character and feels very different to stuff you've done previously. How did you approach it? What did you look to beyond the script for inspiration?

It's a brand new character, so there's this freedom of doing whatever you want within the confines of the script. She's written in a way, and then there's only so much you can do with what's written in the script. And then it's finding her physical vocabulary, her vocal energy. It's quite refreshing - I say refreshing, but it's less intimidating, I think - starting from scratch with a new character. Because I think, with Marvel and Marvel fans, people have something in their mind. For any book or any comic, you have something in your mind and someone in your mind, and it's quite nice not having to have that pressure of, "You should be like this." Instead, it's just like, "No, this is who she is. This is it. You get what you're given."

Speaking of established things, you're working against Tom Hiddleston, who has been established as Loki for going on 10 years now. He is fantastic in the role, and you get some great stuff with him in the episodes I've seen. How was he to work with, and how was building that antagonistic relationship with him?

Really fun to work with Tom. He's a sweetie pie, and he's just so generous and so fun and loves to improvise. He'll run lines with you, and that's just so rare. People don't do that. Even my husband won't do that. He's just great. But he and I, we knew each other before. He was my third year at RADA when I was first year at RADA. So, I've always looked up to him, and I've always known his work and definitely looked up to his work. So, coming on to set and joining the MCU with him as our lead was a lot less intimidating, because he's Tom. He's Tom, who I've known since I was 18. He's really, really welcoming and excited for us all. He's so excited for us all to be a part of the MCU. And he's just so passionate about it, and he knows so much about it, that you feel completely at ease. I'm like, "This is gonna be okay. This is gonna be totally fine."

Next: Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 1

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.