When Wunmi Mosaku stepped onto the 2026 Golden Globes red carpet on January 11, she wasn’t just celebrating the success of her film Sinners—she was embracing a deeply personal milestone. The acclaimed actress, known for her powerful performances and quiet grace, debuted her baby bump in a radiant, custom yellow Matthew Reisman gown, marking a moment of joy, vulnerability, and cultural pride.
The decision to reveal her pregnancy was not made lightly. As Mosaku shared in a heartfelt personal essay published in Vogue just hours before the ceremony, “I have some news. Beautiful, personal, sacred news. A prayer, really.” For Mosaku, pregnancy is an experience to be cherished and protected. “In my Nigerian culture, we don’t really announce this kind of news. It’s meant to be protected. Everything in me resists sharing it publicly—not because I’m not grateful or joyful, but because this feels like one of the few things that truly belongs to me.”
Yet, with Sinners earning seven Golden Globe nominations—including Best Motion Picture – Drama—Mosaku anticipated that her appearance would spark speculation. “Keen eyes mean speculation has already begun. Is she pregnant? Has she gained weight? What’s with the outfit?” she wrote. Rather than continuing to hide, Mosaku decided to “show up as me—a woman who happens to be pregnant—celebrating our powerful film and our amazing team, while I protect this most sacred prayer of my life.”
On the red carpet, Mosaku looked every bit the vision in her flowing, strapless yellow gown with a sheer halter overlay. The symbolism of her color choice was deeply intentional. “We chose yellow because in Yoruba we say... 'mother is golden.' So like this is the perfect color to like let it out,” she told Extra. In her essay, she elaborated, “In Yoruba, we say Iya ni Wúrà which means ‘mother is golden,’ so when I saw sketches of this beautiful custom yellow Matthew Reisman, I knew it was the right dress and the right moment.”
For Mosaku, this pregnancy—her second—is both similar and strikingly different from her first. She has a young daughter, and as she told Extra, “It's exhausting. Especially the first trimester. That's the hardest. That's the hardest one and everyone keeps it quiet and it's so exhausting. Like the drain that you feel is like nothing else. The exhaustion, you just you just want to say, 'I need some support. I need some help. I I need to lie down. I need a nap.' But you're meant to like just pretend everything's okay. It's so hard.” Her acupuncturist’s advice, “Bring them into the room because then you can really be present in this moment instead of pretending, pretending, pretending,” resonated with her and helped guide her decision to embrace the moment publicly.
Mosaku’s “Sinners” co-star, Hailee Steinfeld, is also expecting, and the two have bonded over the unique challenges and surprises of second-time motherhood. “Moms always share like our experiences… we have definitely spoken about this journey and it's different second time round, it is very different second time around… I just didn't think it would be so different like I you know I worked up until seven months pregnant with my first and I'm like, ‘Woo, it is different this time,’” Mosaku shared.
The journey to the Golden Globes has been demanding for Mosaku, who welcomed her daughter just seven months before filming Sinners. Playing Annie, a Hoodoo practitioner grappling with grief and resilience, was especially poignant as a new mother. “I went from breastfeeding every meal to my baby to pumping. It was a huge shock,” she told W last year. “I didn’t realize I was getting a hit of oxytocin every time I fed my baby. I had a comedown that was so sharp and visceral. I was moving so fast, and a knife slipped. I cut my thumb open and wasted an entire morning in urgent care. My husband said, 'What would Annie do?'” That experience, she said, taught her to “slow down”—a lesson both her character and her real life demanded.
Despite her on-screen confidence, Mosaku admits to moments of vulnerability and intimidation. “That first read-through, I have dyslexia, so reading out loud is very intimidating for me,” she told Live From E! at the Golden Globes. “I felt ashamed, 'cause I was like, 'Oh that's Stack, that's Smoke. [Hailee Steinfeld's] like, I felt like she was off-book. Miles [Caton], he knew all the songs…everyone brought their A-game.' They're so good! I was really scared, I was really intimidated.” Yet, she and her castmates forged a harmonious ensemble, earning critical acclaim and a slew of nominations for their work.
The personal nature of Mosaku’s pregnancy announcement was not just about timing or fashion—it was also about representation and the realities faced by Black mothers. In her Vogue essay, she wrote, “Being pregnant as a Black woman, you’re not just worrying about whether your baby will be okay: You’re praying you will be, too. Holding joy and fear at the same time is not abstract; It’s rooted in lived experience, medical bias, and real statistics. Black maternal mortality is always on our minds.” She emphasized the need for greater gentleness and understanding when speaking about pregnancy, noting that matrescence—the journey to motherhood—is often fraught with unseen trials and anxieties.
Even as she celebrated Sinners and her growing family, Mosaku was candid about the challenges of balancing work, motherhood, and public scrutiny. She described her pregnancy as “delicate and fragile. Scary and awe-inspiring. Humbling and deeply profound.” The exhaustion and nausea of early pregnancy were compounded by the pressure to keep her news private. “I spend my days chasing after my toddler, a welcomed distraction from the business of work, and enjoy this continued excitement for Sinners,” she wrote. Amidst it all, she’s also launching a clothing line for mothers called Iyadé—“mother has arrived” in Yoruba—designed to honor bodies in transition and celebrate those who make life possible.
At the Golden Globes, Mosaku’s presence was a testament to resilience, authenticity, and cultural pride. By choosing to “stop trying to camouflage my bump today at the Golden Globes, so me and baby can truly enjoy and embrace the moment fully together,” she offered a powerful statement about motherhood, visibility, and the right to define one’s own narrative.
For many, Mosaku’s Golden Globes appearance was more than a fashion statement or celebrity reveal—it was a reminder of the complexity and beauty of motherhood, the importance of representation, and the courage it takes to embrace life’s most sacred journeys in the spotlight.
