When the pandemic shut down San Francisco’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” production two years ago, actor Lily Mojekwu, who now plays Hermione Granger, opted to stay in the city and ride things out with her trusty beagle, Hudson. Her second decision: to apply for U.S. citizenship, a choice that would come to occupy her mind, lift her spirits and send her into a deep dive into this country’s history.

The Nigerian-born actor came to the United States with her family when she was about 3 years old. As the youngest of six, she had little memory of her native country and her language.

“I felt the least connection to Nigeria of all my family,” Mojekwu says, “and I really wanted to hold on to my country of origin, if that makes sense. At times, I thought about becoming a U.S. citizen, but I wasn’t ready.”

Then came the pandemic and the year that wasn’t. While the world struggled with COVID, the U.S. also was undergoing a sort of self-revelation. Bandages were being pulled off old, unhealed wounds, revealing the festering scars of racism and injustice. Mojekwu was moved by the Black Lives Matter protests and the visceral images of killings of Black men and women by police and vigilantes. She felt a strong need to be part of the collective voice saying, “No more.”

“I’d never felt such a strong pull,” Mojekwu says. “I realized I was very much American, but there was a lot I hadn’t contributed to and more that I could do.”

At a time when the nation’s deep divides were making some people question where they belonged, Mojekwu took a step toward finding her place and embracing a new country. With “The Cursed Child” on hiatus, finances were a concern, too. So when she learned that the citizenship application fee – $725 in 2019 – was soon set to nearly double, she took the plunge.

For someone so full of life and exuberance, who speaks in long, excited sentences bursting with joy, and who is accustomed to taking center stage, literally, the task of studying for her citizenship exam might have been doomed during the isolation of lockdown. In those first weeks and months, Mojekwu seldom saw or interacted with anyone. One day, she even counted the number of words she had spoken aloud — 227, all delivered to her lovable beagle.

Her naturalization journey soon became a community project, with the cast and crew of the “Cursed Child” offering help with the application fees and support for the hours of study involved in passing the exam. When her friend, Brittany Zeinstra, the thespian who now plays Delphi in the production, offered to help, Mojekwu bought citizenship flashcards and had an identical set sent to Zeinstra for what became weekly Zoom study sessions.

“I don’t think I could have made it without her,” Mojekwu says. “We were two actors, just taking our time and studying.”

Zeinstra says that during a time that had the least meaning, she knew she could count on seeing her friend every Friday for their study sessions.

“We’re both Ravenclaws,” Zeinstra says, “so the process was a blast. With all our silly hand gestures and songs, we joked we should have a podcast for other new citizens studying for the exam.”

Mojekwu approached her studies much the same way she learns her lines and motivation for a role. The two women tied civics facts to movements and gestures — baby shark hands for speech, prayer hands for religion, big circles for the right of assembly. They used mnemonics and adapted songs to recall other facts.

“We sang ‘We The People’ to the tune of Destiny’s Child’s ‘Independent Women,’” Zeinstra says. “We had several references to Hamilton – thanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda – like singing the names of the Federalist Papers’ authors or laughing through ‘I was chosen for the Constitu-tion-al Con-ven-tion!’”

In the process, Mojekwu discovered historical facts even American-born citizens are unlikely to know. Among them, the 27th Amendment was written in 1789, but it wasn’t ratified until more than 202 years later, thanks to a University of Texas sophomore’s discovery.

By the time her exam date was set in early January, Mojekwu was in the thick of rehearsals for the revamped play and had just been cast in one of the lead roles. That’s when she really channeled Hermione, the brainy Gryffindor witch she plays on stage. She set up more study sessions and reviewed her notes over and over. Even the stagehands took to quizzing her.

Mojekwu might have been singing and dancing her answers to the oral exam, she says, but she was dead serious about passing it. And she did.

COVID restrictions meant no guests could attend her naturalization ceremony in February, but that didn’t dampen the excitement. Flowers and well wishes poured in from all the cast and crew. The woman who takes care of the cast wardrobe altered a dress for her, and the make-up artist did her hair and makeup for the ceremony.

“I felt like Cinderella,” Mojekwu says.

When she returned to the Curran theater afterward, a U.S. flag hung on her dressing room door, and an apple pie was waiting for her inside.

Now that she is a citizen, she has a bucket list of things to do. (She’s now ready to make her first citizen’s arrest, she jokes.) Top on the list is getting her passport – she’s already got the perfect photo for it – and, of course, voting in her first election later in April.

And court clerks, take note.

“I’ve never served on a jury,” Mojekwu says. “I’m curious about that process.”

If You Go

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” runs through Sept. 4 with performances at 7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday and 1 p.m. weekend matinees at the Curran, 445 Geary St. in San Francisco. Tickets are $40 to $299; sf.harrypottertheplay.com.

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