Florence Kasumba (born 26 October 1976) is a Ugandan-born German actress. She is best known for her portrayal of

Ayo The interjection Ayo! is a common variation of the word Yo!. Ayo, Ayọ, Ayọ̀ and AYO may also refer to: People Ayọ is a common Yoruba given name, it can be given to a female and a male. ''Ayọ'' in Yoruba means ''Joy''. * Ayo Akinola, A ...

in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

films '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016), ''Black Panther'' (2018), '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), and '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' (2022), as well as the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

series ''

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' is an American television miniseries created by Malcolm Spellman for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. ...

'' (2021). She is also known for her acting in German and Dutch films. She also played Senator Acantha in ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

'' (2017), Shenzi in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'' (2019), and the

Wicked Witch of the East The Wicked Witch of the East is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is a crucial character but appears only briefly in Baum's classic children's series of List of Oz books, ''Oz'' novels, most notably ''The Won ...

in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

television series ''

Emerald City The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). Fictional description Located in the center of the La ...

'' (2017).

Early life

Florence Kasumba was born on 26 October 1976 in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda. She spent her childhood in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, Germany, where she attended elementary school and high school. After watching the musical

Starlight Express ''Starlight Express'' is a 1984 British musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern engines in the hope of ...

at the age of 12, she was inspired to become a performer. She earned her degree in acting, singing, and dancing from

Fontys University of Applied Sciences Fontys University of Applied Sciences is a Dutch university of applied sciences with over 44,000 students in several campuses located in the southern Netherlands. The three largest Fontys campuses are located in the cities of Eindhoven, Tilburg ...

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

, the Netherlands. Kasumba is fluent in German, English, and Dutch. She resides in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Germany.

Career

While she was still studying in college, Kasumba landed her first professional film role, Silke, in the Dutch motion picture hit

Ik ook van jou ''I Love You Too'' ( nl, Ik ook van jou) is a 2001 Dutch drama film, based on a novel by Ronald Giphart. The film received a Golden Film The Golden Film ( nl, Gouden Film) is a film award recognizing domestic box office achievements in the N ...

. After graduating from college, she performed in many musicals, such as ''Chicago'', ''The Lion King'', Cats, West Side Story, Evita, and Beauty and the Beast. Florence Kasumba travelled to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was cast in the title role in Germany's premiere production of Elton John's international hit musical Aida. She also played Lisa in Germany's premiere cast of Mamma Mia. Kasumba has appeared in a variety of Dutch, German and English language films and television series. Kasumba made her

debut in the 2016 film '' Captain America: Civil War''. Her role was credited as a security guard for

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

, and she received widespread praise for her brief scene in which she threatens Black Widow by ordering her to "Move or you will be moved." Kasumba reprised the character,

, a member of the all-female

Dora Milaje The Dora Milaje are fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are a team of women who serve as special forces for the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Members of the Dora Milaje appear in the Mar ...

fighting squad, in the ''

'' solo film, '' Avengers: Infinity War,'' and the streaming series ''

''. She played Senator Acantha in 2017's ''

'' and the

in the

television series ''

''. She splits her time between U.S. and German film and TV productions. In 2019, Kasumba landed the character of Shenzi in the computer-animated remake, ''

'' (2019) directed by

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau (; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

, alongside

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He co-created and co-starred alongside Jordan Peele in Comedy Central's sketch series ''Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) and co-starred in USA Netw ...

and

Eric André Eric Samuel André (born April 4, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host and writer. He is best known as the creator, host, and co-writer of the Adult Swim comedy series ''The Eric Andre Show'' (2012–present). ...

as Kamari and Azizi.

Awards and nominations

She was nominated for the Black Entertainment Film Fashion Television & Arts Award for International Rising Star in 2016, against

Lupita Nyong'o Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (, ; ; born 1 March 1983) is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Lupita Nyong'o, several accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, and nominations for ...

John Boyega John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is a British actor and producer. He first rose to prominence in his native Britain for his role as Moses in the sci-fi comedy film '' Attack the Block ...

and Lisa Awuku. Kasumba appeared alongside Nyong'o in ''Black Panther''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Official Website

Florence Kasumba
at the German Dubbing Card Index {{DEFAULTSORT:Kasumba, Florence 1976 births Living people German film actresses German television actresses People from Kampala Ugandan emigrants to Germany Ugandan film actresses Ugandan television actresses 21st-century German actresses 21st-century Ugandan actresses