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

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

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

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 film, animated Musical film, musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd List of Walt Disney Animati ...

'' (2019), and the

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in the

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television series ''

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'' (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 Rubag ...

, 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 Dor ...

, 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 ...

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

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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

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, 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, Ayo, a member of the all-female

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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'' (1993), '' PCU'' (1994), '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Very Bad Things'' (1998), '' Deep Impact'' (1998 ...

, 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 Netwo ...

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 several accolades, including an Academy Award, and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. The daughter of Kenyan politi ...

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