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 List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

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

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series '' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' (2021). She is also known for her acting in German and Dutch films. She played Senator Acantha in ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' (2017), Shenzi in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' (2019), and the Wicked Witch of the East in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

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 ...

'' (2017).

Early life

Florence Kasumba was born on 26 October 1976 in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda. She spent her childhood in

Essen Essen () 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 Dortmund, as well as ...

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

Starlight Express '' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 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 locomotives of diesel and el ...

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 in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

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

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, 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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 Melanism, 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 Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

, 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

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 Ma ...

fighting squad, in the ''

'' solo film, '' Avengers: Infinity War,'' and the streaming series '' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier''. She played Senator Acantha in 2017's ''

'' and the Wicked Witch of the East 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 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 comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch series '' Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) for which he received one Primetime Emmy Award from ...

and

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

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, John Boyega 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 Actresses from Essen Actresses from Kampala Ugandan emigrants to Germany Ugandan film actresses Ugandan television actresses 21st-century German actresses 21st-century Ugandan actresses Ugandan actresses