Florence Kasumba - Black Women, Facts and Facts

Florence was born on October 26, 1976, in Kampala, Uganda. Her family shifted to Germany when she was quite young hence Florence had to spend her childhood in Essen, Germany.

At the age of 12, Florence got an opportunity to watch the famous rock musical, ‘Starlight Express.’ She felt inspired after watching the musical and made up her mind to pursue a career in acting.

After finishing her high school in Germany, Florence couldn’t wait to enroll herself at the famous ‘Fontys University of Applied Sciences,’ located at Tilburg, Netherlands. She graduated from ‘Fontys University’ with a degree in acting, dancing, and singing.

Since Florence was studying in the Netherlands, her acting career started with a Dutch film titled ‘I Love You Too.’ She was offered to play ‘Silke’ in this 2001 film, while she was still pursuing her education at the ‘Fontys University.’

Though she started off her career with a feature film, Florence went back to the basics after her graduation, and started performing in musicals. She took up several roles in musicals, such as ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘The Lion King,’ ‘West Side Story,’ ‘Cats,’ ‘Chicago,’ and ‘Evita.’

She then moved to New York City, where she played the title role in the world-renowned Elton John’s musical, ‘Aida.’ She was then cast as ‘Lisa’ in a German production, ‘Mamma Mia.’ After gaining enough experience through musicals, Florence decided to return to celluloid.

She took up roles in several German films, including ‘Age of Cannibals’ and ‘The Stoning.’ In 2006, she made her television debut in the longest-running German drama, ‘Tatort.’ She was part of the famous show for 10 consecutive years.

From 2006 until 2012, Florence focused only on her television career and appeared in a number of German TV series. In 2012, she portrayed the character of ‘Tessi’ in a feature film titled ‘Transpapa.’

In 2013, she was seen in a couple of German TV series. The following year, Florence appeared as ‘Talmuh’ in the American reality competition series, ‘The Quest.’ The series was aired on ‘ABC’ and made Kasumba a celebrity in the United States.

Florence Kasumba’s big breakthrough came in 2016, when she was cast in the ‘Marvel Studios’ movie ‘Captain America: Civil War.’ She played ‘Ayo,’ one of the ‘Dora Milaje’ from the fictional African nation, ‘Wakanda.’

She then appeared in the American supernatural television series ‘Dominion,’ in which she played the role of ‘Daria’ in three episodes. In 2017, she was cast as ‘Senator Acantha’ in the ‘DC Comics’ film ‘Wonder Woman.’

She played the famous fictional character ‘Wicked Witch of the East’ in the NBC-aired fantasy television series, ‘Emerald City.’ Florence was then asked to reprise her role as ‘Ayo’ in the 2018 ‘Marvel Studios’ film ‘Black Panther.’ Since ‘Ayo’ is a recurring character, Florence is expected to reprise her role in a few other superhero flicks as well.

In 2016, Florence won the ‘International Rising Star Award’ at the ‘Black Entertainment Film Fashion Television & Arts Award.’

With ‘Wonder Woman,’ Florence entered an elite list of actors, who have appeared on both ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ and ‘DC Comics’ films. Florence joined the likes of Halle Berry, Zoe Saldana, Natalie Portman, Ryan Reynolds, and Ben Affleck, when she appeared in ‘Captain America’ and ‘Wonder Woman.’

Kasumba has managed to keep her personal life away from tabloids. She currently resides in Germany.