Nelson Ascencio Explained

Birth Place:Havana, Cuba
Yearsactive:1990–present

Nelson Ascencio (born August 30, 1964) is a Cuban-American actor and comedian. Ascencio is most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv and for playing Flavius in The Hunger Games film series.

Life and career

Nelson Ascencio was born in Guayos, Cuba but fled his homeland when he was very young. He then immigrated to Tarrytown, NY, where he started acting in his early teens with local theater and school productions. He continued his acting training after high school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the HB Studios. While living in Manhattan, Ascencio performed stand up. Then he moved to Los Angeles, California where he took classes at the Groundlings Theatre. Since then he has written, performed and produced his own sketch shows with the comedy group Unsafe Sketch at HBO Workspace, Luna Park, The Upfront and Theatre at the Improv. His television credits include appearances on The Larry Sanders Show and Seinfeld.

Ascencio joined the cast of MADtv in 1999 as a feature performer for the fifth season, becoming the show's first Cuban-American cast member as well as the second one to be born outside of North America (after Bryan Callen) and the second Latino cast member at the time (after Pablo Francisco). Ascencio was later promoted to a repertory performer status at the beginning of the sixth season, but left at the end.

In February, 2012 Ascencio joined the cast of Don't Tell My Mother! (Live Storytelling), a monthly showcase in which celebrities share comedic accounts of stories they would never want their mothers to know.[1]

Ascencio appeared in The Hunger Games (2012), as Flavius, a part of Katniss Everdeen's (Jennifer Lawrence) prep team. He reprised his role in the sequel (2013).

Filmography

Television appearances

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1990Gabriel's FireKid1 episode
1993The Larry Sanders ShowXavier The Burglar1 episode (as Nelson Lesmo)
1996Party GirlMan1 episode
1999–2001MADtvvarious31 episodes
2003Birds of PreyCraig Finn1 episode
2004Curb Your EnthusiasmRoom Service Waiter1 episode
2007Imperfect UnionWorker #1TV movie
2023White House PlumbersVirgilio "Villo" GonzalezHBO limited series

Film appearances

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2011PaulJorge
2012The Hunger GamesFlavius
2013
2016Mucho DineroMateo
2020GodmotheredMr. Clancy

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Don'T Tell My Mother! - Story Slam . Allevents.in . 2012-02-09 . 2012-07-09.