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 seriesMADtv and for playing Flavius inThe Hunger Games film series.
Nelson Ascencio was born in Guayos, Cuba but fled his homeland when he was very young. He then immigrated toTarrytown, NY, where he started acting in his early teens with local theater and school productions. He continued his acting training after high school at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts and the HB Studios. While living in Manhattan, Ascencio performed stand up. Then he moved toLos Angeles, California where he took classes atthe 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 onThe Larry Sanders Show andSeinfeld.
Ascencio joined the cast ofMADtv 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 ofDon'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]
