Azie Tesfai

Azie Tesfai was born in Orange County, California, USA, and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are immigrants from Eritrea who grew up in Ethiopia. She enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. During her time at Berkeley, she began attending auditions and acting classes, laying the groundwork for her eventual career in entertainment.

Tesfai’s acting career began in 2006 with her role as Cherry Milton in ‘Wicked Wicked Games’, appearing in 30 episodes. She gained further recognition with recurring roles as Nadine Hanson in The CW’s ‘Jane the Virgin’ (2014-2016) and Dawn Simon in HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’ (2016). In 2018, she joined the cast of ‘Supergirl’ as Kelly Olsen, later becoming a series regular in 2019 and eventually taking on the mantle of Guardian. Tesfai achieved a significant milestone in 2021 when she co-wrote episode 12 of the sixth season of ‘Supergirl’ (2021), becoming the first Arrowverse actor to receive a writing credit on an Arrowverse series.

Beyond acting, Tesfai is also a writer and producer. She has two series in development: ‘The Chase’, with Universal Television for NBC, and ‘Sheba’, a drama about Africa’s first queen, produced by Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media for Hulu’s Onyx Collective. In addition to her entertainment career, Tesfai is a social entrepreneur. She founded Fortuned Culture, a jewelry company based in Los Angeles, where proceeds from sales are used to support children in developing countries such as Mexico, Ethiopia, and Cambodia. This initiative reflects her commitment to philanthropy.