Did you know this Bridgerton actress once lived in Kenya

Her full name is Arséma Adeoluwayemi Hamera Thomas, and she was born June 19th, 1994.

Arséma Adeoluwayemi Aamera
Image: Instagram

If you've watched Shonda Rhymes latest creation, Queen Charlotte then you know all about the captivating and resilient Lady Danbury and how she aced the role.

Here are a few facts you didn't know about American actress Arsema Thomas who stars in Bridgerton's spin off Queen Charlotte as young Lady Agatha Danbury.

Her full name is Arséma Adeoluwayemi Hamera Thomas, and she was born June 19th, 1994.

 

The 28-year-old was born to a Nigerian father and an Ethiopian mother and has spent much of her life in Africa.

 

Speaking about her life gallivanting around the motherland during and interview with award winning musician Kelly Clarkson the actress revealed even though she was born in America she spent a lot of her childhood in different parts of Africa.

"I was born in Atlanta, Georgia... then we moved to New York but then I grew up a lot around Sub-Saharan Africa because we kept moving a lot..." started off Arsema.

 

The actress went on to list some of the beautiful places across the African continent where she had got to live in.

"Some of the countries that I got to call home include Kenya, Benin, Togo, and Uganda and then eventually we moved back to New York." Revealed Arsenal.

Sadly, Kenya isn't her favourite country... she adores it but Benin has her heart. She loves the fact that the 3/4 of the country is a beach.

"It is a small country in West Africa and like the beach is half the entire country," Arsema reveals.

Arsema used to work as a butcher’s assistant in London’s Notting Hill neighbourhood before she landed the role in Netflix's new and insanely popular Shondaland series that explores the backstory behind the fiery, scene-stealing queen Charlotte in Bridgerton.

She almost missed the call back from Netflix after the auditions as she was busy cutting up meat for a customer and they weren't allowed to have their phones with them while working.

Luckily, they called up and she was able to sneak away and have a talk with the agency because she had been anticipating the call all week long.

Arsema is all beauty and brains... like literally! The actress is a double degree holder with a degree in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University and another for Public Health from the prestigious Yale University.

After completing her education, the budding actress Arsema moved to South Africa where she auditioned for an agent, thus kick starting her acting career, which has seen her earn a Masters of Fine Arts in Acting.

Her first professional role came in the TV series One Touch in 2021 and she followed that up with an appearance in the 2022 film Redeeming Love where she appeared alongside established stars including Famke Jansen and Nina Dobrev.

Read also: