fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Jessica Mei Li (born 27 August 1995) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Alina Starkov in the Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone.

Jessie Mei Li
Li in 2019
Born	Jessica Mei Li (1995-08-27) 27 August 1995 (age 27) Brighton, East Sussex, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2018–present

Early life and education

Li was born in Brighton, East Sussex to an English mother and a Chinese father. She grew up in Redhill, Surrey and has an older brother.[1][2] Li attended Reigate College from 2010 to 2012 and began studying French and Spanish at the University of Sussex, but eventually dropped out.[3][4][5] For nearly two years, Li worked as a teaching assistant for children with special needs at secondary school.[4]

Li joined the National Youth Theatre in 2015 and trained part-time at Identity School of Acting from 2016 to 2017.[6][7]

Career

Li made her professional stage debut in February 2019 playing the role of Claudia Casswell in All About Eve at Noel Coward Theatre, directed and adapted for the stage by Ivo van Hove, alongside Gillian Anderson and Lily James. [8][9]

In October 2019, it was announced Li would star in the lead role of Alina Starkov in the 2021 Netflix series Shadow and Bone, an adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse fantasy book series Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows.[10][11] Li initially had reservations about auditioning for the character of Alina Starkov, whose ethnicity was changed from white to mixed race for the show, citing concerns about whether the change was being made due to a diversity quota.[12][4] However during the audition process, Li observed that the change in Starkov's ethnicity "wasn't just a diversity box ticker" and "was something to help build the world and to help build her character."[1]

Li appears as Lara Chung in Edgar Wright's 2021 film Last Night in Soho.[13][14]

Personal life

Li was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.[4][15] Li uses both she and they pronouns.[16]

Li has spoken on growing up with a lack of positive Asian and biracial representation onscreen.[2][17] Her conflict over her dual heritage was compounded when she began auditioning, where she noticed mixed-race roles would sometimes go to fully Asian or white actors.[1] In an April 2021 interview, Li emphasized the importance of nuanced portrayals of Asians in media.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Together, They Smoke	Rose	Shortflix
2019	All About Eve	Claudia Casswell	National Theatre Live
	Travelooper	Kiera	Short film
2021	Last Night in Soho	Lara
TBA	Pork Scratchings	Ericka	Short film; upcoming
	Kukeri		Upcoming
	Havoc	Ellie	Upcoming[18]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Strangers		1 episode[19]
2019	Locked Up Abroad	Christina Jocko	Docuseries; episode: "Panamania"
2021–present	Shadow and Bone	Alina Starkov	Main role

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist	Notes
2018	"A Thousand Ringing Bells"	Uri Sade
2021	"Three Weeks"	James Humphrys	Starred; co-directed; edited[20]

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	All About Eve	Claudia Casswell	Noel Coward Theatre, London

References

External links

• Jessie Mei Li at IMDb

На других языках

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[de] Jessie Mei Li

Jessica „Jessie“ Mei Li (* 27. August 1995[1] in Brighton[2]) ist eine britische Schauspielerin.

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- [en] Jessie Mei Li

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[es] Jessie Mei Li

Jessica Mei Li (Brighton, Sussex Oriental, Inglaterra; 27 de agosto de 1995), conocida como Jessie Mei Li, es una actriz británica. Es conocida por interpretar a Alina Starkov en la serie de fantasía de Netflix Shadow and Bone. Apareció en la adaptación teatral de la película All About Eve y en 2021 tendrá un papel en la película Last Night in Soho de Edgar Wright.

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