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

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

fantasy series ''

Shadow and Bone ''Shadow and Bone'' is a young adult fantasy adventure and debut novel written by Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo. It was published by Macmillan Publishers on June 5, 2012. The novel is narrated by Alina Starkov, a teenage orphan who grows ...

''.

Early life and education

Li was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

to an English mother and a Hong Kong-Chinese father. She grew up in

Redhill, Surrey Redhill () is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead within the county of Surrey, England. The town, which adjoins the town of Reigate to the west, is due south of Croydon in Greater London, and is part of the London commuter belt. The ...

and has an older brother. Li attended

Reigate College Reigate College is a state college in Reigate, Surrey, England, for students aged between 16–19 years of age. The college occupies part of the town centre between the High Street and railway station. Reigate College was graded by Ofsted as " ...

from 2010 to 2012 and began studying French and Spanish at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, but eventually dropped out. For nearly two years, Li worked as a teaching assistant for children with special needs at secondary school. Li joined the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

in 2015 and trained part-time at

Identity School of Acting Identity School of Acting is a part-time drama school that was founded in London, England by Femi Oguns in 2003. A second branch and campus opened in Los Angeles, California in 2018. Identity School of Acting began in 2003 with 10 students at ...

from 2016 to 2017.

Career

Li made her professional stage debut in February 2019 playing the role of Claudia Casswell in ''

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...

'' at

Noel Coward Theatre Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Britis ...

, directed and adapted for the stage by

Ivo van Hove Ivo van Hove (born 28 October 1958) is a Belgian theatre director known as the artistic director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam in the Netherlands and for his Off-Broadway avant-garde experimental theatre productions. On Broadway, he has directed re ...

, alongside

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film ''The House of Mirth'' ...

and

Lily James Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson (born 5 April 1989), better known by her stage name Lily James, is an English actress. She studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and began her career in the British television series ''Ju ...

. In October 2019, it was announced Li would star in the lead role of Alina Starkov in the 2021

series ''

'', an adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse fantasy book series ''

'' and ''

Six of Crows ''Six of Crows'' is a fantasy novel written by the Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo and published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2015. The story follows a thieving crew and is primarily set in the city of Ketterdam, which is loosely inspired by ...

''. 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. 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." Li appears as Lara Chung in Edgar Wright's 2021 film ''

Last Night in Soho ''Last Night in Soho'' is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence St ...

''.

Personal life

Li was diagnosed with

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

as an adult. Li uses both ''she'' and ''they''

pronouns In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts o ...

. Li has spoken on growing up with a lack of positive Asian and biracial representation onscreen. 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. In an April 2021 interview, Li emphasized the importance of nuanced portrayals of Asians in media.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Stage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Jessie Mei Living people 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Brighton Actresses from Surrey British actresses of Chinese descent British people of Chinese descent English people of Hong Kong descent English film actresses English female taekwondo practitioners English television actresses LGBT actresses English LGBT actors National Youth Theatre members People from Redhill, Surrey 1995 births