Lisa Jai Yamanaka is a Canadian actress. She is known as the voice of Wanda Li in ''

The Magic School Bus ''The Magic School Bus'' is an American edutainment media franchise that includes a book series, a TV series, a streaming series, and video games. Each of the stories within the franchise centers on the antics of a fictional elementary sch ...

'' and Yoko in ''

Timothy Goes to School ''Timothy Goes to School'' is a children's animated television series based on books written by Rosemary Wells, but is titled after the book of the same name. The show premiered on September 30, 2000, and aired its final episode on January 26, 20 ...

''. Yamanaka is also known for her work on ''

Babar Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian language, Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian language, Persian ...

'' and ''

Resident Evil 2 ''Resident Evil 2'' is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation. The player controls Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens a ...

''. She is also credited as Lisa Boynton and Lisa Jai.

Career

Yamanaka was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada, where she stayed until 2008 when she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

before moving back to Toronto in 2011. Lisa Yamanaka attended

Central Commerce Collegiate Central Toronto Academy (CTA); formerly Central Commerce Collegiate Institute and originally High School of Commerce and Finance is a public, semestered secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the Palmerston-Little Italy neighbo ...

Institute in Toronto, Ontario. Lisa Jai was awarded the Unsung Hero Award by the City of Toronto 2012 for her advocacy work in diversity in the mainstream media. Lisa Jai debuted her first theater production in the city of Watts, California as Isela Sanchez in

Lynn Manning Lynn Manning (April 30, 1955 – August 3, 2015) was an American Paralympian, playwright, poet and actor known for his autobiographical work that explores the complexities of life as a blind African-American man.Sandahl, Carrie "Manning, Lynn" pr ...

's 'The Unrequited: A tale between two Worlds' with Cornerstone Theater and Watts Village Theater. Recently, she has become an advocate for disabled actors, having developed rheumatoid arthritis. As of 2018, Lisa Jai focuses her time on theater, independent films, and advocacy. She is also a published poet and spoken-word artist: performing at the inaugural event Poetic Fashion. She has also performed spoken word in Los Angeles, New York, and Swaziland.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * * Living people Canadian actresses of Japanese descent Actresses from Toronto Actresses from Los Angeles Canadian television actresses Canadian voice actresses Canadian child actresses Canadian video game actresses 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women {{voice-actor-stub