Yaani King Mondschein (born August 10, 1981) is an American actress, best known for portraying Neely Lloyd in the crime drama series '' Saving Grace'' (2007–2010) and providing the voice and

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

for Riley Abel in the action-adventure video game '' The Last of Us: Left Behind'' (2014).

Early life

King was born in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on August 10, 1981. Her mother, a retired

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

officer, also performed in theater. She is of Guyanese and West Indian descent, and grew up in New York's

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

borough. She attended

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Ce ...

at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, and later studied acting at The Actors Centre in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Career

King began her acting career appearing in a number of

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

productions, and had guest roles on television series including ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'' and ''

Sex and The City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

''. She made her film debut in a small part in the 2003 erotic thriller ''

In the Cut ''In the Cut'' is a 1995 thriller novel by American writer Susanna Moore. The plot follows an English teacher at New York University who becomes entangled in a sexual relationship with a detective investigating a series of gruesome murders in her ...

'', before a supporting turn in the 2004 romantic comedy ''

The Prince & Me ''The Prince & Me'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, and starring Julia Stiles, Luke Mably and Ben Miller, with Miranda Richardson, James Fox and Alberta Watson. The film focuses on Paige Morgan, a pre-med col ...

''. In 2007, 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' ...

and had guest starring roles on ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

'', ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'', and ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

''. From 2009 to 2010, King was a regular cast member on the TNT crime drama series '' Saving Grace'' as Neely Lloyd, a young drug addict. During this time, she also guest starred on ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fict ...

'', '' Major Crimes'', and '' NCIS''. King provided the voice and motion capture for Riley Abel in the 2014 action-adventure video game '' The Last of Us: Left Behind''. Later that year, she played a plantation slave in the Civil War western film ''

Deliverance Creek ''Deliverance Creek'' is a 2014 American Civil War drama film directed by Jon Amiel and written by Melissa Carter. It premiered on the Lifetime Network on September 13, 2014. It was produced by Nicholas Sparks. The film has been described as ha ...

''. In 2015, she was cast in a recurring role as Ada Eze on the ABC prime time television soap opera ''

Blood & Oil ''Blood & Oil'' is an American prime time television soap opera created by Josh Pate and Rodes Fishburne, that premiered on ABC on September 27, 2015. The series follows a young couple that moves to fictitious Rock Springs, North Dakota, afte ...

'', and had a role on '' The Magicians'' in 2016. She appeared in the 2020 horror comedy film '' Bad Hair''. In 2022, King was cast as one of leads in the

Oprah Winfrey Network Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable channel jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios that launched on January 1, 2011, replacing the Discovery Health Channel. The network is led by talk show h ...

prime time soap opera, ''

The Kings of Napa ''The Kings of Napa'' is an American prime time television soap opera, created and produced by Janine Sherman Barrois, and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films and Warner Bros. Television. The series premiered on OWN on January 11, ...

''.‘The Kings Of Napa’: Ebonee Noel, Rance Nix, Karen LeBlanc, Yaani King Mondschein To Star In OWN Drama
/ref>

Personal life

Yaani married actor Adam Mondschein on July 25, 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King Mondschein, Yaani 1981 births American film actresses Living people American people of Guyanese descent People from Brooklyn Actresses from New York City American television actresses 21st-century American actresses Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni People from Queens, New York