Zoë Carroll Chao (born September 19, 1985) is an American television and stage actress and screenwriter, principally known for her roles as Isobel in ''

Strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown or unfamiliar to another person or group. Because of this unknown status or unfamiliarity, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, chara ...

'' and Zoë in '' The Afterparty''.

Early life

Chao was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, United States. Her mother has Irish and English ancestry, while her father is of Chinese descent. Her paternal grandmother immigrated from China to Michigan. Chao has stated that she grew up in a family of

visual artists The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

. After graduating from the Wheeler School in 2004, she received her BA in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

and her MFA from the graduate acting program at

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing ...

Career

Chao has participated in theatre productions, including La Jolla Playhouse's ''Sideways'', ''Surf Report'', and WoW Festivals' ''Our Town,'' and Ensemble Theatre Company's ''Amadeus''. In 2016, she appeared in the Off Broadway play ''Friend Art'' at Second Stage. She has worked with directors

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born 5 February 1948), known professionally as Christopher Guest, is a British-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. Guest has written, directed, and starred in his series of comedy ...

, Les Waters, Ping Chong and Chris Ashley. Chao also starred in her own TV series, ''God Particles'', which she wrote and produced. She co-produced the 2017 short ''Like Animals''. She is perhaps best known for starring as Isobel in ''

'', the first three episodes of which were screened at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. In 2022-23, Chao was in the main cast of the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

mystery comedy series '' The Afterparty''. In 2024, Chao appeared as Nina Mazursky in the animated television series ''

Creature Commandos The Creature Commandos are the name of several military special forces groups appearing in American comic book, American comic books published by DC Comics. Co-created by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Pat Broderick, the team first appeared i ...

'', written and created by

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1996). He then began working as a director, starting wi ...

for the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

based on the team of the same name. In 2024, Chao was cast in the comedy '' Let's Have Kids!'' opposite Karen Gillan.

Personal life

During the filming of ''

'', Chao relocated from New York City to Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chao, Zoë 1985 births Living people Actresses from Providence, Rhode Island 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers American television writers American actresses of Chinese descent American film actresses American television actresses American women television writers Brown University alumni Screenwriters from Rhode Island University of California, San Diego alumni Writers from Providence, Rhode Island