Jessie Mei Li

Jessica Mei Li (born 27 August 1995) is an English actress. She stars as Alina Starkov in the Netflix fantasy series "Shadow and Bone". She also appeared in the 2019 production of "All About Eve" and will appear in Edgar Wright's upcoming film "Last Night in Soho".
Early life and education.
Li was born in Brighton, East Sussex to an English mother, who is a nurse, and a Chinese-born, Hong Kong-raised father. She grew up in Redhill, Surrey and has an older brother who is a doctor in the NHS. On growing up in a predominantly white area in the south of England, Li commented that "racism towards Asian people in the U.K. [...] is so weird and not taken seriously." Li stated that during childhood, people were "outright racist and mocking" towards her.
Li attended Reigate College from 2010 to 2012. She began studying French and Spanish at the University of Sussex, but eventually dropped out. For nearly two years, Li worked as a teaching assistant for children with special needs at a local secondary school. 
Li joined the National Youth Theatre in 2015 and trained part-time at Identity School of Acting from 2016 to 2017.
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. The production was broadcast live internationally via National Theatre Live on 11 April 2019.
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". Bardugo voiced support for Li's casting, saying, "In many ways, Jessie is the person Alina grows into―confident, joyful, brave. I saw all of that, and also this tremendous vulnerability that felt so true to who Alina is." The first season premiered on 23 April 2021. 
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. Li's apprehension was put at ease after auditioning, when she was asked to perform a scene in which Alina explicitly discusses race and her experience as a biracial woman. This convinced Li 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."
In February 2021, musician James Humphrys released the music video for his single "Three Weeks" starring Li, who also directed and co-edited the video.
Li has been cast as Lara Chung in Edgar Wright's upcoming film "Last Night in Soho".
Personal life.
Li is based in Bristol. She is vegan. She struggled with undiagnosed ADHD until receiving a formal diagnosis as an adult, which "answered many lifelong questions" and "completely changed how I viewed loads of things in my life". Li has been vocal on wanting to be a role model for neurodivergent people. 
Li uses both she and they pronouns, saying, "I'm pretty flexible, she, they, whichever your preference is. I'm both." She began studying Hungarian so she could bond with "Shadow and Bone"'s crew members. She can do Taekwondo and Wing Chun. Since infancy, Li has a worn a necklace depicting her Chinese zodiac sign, the Pig.
Li has spoken on growing up with a lack of positive Asian and biracial representation onscreen. Li has noted that her mixed-race background was "certainly something I felt growing up" and that she "put up with a lot of microaggressions, and also just outright racist comments". 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 with "Vogue Australia", Li spoke out against the recent rise in anti-Asian hate, and emphasized the importance of nuanced portrayals of Asians in media.