Jessie Mei Li

Jessica Mei Li (born 27 August 1995) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Alina Starkov in the Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone (2021–). Early life and education Li was born in Brighton, East Sussex to an English mother and a Chinese father who was raised in Hong Kong. She grew up in Redhill, Surrey and has an older brother. Li attended Reigate College from 2010 to 2012 and 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 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 Noël Coward Theatre, directed and adapted for the stage by Ivo van Hove, alongside Gillian Anderson and Lily James.