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.

Li was born in Brighton, East Sussex to an English mother and a Chinese father who was born in mainland China and raised in Hong Kong.

Li joined the National Youth Theatre in 2015 and trained part-time at Identity School of Acting from 2016 to 2017.

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.

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.".

Li has been cast as Lara Chung in Edgar Wright's upcoming film Last Night in Soho.

Li is based in Bristol. She is vegan.". Li uses both she and they pronouns, saying, "I'm pretty flexible, she, they, whichever your preference is. I'm both.". She also describes herself as gender nonconforming. She began studying Hungarian so she could bond with Shadow and Bone's crew members. She has experience with martial arts such as Taekwondo and Wing Chun. For a long time, Li has a worn a necklace depicting her Chinese zodiac sign, the Pig.