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Jessie Mei Li is an English actor best known for playing Alina Starkov, the lead of Netflix’s fantasy series Shadow and Bone. She is also credited as Jessica Mei Li. Her public profile rests on dated interviews and entertainment-press coverage rather than an official biography, so this guide separates what those sources establish from what they do not, and it dates every claim that could change over time.
Quick facts about Jessie Mei Li
- Profession: English actor.
- Name credit: Jessie Mei Li, also credited as Jessica Mei Li.
- Best-known role: Alina Starkov in Shadow and Bone, Netflix’s fantasy adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse fiction.
- Hometown and upbringing: Born in Brighton and raised in Redhill, Surrey, according to The Standard’s March 2023 profile.
- Recent role: Cola in The Season, a six-episode drama (covered by EURweb in June 2026).
Early life and background
According to The Standard’s March 2023 profile, Li was born in Brighton to an English mother and a Chinese father. She grew up in Redhill, Surrey. Her mixed heritage is central to how she has discussed her career, and it also shapes how the television version of Alina is presented, which is covered below.
Education and the road into acting
Li began university studies in French and Spanish at the University of Sussex, according to The Standard. She left after roughly a year and a half. In the same profile, she describes feeling pushed toward a path she did not want and taking an acting class for fun.
In a 2021 interview with NYLON, Li described the years that followed. She worked as a teaching assistant, took acting courses and workshops, and auditioned for drama schools without being accepted. She kept auditioning. The Standard adds that she worked briefly as a teaching assistant and especially enjoyed working with neurodivergent children, and that she was working on All About Eve when she landed the Shadow and Bone lead.
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Shadow and Bone and the role of Alina Starkov
Li plays Alina Starkov, the protagonist of Shadow and Bone. The Standard identifies the series as a Netflix fantasy production and notes that its second season was released in March 2023. ELLE describes the television adaptation as drawing on both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows, two novels in Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse.
How the television version changes Alina’s background
The show makes Alina biracial. ELLE explains that the series gives Alina a Ravkan father and a mother from Shu Han, and that the character experiences racism and xenophobia. Li told ELLE that this background matters to the world-building and to Alina’s question of belonging.
NYLON describes television Alina as an orphan bullied for her mixed-race parentage. In that 2021 interview, Li reflected on having been “othered” because of her race.
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The source books and how to read their figures
If you are comparing the books and the series, the key difference is scope. The television show combines material from two Grishaverse novels, while the interviews cited here discuss changes made to Alina’s background for the screen. ELLE’s 2021 article reported that the Grishaverse novels had sold five million copies in English and had more than 50 translations. Those are figures reported in 2021 and attributed to the novels by ELLE. They are not a current sales or translation count, and they say nothing about Li herself.
Her views on representation
Li has spoken about representation in several interviews, and her statements have shifted in emphasis across them. In The Standard’s March 10, 2023 interview, she said:
“Representation matters a lot because TV is how a lot of people see the world if they don’t get around much.”
In the April 30, 2021 NYLON interview, she said:
“I’ve spent most of my life being othered by literally everyone, and having people comment on my race all the time.”
In a July 8, 2026 Media Update Q&A, she addressed how casting and commissioning decisions shape what audiences see:
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These are Li’s own opinions in the interviews where they appear. They are not independently established facts about the wider industry.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Recent work: The Season
A June 2026 EURweb interview describes Li playing Cola in The Season, a six-episode drama set in Hong Kong’s elite boating world. At the time of that report, all six episodes were available on Hulu in the United States, and EURweb also described access through a Disney+ and Hulu bundle. Streaming rights change over time, so this availability reflects June 19, 2026 in the United States only. Check your own territory and current listings before watching.
In the same EURweb interview, Li described Cola in these terms: “She is someone who has had to graft to get where she is. She’s a hard worker. She’s tenacious. She’s motivated. And she’s incredibly bold.”
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Personal identity
In a 2023 interview with The Standard, Li identified as queer. That is a disclosure from a dated interview, and it is reported here only as her own statement from that conversation. Nothing in the available coverage establishes her current residence, relationship status, or other personal details, and this guide does not infer them.
What is and is not established
- Established: Li is an English actor who plays Alina Starkov in Shadow and Bone, and she has an English mother and a Chinese father, according to her own statements in press interviews.
- Established as of 2026 reporting: Li has a role as Cola in The Season, and it was streaming on Hulu in the United States in June 2026.
- Not established: A complete filmography, an official agency biography, or any current sales or translation figures for the Grishaverse novels.
Career details in this guide come from interviews and trade or entertainment reporting published between 2021 and 2026. Dates matter here: a role or streaming listing reported in one year may look different today.
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