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- SANDRA VISSER

Jessie Mei Li

The actress takes the lead in Netflix’s fantasy series Shadow and Bone, based on the novels by Leigh Bardugo

BY LESEGO MKHIZE

The British actress (25) plays Alina (ABOVE RIGHT), an orphan and military cartographer who discovers she has a magical power that could unite her divided country and destroy the darkness that threa­ tens to engulf it.

Shadow and Bone is Jessie’s first lead role, and her sterling performance in the series has marked her as a star in the making.

CLOSE TO HOME

Jessie – who identifies as non­binary and uses the pronouns she/they – encountered the Shadow and Bone books when she worked part­time as a teaching assistant at a school for chil­ dren with special needs and when she attended theatre school.

“I knew of the books, and I knew they were popular, but I don’t think I was ready for how passionate the fans are.”

Jessie’s father is Chinese and her moth­ er is English, and the actress describes herself as mixed­race. Before auditioning for Alina, Jessie was conflicted about the apparent lack of diversity in the books.

“I remember looking at the fan art and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting. She doesn’t seem to be Asian’,” she says of her first memories of encountering Alina, although the character had not been ascribed a specific race in the books.