“I Don’t Want to Be Famous”: Jessie Mei Li Braces for Big Breakout With ‘Shadow and Bone’
The British actress, who shines as a light-wielding hero in the new Netflix sci-fi series, talks failed auditions before landing her starring role, aiming for action parts and her grandmother’s pride watching her trailers.
Just a few years ago, acting was far from Jessie Mei Li’s mind. She had dropped out of university at Reigate College in Surrey, England, and was working as a special-education teaching assistant when she decided to try a few acting classes. Li was instantly hooked. “I went to loads of open auditions [and] got rejected,” Li, 25, recalls with a laugh.
The British actress eventually landed an agent on the recommendation of a director from one of those failed auditions. Soon, she had a role on the West End in a production of All About Eve and a small role in Edgar Wright’s upcoming horror film Last Night in Soho.
Now she awaits her biggest stage yet with the April 23 debut of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone series, an adaptation of the popular fantasy books in which she gives a spirited, empathetic performance as Alina Starkov, a young woman with unique powers who’s thrust into the public spotlight and hailed as a savior. Li beat out hundreds of hopefuls for the role.
“So much of this is out of your control,” says Li of auditioning. “You can just go into that room and be yourself and show them what you can do with the words they’ve written. You might as well try and enjoy it.”
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