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Charlyne Amanda Yi (born January 4, 1986) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and writer. Their performances include music, magic, games, and often audience participation. Their screenwriting debut, the feature film '' Paper Heart'', won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. They are also known for their role as Dr. Chi Park on the Fox medical drama '' House'', the voice of Ruby on the Cartoon Network animated series ''
Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe ( Zach Callison), who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, mineral ...
'' (2013–2019), and its epilogue series '' Steven Universe Future'', the voice of Chloe Park on ''
We Bare Bears ''We Bare Bears'' is an American animated sitcom created by Daniel Chong for Cartoon Network. The show follows three bear brothers, Grizzly, Panda, and Ice Bear, and their awkward attempts at integrating with the human world in the San Francisc ...
'' (2014–2019), the voice of Alice on ''
Summer Camp Island ''Summer Camp Island'' is an American animated television series created by Julia Pott for Cartoon Network. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, it premiered on July 7, 2018. The series depicts the episodic adventures of Oscar and Hedgehog, bot ...
'' (2018–present), and the voice of Mai in ''Next Gen'' (2018).


Early life

Yi was raised in Fontana, California; their mother has Filipino and Spanish ancestry and their father is of Korean, Irish, Mexican, German, French and Native American descent. They attended the
University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...
before leaving to pursue a full-time career in comedy. They had an early interest in performing while attending Bloomington High School and were involved in theatre.


Career

Yi began their career by performing in Bloomington, California. After high school, they performed shows in Los Angeles at The Steve Allen Theater, and
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts (American actor), Ian Rober ...
. In 2005 and 2006 they performed in the New York Comedy Festival, and in 2007 HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in
Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...
,
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. Yi's film debut was in
Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films ' ...
's 2007 film ''
Knocked Up ''Knocked Up'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a sl ...
''. In 2008, Yi performed as part of the Apatow for Destruction Live comedy show at Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival. In the 2009 film '' Paper Heart'', a "hybrid documentary" in which Yi served as both executive producer and co-writer, Yi starred as a fictional version of themself, alongside
Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears'' and portraying a young Chuck B ...
. Yi was chosen as one of ''
Venus Zine ''Venus Zine'' was a quarterly internationally circulated magazine covering women in music, film, art, entertainment, literature, fashion, indie culture and DIY culture. It was published from 1995 through 2010. Venuszine.com was the daily update ...
''s "25 under 25" women for 2009. They appeared alongside ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'' cast member
Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. ...
in the 2009 music video for the song "Rabbit Habits" by Philadelphia experimental band
Man Man Man Man is an American experimental rock band from Philadelphia currently based in Los Angeles. Their multi-instrumental style is centered on the piano playing of lead singer, songwriter, and lyricist Honus (Ryan Kattner). Honus is accompanied ...
. Yi and
Paul Rust Paul Robert Rust (born April 12, 1981) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred in the 2009 film '' I Love You, Beth Cooper'' and in the Netflix series ''Love''. Early life Rust was born in Le Mars, Iowa, the son of Jeanne and Bob ...
formed the band The Glass Beef. The duo share one electric guitar and both sing lead vocals. In 2006, they released their debut album, ''The Farewell Album'', produced by John Spiker, bassist of
Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "ten ...
. Yi was featured in the video "Song Away" by
Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
. They are currently in the band Sacred Destinies. In January 2010, Yi performed a duet about break-up lines (the opposite of pick-up lines) with
Demetri Martin Demetri Evan Martin ( el, Δημήτριος Ευάγγελος Μάρτιν, ''Dimitrios Evangelos Martin''; born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, cartoonist and musician. He was a contributor on ''The Daily Show'' ...
on the episode "2" for the Comedy Central sketch series ''
Important Things with Demetri Martin ''Important Things with Demetri Martin'' was a sketch-variety show that aired on Comedy Central starring comedian Demetri Martin. Each episode examined a single theme, the "important thing", such as timing, power, control and money. All sketches ...
''. However, the duet was cut from the final edit of the episode. From October 2011 to May 2012, Yi starred in the Fox television series ''House'' as Dr. Chi Park, a young doctor with
anger management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...
issues.


Non-profit work

Yi has been involved with Oxfam America since 2010, working to raise awareness about poverty and hunger around the world. Yi started the non-profit Caring is Cool in 2011, and hosted a benefit show to raise money for the organization.


Personal life

Yi describes their gender identity as " queer
genderfluid Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...
enby". On
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, Yi accused Marilyn Manson of sexual harassment on the set of '' House''. In 2018
Amber Tamblyn Amber Rose Tamblyn (born May 14, 1983) is an American actress and writer. She first came to national attention in her role on the soap opera ''General Hospital'' as Emily Quartermaine at the age of 11. She followed with a starring role on the pr ...
said of her husband
David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix si ...
, "Basically he was rightfully accused of doing something racist to the comedian Charlyne Yi," following tweets that Yi had posted on the subject in 2017. In 2021, they spoke out about their experience with
James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...
, specifically discussing their efforts to quit his 2017 film, ''
The Disaster Artist ''The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made'' is a 2013 non-fiction book written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. Sestero details the troubled development and production of the 2003 cult film ''The Room,'' hi ...
,'' after learning of the sexual misconduct allegations against him. Yi also criticized
Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part o ...
for enabling Franco's behavior and continuing to work with him following the allegations.


Filmography


Film


Television


Books


References


External links

*
June 2009 Interview
with '' L.A. Record'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Yi, Charlyne 1986 births Living people 21st-century American actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century LGBT people Actors from Los Angeles County, California American actors of Filipino descent American actors of Korean descent American actors of Mexican descent American comedians of Asian descent American comedy musicians American film actors American musicians of Filipino descent American musicians of Korean descent American musicians of Mexican descent American non-binary actors American people of French descent American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American people of Spanish descent American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent American performance artists American stand-up comedians American television actors American voice actors American LGBT people of Asian descent LGBT people from California Non-binary comedians Non-binary musicians Non-binary voice actors Non-binary writers People from Fontana, California University of California, Riverside alumni Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers