'Shadow & Bone' Star Jessie Mei Lei Would Love Alina To Be Queer

Jessie Mei Li has opened up in a new interview about Alina’s sexuality on Shadow and Bone.

Speaking with Digital Spy about the diversity of the fantasy series that was based on Leigh Bardugo‘s book, the -year-old actress recalled how the show amplifies diverse voices.

“I love the way that race is depicted on this show. One of the things, when I was auditioning, was that slight concern of: is this just a diversity tick? Why have you done this?” she first questioned, and added that she “understood it wasn’t just that they wanted a person of color in the lead; they actually wrote Alina’s story to be a reflection of my experiences, and the experiences of Christina [Strain] – she’s Korean-American, she’s one of our writers.”

Click inside to see what Jessie Mei Li shared about Alina being queer on the show…

Jessie went on, adding that it even in “terms of LGBTQ+ stuff – I’m a queer person, and I think having…You see queer relationships happen on the screen, but it’s not a big deal. They’re just characters who clearly are in relationships or whatever. No one talks about it like it’s weird or anything, or even that it’s a big deal. It’s just that, in this world, that’s totally fine.”

“I really love that as well,” she added. “You might not see it, but at one point you see two of the soldiers, Ivan and Fedyor, who are quite clearly together, and that’s just there. It just adds to their characters and their relationship in such a lovely way that wasn’t in the book.”

Jessie continues, adding that “all that stuff is really exciting to me, and I hope that people will be able to watch Shadow and Bone if they’re mixed-race or first-generation immigrants or they’re queer. Whatever it is, I hope they can watch it, and find someone they can really relate to.”

When asked about if Alina could be queer in the future of the show, she was in support of it.

“I would hope so,” Jessie said. “Currently, she’s got Mal, and she loves Mal. But who knows? Who knows where they’re going to go? I would love that. I think it’d be really great for her because it seems right for her as well. She just seems like she could be queer, and she has so much love for many people in the show.”

If you haven’t seen, find out why Alina’s race was changed from the books for the show here…