Charlyne Amanda Yi (born January 4, 1986) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and writer, known for their role as Dr. Chi Park on the Fox medical drama House and for providing the voices of the Rubies on the Cartoon Network animated series Steven Universe (2013–2019) and its epilogue series Steven Universe Future, Chloe Park on We Bare Bears (2014–2019), Alice on Summer Camp Island (2018–2023), and Mai in Next Gen (2018). Yi's screenwriting debut, the feature film Paper Heart, won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. As a comedian, their performances include music, magic, games, and often audience participation.

Early life

Yi was raised in Fontana, California; They are of Filipino, Mexican, and Korean descent. They attended the University of California, Riverside 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. In 2005 and 2006 they performed in the New York Comedy Festival, and in 2007 HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Yi's film debut was in Judd Apatow's 2007 film Knocked Up. 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. Yi was chosen as one of Venus Zine's "25 under 25" women for 2009. They appeared alongside Saturday Night Live cast member Fred Armisen in the 2009 music video for the song "Rabbit Habits" by Philadelphia experimental band Man Man. Yi and Paul Rust 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. Yi was featured in the video "Song Away" by Hockey. They are currently in the band Sacred Destinies. From October 2011 to May 2012, Yi starred in the Fox television series House as Dr. Chi Park, a young doctor with anger management 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 genderfluid. They use they/them pronouns. On Twitter, Yi accused Marilyn Manson of sexual harassment on the set of House. In 2018, Amber Tamblyn said of her husband David Cross, "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. Cross asked Yi to reach out via direct message to discuss the situation. He later publicly apologized to them, claiming that he would "never intentionally hurt someone like that." In 2021, they spoke out about their experience with James Franco, specifically discussing their efforts to quit his 2017 film, The Disaster Artist, after learning of the sexual misconduct allegations against him. Yi also criticized Seth Rogen for enabling Franco's behavior and continuing to work with him following the allegations. In 2024, Yi said that while filming Time Bandits for Apple TV+, they were constantly assaulted by a male actor who, in the process, injured Yi's back. This was disputed by an on-set source, who said that their internal investigation couldn't substantiate the claim. Yi married Jet Elfman, fellow member of their band Sacred Destinies, in 2016. Elfman filed for divorce in April of 2018, after being separated for a year.

Filmography

Film

Television

Books