Jona Xiao

Jona Xiao
肖乔娜
Born
Qiaona Xiao

(1989-05-18) May 18, 1989 (age 35)
Changsha, Hunan, China
OccupationActress
Years active2005–present
Jona Xiao
Traditional Chinese肖喬娜
Simplified Chinese肖乔娜
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXiāo Qiáonà

Jona Xiao (born May 18, 1989) is an American actress born in China.

Early life

Xiao was born in Changsha, China and moved to New York as infant,[1] before ultimately settling in St. Louis, Missouri with her family; starting acting in middle school. Growing up, she was called racial slurs and decided to be an actress to break against stereotypes.[2] Xiao founded Career ACTivate, which specializes in helping actors jumpstart and progress their careers.[3]

Career

Xiao was cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming in a role that she denies was initially written for an Asian-American actress. Marisa Tomei, who plays Aunt May in the film, lobbied for Xiao to be cast.[1] Her role ended up getting cut in the final film.[4]

In 2021, Xiao lent her voice to a younger Namaari in Raya and the Last Dragon.[5]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Alice Upside Down Loretta
2010 The Mandarin Orange Boy Lian
2015 Tag Arden
2016 Keeping Up with the Joneses Stacey Chung
2017 Gifted Lijuan
Spider-Man: Homecoming Gina Deleted scenes[6]
2018 Flavors of Youth Lulu (voice) English dub
2019 Mercy Kathy Short film
2021 Raya and the Last Dragon Young Namaari (voice)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2009 The Forgotten Female Med Student Episode: "Pilot"
2012 Female Vampires Online Jin Episode: "Her Highness"
Victorious Nina Episode: "Driving Tori Crazy"
Crackhorse Presents Rebecca Episode: "Becoming One"
Paul Goetz's Last Ditch Effort Lori Episode: "Thumb and Thumber"
2 Broke Girls Hipster #3 Episode: "And the Pearl Necklace"
2013 Kroll Show TBA 2 episodes
Bones Miriam Young Episode: "The Party in the Pants"
The Young and the Restless Angie 1 episode
Trophy Wife Graduate 3 Episode: "Pilot"
2014 Days of Our Lives Joelle 1 episode
Saving Face Soo Jin Park TV Pilot
Rizzoli & Isles Young Mother Episode: "It Takes a Village"
2016 Halt and Catch Fire Julie Yang 4 episodes
2017 Being Mary Jane Natalie Wu Recurring (season 4)
2019 Fête Linseed Episode: "2017"
2021 Hightown Daisy Recurring (season 2)
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Shen May (voice) Web series
The Flash Rainbow Raider 2.0 / Carrie Bates Episode: "Good-Bye Vibrations"
2025 Eyes of Wakanda
(voice) 		In production

References

  1. ^ a b Pham, Jason (April 12, 2017). "A Long Way From 'Rappingstiltskin': Jona Xiao Talks 'Spider-Man,' Diversity and Teaching Mandarin to Jon Hamm". NBC News. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  2. ^ Yong, Haren (November 2, 2013). "Exclusive Interview with Rising Starlet Jona Xiao". Gornoblonde. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  3. ^ Smith, Deborah (March 19, 2015). ""Create Yourself." Spotlight Interview with Jona Xiao by Deborah Smith". Ms. in the Biz. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  4. ^ Alexander, Julia (June 27, 2017). "Spider-Man: Homecoming actress teases important, secret role in film (update)". Polygon. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  5. ^ "Actress Jona Xiao Proves Powerful as Young Antagonist in Disney's 'Raya and the Last Dragon'". Ein Presswire. March 3, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  6. ^ "Jona Xiao Joins 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'". Variety. August 22, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2024.