Michelle Mao

Born in Nashville, Xinyi "Michelle" Fang grew up in Hong Kong and Beijing^[2] and went to boarding school in England, where she discovered a love of theatre. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Media Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2019.^[3] During her time at Berkeley, she was involved in the initiatives the Malala Fund and the AAPI Bone Marrow Donor Program, and helped launch Future Forum Beijing in 2017.^[3] Mao then pursued a 2021–2022 Master of Arts (MA) in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University back in Beijing as a Schwarzman Scholar.^[4][5]

Initially credited as Michelle Fang, she began her career during her time at Berkeley, appearing in shorts and music videos and doing the English dubs for Korean series and films. She starred as the titular character of the Hooked TV series Morgan's Secret Admirer.^[6] In 2022, Mao had her first named film role as Lisa Randall in the Netflix teen band film Metal Lords^[7][1] and a recurring role as Amy in the Apple TV+ series Surfside Girls.^[8] She portrayed a young version of Françoise Yip's character Victoria in the 2023 reboot of the series Goosebumps on Hulu and Disney+.^[9]

In 2024, Mao starred as Patsy Lee in the fantasy film The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms, having been cast back in 2018.^[10][11] She had supporting roles in the 2025 films Preparation for the Next Life and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.^[12][13] Mao starred in the Kogonada film Zi, which premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.^[14] That same year, she played Rosamund Li in the fourth season of the Netflix period drama Bridgerton.^[15][16]

She has upcoming roles in the independent film Caity^[17] and as Yara in the third season of the HBO series The Last of Us.^[18]