Biography

New York native Yaani King began her career off-Broadway in "The Alchemist" at The Classic Stage Company. She segued into film and television with The Prince and Me (2004) with Julia Stiles, and Sex and the City (1998).

After studying at The Actors Centre in London, Ms. King moved to Los Angeles and almost immediately landed a series regular role on the hit TNT show Saving Grace (2007) with Holly Hunter. In addition to having appeared in numerous guest starring roles on shows like Criminal Minds (2005), Major Crimes (2012), Extant (2014), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000) and the new SyFy drama The Magicians (2015), she now has had a number of recurring roles on shows like ABC's Blood & Oil (2015), The Haves and the Have Nots (2013) and NBC's Aquarius (2015). Yaani has since entered the exciting world of Video Game voice-over and motion-capture when she was cast as Riley in the award-winning The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014).

Born and raised in Brooklyn and Queens, of Guyanese West Indian descent, Yaani spent her childhood watching her mother in theatre performing on stage. While attending LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in NYC as a teen, Yaani recognized acting as her calling.

In recent years, Yaani has combined her love for acting with her humanitarian work as a founding member of a group called Charitable Living with 10 other friends, with the mission to support foundations and charities in every way from fund-raising to cooking meals. King is also an active volunteer at Aviva Family and Children's Services, mentoring young actors. In Yaani's free time she enjoys spending quality time with her husband, actor Adam Mondschein.