Biography
After attending and dropping out of UC Riverside, Charlyne Yi began performing their own unique brand of stand-up comedy on stage with the Upright Citizens Brigade and with "The Charlyne Yi Show." Their comedy doesn't rely on typical joke telling, but instead on performing silly songs and magic tricks with audience participation. Yi caught the eye of Judd Apatow, who cast them in his 2007 comedy "Knocked Up" as one of Seth Rogen's stoner friends. Their limited screen time in the movie made a lasting impression. That same year, Yi also guest starred in the comedy sitcom "30 Rock" and on the crime procedural "Cold Case." In 2009, Yi made a splash at the Sundance Film Festival with the feature "Paper Hearts," which they co-wrote with director Nicholas Jasenovec. In it, Yi plays a fictional version of themself who is making a documentary about romance. They meet Michael Cera, playing a fictional version of himself, and the two fall in love. The film mixes fact and fiction in a way that is a hallmark of their approach to comedy. They joined the cast of the medical drama "House" for its eighth season in 2011, playing Dr. Chi Park. After reprising their breakthrough role as Jodi in Apatow's "This Is 40" (2012), Yi began a recurring voice role on "Steven Universe" (Cartoon Network 2013- ) and also appeared in voice roles in "Nerdland" (2016) and "The Lego Ninjago Movie" (2017). Yi also appeared in a small role in James Franco's "The Disaster Artist" (2017) and had a memorable scene in The Bang-Bang Bar in one episode of "Twin Peaks: The Return" (Showtime 2017).
