Vanessa Kai

Vanessa Kai is an actress who portrays Pei-Ling Zhang^[1] one of the main characters of The CW's Kung Fu.

Background[]

Kai is an actor, collaborator and a native New Yorker. She was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as “Ruby” in the sold-out, extended world premiere of KPOP, an Off-Broadway, immersive musical event produced by Ars Nova.

Other off-Broadway productions include the world premieres of: The Pain of My Belligerence, at Playwrights Horizons Somebody’s Daughter, at Second Stage and The Architecture of Becoming at New York’s City Center. In addition, there's also the likes of Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts produced by the National Asian American Theater Company which was nominated two 2019 Drama Desk awards.

Her Regional theater productions include the world premiere of Noah Diaz’s Richard, Jane, Dick & Sally and Top Girls, which were directed by Liesl Tommy. Other regional credits in her resume include Seattle Repertory Theater and Stamford TheaterWorks, where she received a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Debut by the Connecticut Critics Circle.

Kai has also helped develop new works at such prominent institutions as New York Stage and Film, Roundabout Theater Company, The New Group, The Lark Play Development Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, New Dramatists and others.

Kai has also appeared in a recurring role on the hit show New Amsterdam. Other television credits include appearing on Orange Is the New Black, Gotham, and The Mysteries of Laura.^[2]