# Yaani King

Yaani King Mondschein (born August 10, 1981) is an American actress, best known for portraying Neely Lloyd in the crime drama series Saving Grace (2007–2010), Bridgette King in the OWN series The Kings of Napa (2022) and providing the voice and motion capture for Riley Abel in the action-adventure video game The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014).

## Early life

King was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on August 10, 1981. Her mother, a retired NYPD officer, also performed in theater. She is of Guyanese and West Indian descent and grew up in New York's Queens borough. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and later studied acting at The Actors Centre in London.

## Career

Yaani began her acting career appearing in a number of off-Broadway productions, and had guest roles on television series including Law & Order and Sex and The City. She made her film debut in a small part in the 2003 erotic thriller In the Cut, before a supporting turn in the 2004 romantic comedy The Prince & Me. In 2007, she moved to Los Angeles and had guest starring roles on Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Ghost Whisperer.
From 2009 to 2010, King was a regular cast member on the TNT crime drama series Saving Grace as Neely Lloyd, a young drug addict. During this time, she also guest starred on Mad Men, Major Crimes, and NCIS.
Yaani provided the voice and motion capture for Riley Abel in the 2014 action-adventure video game The Last of Us: Left Behind. Later that year, she played a plantation slave in the Civil War western film Deliverance Creek. In 2015, she was cast in a recurring role as Ada Eze on the ABC prime time television soap opera Blood & Oil, and had a role on The Magicians in 2016. She appeared in the 2020 horror comedy film Bad Hair.
In 2022, Yaani was cast as one of leads in the Oprah Winfrey Network prime time soap opera, The Kings of Napa.

## Personal life

Yaani married actor Adam Mondschein on July 25, 2012.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | In the Cut | Frannie's Student | |
| 2004 | The Prince and Me | Amanda | |
| 2005 | God's Forgotten House | Crystal | |
| 2008 | For Heaven's Sake | Ashley | |
| 2008 | Gospel Hill | Sarah | Uncredited |
| 2012 | The Last Fall | Chris | |
| 2013 | Cavemen | Jasmine | |
| 2015 | Kraft of Revenge: Mousetrap 2 | Mousetrapketeer | Short film |
| 2020 | Bad Hair | Sista Soul | |
| 2023 | Steadfast - The Thornton Chase Story | | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | The Education of Max Bickford | Student | Episode: "I Never Schlunged My Father" |
| 2002 | Law & Order | Monique Thomas | Episode: "Access Nation" |
| 2003 | Sex and the City | Marcy | Episode: "Pick-A-Little, Talk-A-Little" |
| 2007 | Campus Ladies | Deborah | Episode: "Barri & Joan Rush a Black Sorority" |
| 2007 | Criminal Minds | Deborah Lewis | Episode: "Fear & Loathing" |
| 2007 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Sheila Latham | Episode: "Fallen Idols" |
| 2008 | Numb3rs | Laurie Porter | Episodes: "End Game", "Atomic No. 33" |
| 2009 | Ghost Whisperer | Anne-Marie Ramsey | Episode: "Excessive Forces" |
| 2009–2010 | Saving Grace | Neely Lloyd | Main role (season 3), 19 episodes |
| 2011 | Against the Wall | Tamika | Episode: "Second Chances" |
| 2012 | Vegas | Estelle Drew | Episode: "Legitimate" |
| 2012 | County | Angela | Unsold television pilot |
| 2013 | Mad Men | Phyllis | Episodes: "Collaborators", "The Flood" |
| 2013 | Major Crimes | Mrs. Walker | Episode: "Risk Assessment" |
| 2014 | Extant | Mom | Episode: "Extinct" |
| 2014 | Deliverance Creek | Cassie | Television film |
| 2015 | NCIS | Leandra Perkins | Episode: "Status Update" |
| 2015 | The Haves and the Have Nots | Alliyah Delong | Recurring role |
| 2015 | Blood & Oil | Ada Eze | Recurring role |
| 2016 | The Magicians | Kira | Episode: "The Writing Room" |
| 2022 | The Kings of Napa | Bridgette Peele | Series regular, 8 episodes |
| 2022 | Quantum Leap | Frankie | Episode: "Salvation or Bust" |
| 2023 | Party Down | Maggie | Episode: "Jack Botty's Delayed Post-Pandemic Surprise Party" |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | The Last of Us: Left Behind | Riley Abel | Voice and motion capture |