Gwendoline See-Hian Yeo is an American actress, voice actress, writer and musician best known for her role as Xiao-Mei in Desperate Housewives, Sun Fu in the film Broken Trail and as the voice of Shinigami in Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Film
Yeo starred opposite Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church in the Emmy Award-winning WesternBroken Trail as Sun Fu, a Chinese woman sold into prostitution in the 1800s. After a worldwide search, Duvall personally selected her to star opposite him in the role. Her performance in the film earned her critical acclaim and a NAMIC Vision Award nomination for Best Actress in 2007. In the independent film Heathens and Thieves, Yeo played Kun Hua, a role which garnered her Best Actress Awards at both the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival and the Iowa Film Festival. Yeo also starred in the Emmy Award-nominated Amazon original special, American Girl: Ivy & Julie. Other notable film roles include Dr. Samantha Yep in The Jane Austen Book Club with Emily Blunt and Hugh Dancy, June in Night Skies, and The Magic of Ordinary Days with Keri Russell.
Television
Yeo is perhaps best known for her recurring guest star role as Xiao-Mei, the Chinese maid of Gabrielle and Carlos in Desperate Housewives. The character's popularity in the series led to an offer for a series regular contract the next season. She also had a recurring role as the Oklahoma-born Sargent Richelle (opposite Felicity Huffman in the critically acclaimed series American Crime, played Kelly Lee on General Hospital, and has also guested on other popular shows such as NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Castle, The Mentalist, and Chuck.
Voice acting
Yeo is a prominent voice artist in several animated series, films, video games, and commercials, and has multiple action figures based on her characters. She started her career in voice-over in 2003 with guest role on What's New, Scooby-Doo?. Her character Shinigami, from Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was officially launched during San Diego Comic-Con to a huge crowd of fans. She has voiced several other popular animated characters including Cato Parassiti in ', Domino in Wolverine and the X-Men, Li Mei in The Invincible Iron Man, Lola Chong in ', Gramma on Stitch!, Mercy Graves in The Batman and Li-en in Zatch Bell!. She has also guest starred on Phineas and Ferb, Kim Possible and What's New, Scooby Doo?. In video games, Yeo is best known as Paine in Final Fantasy X-2 and Kingdom Hearts II. She was also the female lead in SOCOM 4 U.S. Navy SEALs as the character Forty-Five. Other notable video game credits include Lady Deathstrike in ', Yuma in Far Cry 4, and Four-Eyes in '.
Other projects
Yeo's love of music led her to specialize in playing the Chinese long zither, also known as the guzheng, which culminated into a one-woman radio show on NPR-KCRW about her immigrant and ugly duckling story. It also included the debut of her first two zither/vocal tracks "Kiss My Grits" and "Lovers." Her radio show evolved into a theater piece which Yeo wrote, scored, and starred in called Laughing With My Mouth Wide Open, which received rave reviews during its run at the El Centro Theatre. Yeo also designed her own limited-edition clothing line, which quickly sold out, and donated the proceeds to Kentucky's Christian Appalachian Project.
