She[a] is best known for her starring role as the main character and protagonist Alina Starkov in the Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone (2021–2023).

Li was born in Brighton, East Sussex to an English mother and a Chinese father who was raised in Hong Kong.

[2][3][4][5] Li attended Reigate College from 2010 to 2012 and began studying French and Spanish at the University of Sussex, but eventually dropped out.

[9][10] Li made her professional stage debut in February 2019 playing the role of Claudia Casswell in All About Eve at Noël Coward Theatre, directed and adapted for the stage by Ivo van Hove, alongside Gillian Anderson and Lily James.

[3][19] Her conflict over her dual heritage was compounded when she began auditioning, where she noticed mixed-race roles would sometimes go to fully East Asian or white actors.