Gwendoline Yeo's breakthrough role was as a Series Regular in the popular TV show Desperate Housewives, where she played the character Xiao-Mei, a naughty maid. This role led to her being handpicked by renowned actor Robert Duvall to star alongside him in the Emmy-winning Western series Broken Trail, for which she received a NAMIC Vision Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Gwendoline's talent was further showcased in the 2018 Emmy-nominated American Girl: Ivy & Julie, Amazon Prime's first movie featuring an all-Asian American cast. She received critical acclaim for her role in the TV series American Crime, created and directed by Oscar winner John Ridley, where she played Oklahoma-born Sargent "Richelle" alongside a racist mother-in-law portrayed by Felicity Huffman. She has also made guest appearances on hit TV shows such as NCIS and Grey's Anatomy.
Gwendoline's film career has been marked by several notable roles, including the indie feature Heathens & Thieves, for which she won two Best Actress awards at the Houston International Film Festival and Iowa Film Festival. She has also appeared in movies such as The Jane Austen Book Club with Emily Blunt and Hugh Dancy, and The Magic of Ordinary Days with Keri Russell.
In addition to her acting career, Gwendoline has a successful voice acting career, having voiced over 50 games and cartoons, including Shinigami in TMNT, Nala Se in Star Wars Clone Wars, and Paine in Final Fantasy X2. She has been nominated for three BTVA Awards.
Gwendoline has received numerous honors and awards for her achievements, including being named Alumna of the Year with the UCLA Asia Pacific Alumni Award in 2016. She has also designed a sold-out clothing line, with proceeds benefiting the Appalachian region in Kentucky.
Gwendoline's personal life is marked by her journey as an immigrant. Born in Singapore, she immigrated to San Francisco at the age of 11 and went on to win several beauty pageants, including Miss Teen Chinatown SF, Miss Asian America, and Miss Chinatown USA. She graduated from UCLA Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and has a diploma in piano from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Gwendoline was discovered by NPR executives while playing the Chinese Zither and was invited to write, narrate, and score a one-woman radio show about her immigrant and ugly duckling journey, titled "The Politics of Culture." She later adapted this into a theatre piece titled "Laughing With My Mouth Wide Open," which had a successful run at the El Centro Theatre. Both the radio show and theatre piece received rave reviews.
