FEEL IT.STREAM
Vanessa Kai

Vanessa Kai

Acting

Biography

VANESSA KAI is best known for her work in CW's hit series "Kung Fu". Most recently, you can find Vanessa in a recurring role as Gisela Mott on "Elsbeth" starring Carrie Preston on CBS. In theater, Vanessa Kai was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as "Ruby" in the world premiere of "KPOP," an Off-Broadway, immersive musical event produced by Ars Nova. Other notable credits 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. Vanessa's breakthrough role came in 2020 when she was cast as Pei-Ling Zhang in CW's hit series "Kung Fu", produced by Warner Bros. Her powerful portrayal of the mysterious and wise mentor to the show's protagonist, Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), has been praised for its depth and nuance that quickly made her a fan favorite. Before "Kung Fu", Vanessa appeared in a number of other television series and films, including "New Amsterdam", "Orange Is the New Black", "The Mysteries of Laura", "The Blacklist", "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", and "Madam Secretary". A champion of new works Kai is much sought after for her collaborative spirit and her love of world building, and has helped to develop new plays at New York Stage & Film, Public Theater, SoHo Rep., Roundabout Theater Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theatre, Two River Theater, The New Group, The Lark Play Development Center, Baltimore Center Stage, Playwrights Realm, New Dramatists, and many others. Vanessa is a native New Yorker and a first generation Chinese American.

Known For

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
7.9

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

1999
Gotham
7.6

Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world's greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon's story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world's most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?

Gotham

2014
Orange Is the New Black
7.6

A crime she committed in her youthful past sends Piper Chapman to a women's prison, where she trades her comfortable New York life for one of unexpected camaraderie and conflict in an eccentric group of fellow inmates.

Orange Is the New Black

2013
New Amsterdam
8.3

The new medical director breaks the rules to heal the system at America's oldest public hospital. Max Goodwin sets out to tear up the bureaucracy and provide exceptional care, but the doctors and staff are not so sure he can succeed. They've heard this before. Not taking "no" for an answer, Dr. Goodwin's instinctive response to problems large and small is four simple words: "How can I help?" He has to disrupt the status quo and prove he'll stop at nothing to breathe new life into this underfunded and underappreciated hospital, returning it to the glory that put it on the map.

New Amsterdam

2018
Madam Secretary
7.0

After years away from the CIA, Elizabeth McCord is pulled back into the political arena. The newly appointed Secretary of State is tough, fair, and smart, driving international diplomacy, wrangling office politics, and circumventing protocol as she negotiates global and domestic issues, both at the White House and at home.

Madam Secretary

2014
The Leftovers
7.7

When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. This is the story of the people who didn't make the cut.

The Leftovers

2014
Elsbeth
6.7

After her successful career in Chicago, Elsbeth Tascioni, an astute but unconventional attorney, utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD.

Elsbeth

2024
The Mysteries of Laura
7.1

Laura Diamond, a brilliant NYPD homicide detective balances her “Columbo” day job with a crazy family life that includes two unruly twin boys and a soon-to-be ex-husband — also a cop — who just can't seem to sign the divorce papers. Between cleaning up after her boys and cleaning up the streets, she’d be the first to admit she has her “hot mess” moments in this hilariously authentic look at what it really means to be a “working mom” today. Somehow, she makes it all work with the help of her sexy and understanding partner, and things becomes even more complicated when her husband, ironically, becomes her boss at the precinct. For Laura, every day is a high-wire balancing act.

The Mysteries of Laura

2014
Kung Fu
7.5

A quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Kung Fu

2021
Gabriel's Inferno
8.4

An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible--forgiveness and love.

Gabriel's Inferno

2020
Death in Love
4.8

Death in Love is a psychosexual-thriller about a love affair between a Jewish woman and a doctor overseeing human experimentation at a Nazi German concentration camp, and the impact this has on her sons' lives in the 1990s.

Death in Love

2008
Second Chance Christmas
5.2

When an accident causes a woman to lose her memory, her husband Jack does everything in his power to keep her from remembering that they are total opposites and that their marriage is doomed. Now Jack is hoping for a second chance, and a little Christmas magic, to help rekindle their relationship and fall in love all over again.

Second Chance Christmas

2017
Disconnected
3.5

Frustrated by the status quo, fifteen-year-old Sean Crawford takes his dad's Tesla for a joy ride to see his crush - except he doesn't have a license and zero clue that the girl waiting for him is going to change his life forever in the span of a weekend.

Disconnected

2017
A NY Thing
3.4

Masquerading as another man, Antoine flies to New York for a three-day stay and promptly falls in love with Alice, who's dating someone else. When that doesn't work out for him, Antoine turns to the city itself for inspiration.

A NY Thing

2009
Off the Rails
5.5

A married woman loses her memory after a train accident. As her memory starts to return, she thinks she might have had an affair with a missing man.

Off the Rails

2017
No image
N/A

In his crowded family house, Young Freud tries to focus on his medical experiments with a "magic powder" otherwise known as cocaine. His mother calls him down to dinner, where his father and stepbrother taunt him for reaching beyond his grasp. After dinner, his mother gives Freud a special silk cravat and wishes him luck for the next day. Freud is off to see his bride's uncle - to persuade him to finally let them marry. Busy with the rabbi, her uncle derides Freud and his "magic powder." On the carriage ride home, Freud takes some of the powder and has a wild vision - which leads to the great discovery that will insure his name to the history books forever: the Oedipal complex.

Freud's Magic Powder