Listen to this podcast at your peril because spoilers lie ahead, make sure you've seen all the episodes of Shadow and Bone and welcome to the Grishaverse.

I grew up in the era of Lord of the Rings.

You know, I spent most of my childhood running around with my cousins and my brother with sticks.

I was always Gandalf for some reason.

Three years ago, Jesse Maley graduated from acting school.

It had a chance to go out for the role of a lifetime, playing the lead in the new Netflix fantasy series called Shadow and Bone.

You were perfect.

I swear it came from.

It came from everyone.

Because you called upon it to come.

That was this one week where I had three different auditions to prepare for.

And then Shadow and Bone was kind of in the middle there.

And I remember reading it and thinking, okay, this is the only one that's specific to my casting.

You know, they're asking for a mixed race actor.

Jesse was excited about this role of Alina Starkov.

She's an orphan who always felt like an outsider.

Like she doesn't quite fit in.

It was a dynamic that was all too familiar for Jesse.

To my white friends or non-Asian friends, I was super Chinese.

But then to my Asian friends and family, I was very, very English.

And it's that sense of never really belonging anywhere.

You know, everywhere you go, you're either feeling like you're being false

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