emmy

What was Gwendoline Yeo doing after college, waiting tables?

After all, she had graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA with a degree in communications—before she turned twenty. While still in high school she’d attended the esteemed San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying piano and Chinese zither.

Still, there she was, a former Miss Chinatown USA waitressing and taking temp jobs for six dollars an hour so she could pursue her biggest passion: acting.

Today Yeo has found her niche, playing smart, pretty and often humorous characters. Most significantly, she parlayed a guest part on Desperate Housewives into a recurring role on the hit series. She plays Xiao-Mei, a Chinese slave turned perfect maid.

“When I got the audition, I was ecstatic because I’m a huge fan of the show,” says Yeo, who immigrated to the San Francisco area from Singapore when she was twelve. “I thought it was going to be for one to three episodes. It turned out to be seven and then they asked me to come back this season. It’s all a dream.”

Yeo has had recurring roles in General Hospital and 24, and she was seen recently as an enslaved Chinese girl in the AMC western mini Broken Trail. She appears in some upcoming features (7eventy 5ive with Rutger Hauer, Night Skies) and has lent her voice to Nickelodeon’s animated Super Scout as well as to the character Paine in the popular video games Final Fantasy X-2 and Kingdom Hearts 2.

The actress says she gains strength from her difficult teen years when she felt awkward and self-conscious.

“When I first moved from Singapore, I was an ugly geek with glasses and braces. People teased me, and I couldn’t speak English properly,” recalls Yeo, who is writing a one-woman play based on her immigrant experience.

“It’s really cool now to turn it around and, hopefully, inspire younger actors and younger girls who have low self-esteem, to show them that the sky’s the limit for them.”

—Jon Matsumoto: Emmy, No. 5, 2006,p.24.