Ally Maki

Maki was born and raised in Kirkland, Washington. She has two older brothers. Maki is a fourth-generation Japanese American, or Yonsei. Her grandmother was held in the Japanese internment camp at Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming during World War II. Her grandfather was a part of the 442nd infantry regiment, a unit consisting of primarily Japanese American soldiers. One of her great-grandparents was a sharecropper in Mountain View, California.Maki was scouted at 14 by a talent agent in Seattle. In 2001, she moved to a communal home for artists in Santa Clarita, California. From there, she was recruited by Columbia Records to form the girl band The Valli Girls, for whom she played the keytar. As part of her training, she took DJ lessons at Freakbeat Records. Maki performed in the television film iCarly: iGo to Japan (2008) as well as many cameo appearances in films and television series such as Step Up 3D (2010) and The Big Bang Theory (2010). She had supporting roles in the comedy-drama films The Family Tree (2011) and Geography Club (2013). From 2009 to 2010, Maki had a recurring role as Dawn in the comedy-drama series 10 Things I Hate About You. She made a guest appearance in a season 4 episode of the TV series Bones as Dr. Tanaka, a forensic specialist from Japan. Maki was in the final considerations to play the role of Alice in the 2012 drama film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which eventually went to Erin Wilhelmi. Between 2016 and 2018, she starred as Jess Kato in the TBS comedy series Wrecked. From 2018 to 2019, she had a recurring supporting role in Marvel's Cloak & Dagger on Freeform. In 2018, Maki founded the Asian American Girl Club, a lifestyle and apparel brand.