Zo (pronouns: they, them, theirs) is a San Francisco born, Lenapehoking/NYC based, Japanese-Jewish American nonbinary neurodivergent actor/singer/mover/occasional comic. They are currently a recurring guest star on American Horror Story Season 12: Delicate (FX, Hulu), have appeared on Dickinson (Apple TV), and have starred in several independent films, including selections for screenings at Newfest and Outfest. In theater, they've worked with INTAR, Playwright’s Horizons, NYTW, CSC/Oregon Shakes Play On! festival, Rattlestick Theater, Pan Asian Rep at Theatre Row, Cherry Lane Theatre, Red Bull Theatre, WP Theatre, The Movement Theatre, The Acting Company, Westchester Broadway Theatre, Access Theatre, The Playwright’s Realm, New Dramatists, The Lark, TheaterWorksUSA, Faultline Theater, Frigid Fest, Huntington Theater Company, The American Museum of Natural History, Playbill.com, and The Actors Fund. Zo’s voice has been featured in dramatic podcasts, including Play On!/OSF’s collaboration with Next Chapter Podcasts. They have sung at Birdland Theater, in Times Square, at Spectrum NYC, and at the Joventuts Musicals Festival in Barcelona. Zo has performed operatic roles with Opera on Tap, Dell’Arte Opera, Underworld Productions Opera, Garden State Opera, and Manhattan Opera Studio. They have been described as “the biggest badass onstage,” “a gracefully athletic faerie,” and “endearingly twitchy,” portraying characters from Hamlet to Puck, from a frustrated tech genius to a sword-fighting kitsune spirit.
Zo studied Meisner for 3 years with Paul Perez, scene study with Larry Singer for about a decade, and Lucid Body with Fay Simpson. With Gwendolyn Schwinke, Zo delved into Feldenkrais for actors, Linklater, and Viewpoints. Zo has taken intensives in Kinetic Awareness with Francis Becker, Peking Opera movement with Liu Mianzong and Zhang Yanhong, 100 hours of yoga teacher training, has studied fundamentals of ballet, Cunningham, and tap dance, and has learned a variety of stage combat techniques on the job. Zo completed Improv 101, 201, and 301 at the Upright Citizens Brigade NYC Training Center under the tutelage of James III and Molly Thomas.
Zo earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance with Highest Honors from SUNY Binghamton, completed coursework in the Master of Music programs at SUNY Binghamton and Hunter College, and studied classical singing with the legendary Benita Valente, Carol Yahr, Mary Burgess, and Peyton Hibbitt. Zo currently studies with Sarah K Brown, and has coached contemporary and musical theater singing styles with Lilli Wosk. Zo also plays guitar, piano, ukulele, and a little drum and violin.
Zo is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. Zo completed the New York Feldenkrais Method Professional Training Program, directed by David Zemach-Bersin, concurrent with intensive Feldenkrais-based vocal and somatic studies with Maxine Davis.
Zo is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity.
They are represented by Jodi Schoenbrun Carter at 1022m management, and Jamie Harris and Justin Busch at Clear Talent Group.
