# Élodie Yung
**Élodie Yung** (born 1981) is a French actress of Cambodian descent, trained in law at the Sorbonne and in drama at the [London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-academy-of-music-and-dramatic-art), and holder of a black belt in karate. She is known internationally for playing the ninja assassin Elektra in the second season of Netflix's *[Daredevil](https://www.edgepedia.org/daredevil-tv-series)* and again in *The Defenders*, and for starring as Thony De La Rosa in the Fox series *[The Cleaning Lady](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cleaning-lady-american-tv-series)*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/) • [2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981, Paris, France; French mother, father of Cambodian origin[1](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/) • [2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) |
| Training | Law at the Sorbonne; acting diploma from LAMDA; about ten years of karate, black belt[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) |
| Breakthrough in France | Tao, a Chinese gang leader, in *Banlieue 13 – Ultimatum* (2008), more than one million admissions in France[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) |
| Hollywood entry | Miriam Wu in David Fincher's *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo* (2012), then *G.I. Joe: Retaliation*[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) |
| Signature role | Elektra Natchios in *Daredevil* season 2 (2016) and *The Defenders*, reprised for *Daredevil: Born Again* season 3[3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/elodie_yung_talentbio_disney_7e477136.pdf) • [4](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-tv-shows/almost-10-years-later-the-first-look-at-elektras-big-return-in-daredevil-born-again-season-3-is-here-from-a-leaked-set-image/) |
| Lead series role | Thony De La Rosa in *The Cleaning Lady* (2022–2025), 46 episodes, also credited as producer and director[1](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/) |
## Early life and training
Yung was born in Paris to a French mother and a father of Cambodian origin, and grew up in [Seine-Saint-Denis](https://www.edgepedia.org/seine-saint-denis), where she practiced karate intensively for about ten years and earned a black belt.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) She described the martial arts training as formative for her youth, adding that it taught her a great deal and still serves her in certain roles.[5](https://lepetitjournal.com/cambodge/communaute/entretien-elodie-yung-jespere-pouvoir-tourner-avec-rithy-panh-10883)
**From law to acting.** She studied law at the Sorbonne with the ambition of becoming a judge, then crossed the Channel to train at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where she later said she had performed Shakespeare.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) • [6](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18666238.html) Acting began almost by accident: a law student, she entered the profession through encounters and timing rather than a planned career move, landing her first role in the TF1 youth series *La Vie devant nous*.[5](https://lepetitjournal.com/cambodge/communaute/entretien-elodie-yung-jespere-pouvoir-tourner-avec-rithy-panh-10883)
## French career
Her ten years of karate helped her win one of the lead roles in Julien Seri's *Les Fils du vent* (2004), an action film that drew more than one million admissions in France; shooting in Thailand also gave her her first visit to Cambodia.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) • [5](https://lepetitjournal.com/cambodge/communaute/entretien-elodie-yung-jespere-pouvoir-tourner-avec-rithy-panh-10883) She alternated film and television, appearing in *Fragile(s)* (2007) and *Home Sweet Home* alongside Patrick Chesnais and Daniel Prévost, while playing a young police officer in the M6 series *Les Bleus, premiers pas dans la police*.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/)
In 2008 she took the lead female role in Patrick Alessandrin's action film *Banlieue 13 – Ultimatum*, playing Tao, the young leader of a Chinese gang; the film drew more than one million admissions in France.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) In a 2008 interview she named *La Vie devant nous*, *Les Fils du vent* and *Les Bleus* as her early work and said she hoped one day to act in a film of Rithy Panh, the Cambodian director whose work on the memory of Cambodia she admired.[5](https://lepetitjournal.com/cambodge/communaute/entretien-elodie-yung-jespere-pouvoir-tourner-avec-rithy-panh-10883)
## International career
[David Fincher](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-fincher) engaged her in 2012 for the role of Miriam Wu in *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*, alongside [Daniel Craig](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-craig) and [Rooney Mara](https://www.edgepedia.org/rooney-mara); the following year she appeared in the action blockbuster *G.I. Joe: Retaliation* with Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson, and Channing Tatum.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/)
## Elektra on Netflix
Her athletic build and martial-arts background attracted Marvel and Netflix, and she was cast as [Elektra](https://www.edgepedia.org/elektra-character) in the second season of *Daredevil*, released in 2016, opposite [Charlie Cox](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-cox) as Matt Murdock.[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/) The character had previously been played on screen by [Jennifer Garner](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-garner) in the 2003 *Daredevil* film and its spin-off.[7](https://www.tf1info.fr/culture/la-francaise-elodie-yung-rejoint-le-generique-de-daredevil-saison-2-1526926.html) In interviews Yung described Elektra as a sociopath, and a *Vanity Fair* review of the season noted that her dangerous, nimble assassin was the performance that stood out.[8](https://www.rtl.fr/culture/cine-series/video-daredevil-2-elektra-est-une-sociopathe-souligne-elodie-yung-7782437974) • [9](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/daredevil-elektra-elodie-yung-season-2) Elektra is tied to the season's Black Sky mystery, and Yung learned to wield the character's sai weapons for the part.[10](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/daredevil-elodie-yung-reflects-elektra-164839466.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/) She reprised the role in Netflix's eight-part *The Defenders* in 2017, and she compared the rhythm of American series production, with a different director on each episode, to her experience of French production, which she found less intensive.[3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/elodie_yung_talentbio_disney_7e477136.pdf) • [11](https://monrowemagazine.com/2017/09/21/elodie-rising/) • [6](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18666238.html)
In *The Hitman's Bodyguard* (2017), with [Samuel L. Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/samuel-l-jackson) and [Ryan Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-reynolds), she played a dutiful Interpol agent; she proposed to director Patrick Hughes that the character be French, so that her character's shouting could plausibly be in French, and he adopted the idea.[11](https://monrowemagazine.com/2017/09/21/elodie-rising/) • [6](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18666238.html) She also appeared in [Alex Proyas](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-proyas)'s fantasy-adventure *Gods of Egypt* (2016).[2](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/)
## The Cleaning Lady and later work
From 2022 to 2025 Yung played Thony De La Rosa, a Cambodian doctor who comes to the United States for her son's medical treatment, witnesses a mob killing, and becomes a cleaner for organized crime, in Fox's *The Cleaning Lady*, 46 episodes on which she was also credited as producer and directed one episode.[1](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/) • [12](https://epaper.gorkhapatraonline.com/uploads/file/2026/1/risingnepal/2026-01-11-12-03-05-trn-jan-11.pdf) Her other credits include *[Secret Society of Second-Born Royals](https://www.edgepedia.org/secret-society-of-second-born-royals)* (2020) for Disney+, the animated anthology *Secret Level* (2024), and the 2025 film *Worth the Wait*.[3](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/elodie_yung_talentbio_disney_7e477136.pdf) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/)
**Return as Elektra.** Nearly ten years after her last screen appearance as the character, Yung was seen filming as Elektra in Brooklyn in June 2026 for *Daredevil: Born Again* season 3, in an updated version of the character's black and red costume.[4](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-tv-shows/almost-10-years-later-the-first-look-at-elektras-big-return-in-daredevil-born-again-season-3-is-here-from-a-leaked-set-image/) IMDb lists her as Elektra Natchios in a 2027 episode of *Daredevil: Born Again*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/)
## References
1. [Elodie Yung, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/fr/name/nm1392388/)
2. [Daredevil : Qui est Elodie Yung, la nouvelle Elektra ? AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/diaporamas/series/diaporama-18644220/)
3. [Élodie Yung talent biography, Disney+](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/documents/elodie_yung_talentbio_disney_7e477136.pdf)
4. [Almost 10 years later, the first look at Elektra's big return in Daredevil: Born Again season 3, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-tv-shows/almost-10-years-later-the-first-look-at-elektras-big-return-in-daredevil-born-again-season-3-is-here-from-a-leaked-set-image/)
5. [Entretien - Elodie Yung, "j'espère pouvoir tourner avec Rithy Panh", Le Petit Journal Cambodge](https://lepetitjournal.com/cambodge/communaute/entretien-elodie-yung-jespere-pouvoir-tourner-avec-rithy-panh-10883)
6. [Hitman & Bodyguard : rencontre avec Elodie Yung, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18666238.html)
7. [La Française Elodie Yung rejoint le générique de "Daredevil" saison 2, TF1 Info](https://www.tf1info.fr/culture/la-francaise-elodie-yung-rejoint-le-generique-de-daredevil-saison-2-1526926.html)
8. [VIDÉO - "Daredevil 2" : "Elektra est une sociopathe", souligne Elodie Yung, RTL](https://www.rtl.fr/culture/cine-series/video-daredevil-2-elektra-est-une-sociopathe-souligne-elodie-yung-7782437974)
9. [Unmasking Elektra: How Élodie Yung Walked Away with Daredevil Season 2, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/daredevil-elektra-elodie-yung-season-2)
10. [Daredevil: Elodie Yung reflects on Elektra, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/daredevil-elodie-yung-reflects-elektra-164839466.html)
11. [Elodie Rising, MONROWE Magazine](https://monrowemagazine.com/2017/09/21/elodie-rising/)
12. [The Rising Nepal, Gorkhapatra e-paper, 11 January 2026](https://epaper.gorkhapatraonline.com/uploads/file/2026/1/risingnepal/2026-01-11-12-03-05-trn-jan-11.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › French actors › Surnames N to Y*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license