Kayleigh McKee

Kayleigh Grace Clementine McKee is an American voice actress, known for providing voices in English dubs of Japanese anime and video games. Some of her noteworthy roles include Matthias Hildesheimer in The Strongest Sage With the Weakest Crest and Yuta Okkotsu in Jujutsu Kaisen 0.

Early life Kayleigh Grace Clementine McKee was born on January 14, 1994 in Macomb, Illinois. She grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, and graduated from Abingdon High School in nearby Abingdon, Illinois. At a young age, she was obsessed with animation and participated in theater, choir, and wanted to be a voice actor. She also watched her father's friends draw their comics and she became an artist as a result, later moving to California, working on commercials, and her first video game role was with Hearthstone. and two characters in the 2020 video game Genshin Impact, Rongshi and Chai Yi. Her role as Kiku was described by Beatrix Kondo of Game Rant as a positive depiction of an LGBTQ character, noted that McKee sharing the news of her casting was "met with earned applause" from One Piece fans, with McKee describing the role as the first time she had voiced a trans female character.

In 2021, McKee provided dubbed voices for various anime characters. Her voice acting for Pina in Beastars was praised by Anime News Network as a "standout" performance, and said to bring a "loveable attitude" to the character's "jaded personality". Bat in The Detective Is Already Dead and two characters (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Randgriz) in Record of Ragnarok. On social media, McKee said that Randgriz's character had importance which could "not be understated" in the series and said people could hear her as many background characters. She also described voicing Testament in Guilty Gear Strive as "so fun" to do and noted that she also voiced their "two little succubi" in the game as well. She later told Game Rant that Varden was one character she identified with the most because she saw the character as a "Non-binary Blood Elf" due to her previous experience playing World of Warcraft as a child.

She also voiced three characters (Isamu Tamaru, Takuya's Mother, and Mizuki's Ex-Boyfriend) in Kotaro Lives Alone

The same year, McKee dubbed lead characters in two anime productions: The Strongest Sage With the Weakest Crest series (Matthias), She was later interviewed by Anime News Network about the film, telling interviewer Jacki Jing that she went through some similar experiences to Yuta and brought that to voicing the character, to determine the voice and the trauma the character had experienced. When interviewed, she told Screen Rant that her favorite part of Yuta's character was that no matter his situation and how he feels about himself, "he wants to help if he can – even when he thinks he can't...[and] he starts to learn that he needs to value himself to value the world and to help it." She also told David Opie of Digital Spy that more anime are coming out with trans and gay characters, saying there is communication with Japanese voices, English dubbing, and that she had written to some studios about their trans characters and "what they should consider, and what they should maybe steer away from." She later said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly's Shania Russell that she was originally unaware of how much Yuta would play in the Jujutsu Kaisen series and noted she had actually auditioned for Yuji after watching season 1.

In 2023, McKee had several voice roles. One was for the dubbed voice for Takaihito in My Happy Marriage and the other was for the lead role in Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake: Scarab, an original character which did not exist in the original Adventure Time series'. She told Game Rant she loved doing the latter role, stating that being part of the Adventure Time universe was a "full-on dream come true" and said she could not even describe what it meant to her. In March of that year, she told Game Rant that she identified with Yuta as a character, noting her similar life experiences, and said that she loved doing the dubbed voice of Charles Augustus Milverton in Moriarty the Patriot because she could use her British accent in a voice role. On social media, McKee noted that she also voices the nurse and Orso, and said the series was "so, so cool to be a part of". Later that same year, McKee collaborated with TeamFourStar, voicing Queen Beryl in Toonami Abridged: Sailor Moon, a comedic retelling of the first season.

In 2026, McKee reprised Yuta Okkotsu in the third season of Jujutsu Kaisen, along with also voicing Kirara Hoshi and Jinichi Zenin, with CBR praising her for a wide vocal range and noting that McKee drops her voice "several octaves" to voice Jinichi and saying that fans couldn't have asked for anyone better "to translate Yuta and Kirara into English."

Personal life Being transgender, McKee was inspired by the actions of Laura Jane Grace, a transgender singer. This eventually motivated McKee to pursue a career voice acting in anime. McKee later told The Mary Sue, in May 2024, that when she decided to transition, she wasn't sure she wanted to go into art and entertainment, so she went to school for illustration and acting, afraid if people would respect her, and said that Grace coming out as trans gave her "the courage to pursue what I do today." She also told the publication that sometimes she felt that there was "a drawback" from being openly trans, but other times "people have been very interested in getting representation." Previously she has told an interviewer at Anime Riverside that she did not want to play live-action male roles, but she would "give voice to men, you know, male characters" due to her voice range as a trans woman. She also stated in February 2026 that she portrayed "cis gals, trans girls, transfeminine enbies, genderless beings, monsters, young cis guys, and man's men" because she can perform a wide variety of characters, across genders, and added that she is "100% a woman" who has "more gender than can be quantified."

Works Anime series + List of voice performances in anime series Year Title Role Notes Source2019-CurrentOne PieceKiku (Funimation Dub) JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone OceanPrison announcement (Episode 5), prisoner in infirmary The Strongest Sage With the Weakest CrestMatthiasLead role Kotaro Lives AloneIsamu Tamaru, Takuya's Mother, Mizuki's Ex-Boyfriend The Prince of Tennis IIItaru Saito Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark FantasyKai Harn 2023My Happy MarriageTakaihito Mission: Yozakura FamilyNohmen

TV series + List of voice performances in television Year Title Role Notes Source2023 Adventure Time: Fionna and CakeScarabLead role

Web series

Video games