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Gemma Chan

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Gemma Chan
Chan in 2018
Born (1982-11-29) 29 November 1982 (age 41)
London, England
Education
OccupationActress
Years active2006–present
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese陳靜
Simplified Chinese陈静
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Jìng
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationChàhn Jihng

Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982)[1] is an English actress. She is known for her role as Astrid in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians, in which she received widespread recognition, and as Anita/Mia on the television drama Humans.

Born in London and raised in Kent, Chan attended the Newstead Wood School for Girls and studied law at Worcester College, Oxford. She gained a position in a law firm following graduation, but chose to pursue a career in acting instead, studying acting at the Drama Centre London. She has had supporting roles in television series: Doctor Who special "The Waters of Mars", Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2011), Fresh Meat (2011) and Bedlam (2011).

Chan continued to garner recognition for her roles in high-profile films including Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), and Transformers: The Last Knight (2017). She also starred in the leading role of Anita/Mia on the AMC/Channel 4 science fiction drama Humans (2015-2018).

In 2018, Chan received recognition for portraying Astrid Leong-Teo in Jon M. Chu's romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians and also portrayed Bess of Hardwick in the historical period drama Mary Queen of Scots. She portrayed Minn-Erva in the Marvel Studios superhero film Captain Marvel in 2019.

Early life

Chan was born at Guy's Hospital in London, England.[2] She is of Chinese ancestry. Her father grew up in Hong Kong and was an engineer. Her mother's parents emigrated from Mainland China to Scotland via Hong Kong. Her mother grew up in Greenock, Scotland.[2][3]

Chan was raised near Sevenoaks, a town in western Kent, in South East England.[4] She attended Newstead Wood School for Girls in Orpington, London. She later went on to study jurisprudence and law at Worcester College, Oxford.[5]

Following her graduation, Chan gained a training contract offer as a graduate at the law firm Slaughter and May,[4][5] but instead she pursued an acting career and studied at the Drama Centre London.[2] Spotted at her showcase by British film producer Damian Jones, she signed to acting agent Nicki van Gelder.[citation needed]

Career

Television

Gemma Chan at the Moet BIFA 2014

In 2006, she was a competitor on the first series of the reality series Project Catwalk. Chan appeared in the autumn 2009 special of the BBC's Doctor Who ("The Waters of Mars") with David Tennant and Lindsay Duncan, which aired 15 November 2009 in the UK, playing geologist Mia Bennett. She was cast as a series regular in Secret Diary of a Call Girl, the fourth and final series airing on ITV2 in the UK and Showtime in the US in 2011.[6] She has also appeared as Ruth in Channel 4's Fresh Meat, as Soo Lin in BBC One's Sherlock, and the fourth series of The IT Crowd for Channel 4.

In 2012, Chan was a regular in series two of Sky Living's supernatural drama Bedlam[7] and in True Love, a five-part semi-improvised television series produced by Working Title for BBC One,[8]

In 2013, she starred in BBC One crime drama Shetland alongside Douglas Henshall and Steven Robertson[9] and guest starred in the BBC's Death in Paradise. She was a cast member of Channel 4 romantic drama Dates.[10]

Chan played the anthropomorphic robot Anita/Mia in Humans, an AMC/Channel 4 science-fiction drama, from 2015 to 2018.[11]

In July 2016, Chan provided the voice for the character of Dewdrop in BBC One's animated miniseries Watership Down.

Film

Chan made her acting debut in the independent horror serial When Evil Calls. In 2010, she appeared in the World War II drama film Shanghai, the psychological thriller Exam, and the 2011 comedy-drama Submarine. A supporter of human rights, she has made a film for Amnesty International to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[5] She appeared in the action-thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.[12] The Double, and London Fields. Chan starred in Belles familles, by French director and screenwriter Jean-Paul Rappeneau, which premiered in 2015.[13] She also featured in the 2016 film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.[citation needed]

In 2018, Chan co-starred as Astrid Leong-Teo in the film Crazy Rich Asians.[14] She first heard about the novel Crazy Rich Asians from a text from her sister, read it on holiday, and "fell in love with Astrid".[15] On 29 April 2019, CNBC reported that Chan is to reprise her role as Astrid in the back-to-back filming of two sequels to Crazy Rich Asians set for filming in 2020.[16]

Theatre

Chan made her professional stage debut in the British Premiere of Bertolt Brecht's last play Turandot at the Hampstead Theatre, London, directed by Anthony Clark. In November 2012, she performed in The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie, a play by Anders Lustgarten at the Finborough Theatre. In June 2013, she performed in the UK premiere of Yellow Face by American playwright David Henry Hwang at The Park Theatre, London, directed by Alex Sims. It was revived in 2014 at the Royal National Theatre with the original London cast returning.[17]

In November 2013, Chan performed in the world premiere of Our Ajax by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Southwark Playhouse, London. Wertenbaker chose her to play the war goddess Athena after she saw her performance in Yellow Face.[18]

Radio

On 6 August 2013, Chan appeared as a guest on the "Cultural Exchange" feature of the BBC Radio 4 series Front Row, where she nominated the film The Princess Bride as a film she loves.[19]

Honours

She was one of fifteen women selected to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue, by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.[20]

Personal life

In September 2013, Chan appeared at the Old Bailey in central London as a witness to a fatal stabbing outside Putney Bridge tube station.[21]

In December 2018, Chan made her first public appearance with Dominic Cooper as a couple at the British Fashion Awards.[22]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
2006 When Evil Calls Molly Nelson
2009 Exam Chinese woman
2010 Pimp Bo
Shanghai Shin Shin
Submarine Kim-Lin
2013 The Double Glamorous Judge
2014 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Amy Chang
2015 Families Chen-Lin
2016 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Madam Ya Zhou
2017 Transformers: The Last Knight Quintessa
Stratton Aggy
2018 Crazy Rich Asians Astrid Leong-Teo
London Fields Petronella
Mary Queen of Scots Elizabeth Hardwick
2019 Mr. Malcolm's List short film
Captain Marvel Minn-Erva

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Project Catwalk Herself 10 episodes; finalist
2009 Doctor Who Mia Bennett Episode: Autumn 2009 Special "The Waters of Mars"
2010 The IT Crowd Ivana / Female Sulu Episodes: "The Final Countdown", "Reynholm vs. Reynholm"
Sherlock Soo Lin Yao Episode: "The Blind Banker"
2011 Secret Diary of a Call Girl Charlotte Regular (season 4)
Fresh Meat Ruth Recurring
2012 Bedlam Kiera Regular (season 2)
True Love Kathy Television miniseries
2013 Shetland Hattie James Television series
Death in Paradise Jennifer Cheung Series 2, episode 7
Dates Erica Episodes: "Erica and Kate", "Erica and Callum"
2014 The Game Chen Mei Television miniseries
2015–2018 Humans Anita/Mia Lead role
2015 Brotherhood Miss Pemberton Recurring
2016 Revolting Rhymes Snow White (voice)
2018 Watership Down Dewdrop (voice)
2019 I am Hannah Hannah TV film

Theatre

Year Title Role Theatre
2008 Turandot Hampstead Theatre
2012 The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie Finborough Theatre[23]
2013 Yellow Face (UK premiere) The Park Theatre
Our Ajax (World premiere) Athena Southwark Playhouse
2014 Yellow Face Royal National Theatre
2015 The Homecoming Ruth Trafalgar Studios[24]

References

  1. ^ Chan, Gemma (29 November 2018). "Thank you for all your birthday wishes. Spent most of today on my own in an airport and on a plane but landed to so much Hope you're all having a good day x". @gemma_chan. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Randall, Lee (27 May 2012). "Interview: Gemma Chan, star of True Love". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Gemma Chan on Visible Chinese". www.visiblechinese.com. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. ^ a b Johnson, Lucy Hunter (10 May 2013). "Gemma Chan: the bombshell actress who tamed Jack Whitehall". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c "Actress – Bio". Gemma Chan official site. 7 April 2011. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  6. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (18 June 2010). "Showtime Picks Up Final Secret Diary of a Call Girl Season". Hitfix.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Lacey Turner to Join Supernatural Drama Bedlam". Radio Times. 21 December 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "True Love". Working Title Films. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Walker-Arnott, Ellie (7 March 2013). "Douglas Henshall, Steven Robertson and Gemma Chan in BBC1's Shetland". Radio Times.
  10. ^ Jeffrey, Morgan (5 February 2013). "Sherlock, Merlin, Fresh Meat stars for new Channel 4 drama Dates". DigitalSpy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "William Hurt Heads Cast of AMC-Channel 4-Kudos Co-production 'Humans'". Variety. 15 October 2014.
  12. ^ Harman, Harout (31 January 2013). "Jack Ryan Photos with Chris Pine and Kevin Costner". MovieWeb.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Food for thought for the picnicking set". London Evening Standard. 12 August 2014.
  14. ^ Kroll, Justin (4 April 2017). "Gemma Chan to Star With Constance Wu in Crazy Rich Asians (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  15. ^ Yamato, Jen (10 August 2018). "Crazy Rich Asians: Gemma Chan was on a legal track, now she's a movie star". LA Times. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  16. ^ Karen Gilchrist. "Growing up different helped me do my job better, says ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ star Harry Shum Jr.," CNBC, 29 April 2019. [1]
  17. ^ Singh, Anita (20 March 2014). "Sir Tom Stoppard play to open at the National Theatre". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  18. ^ Jury, Louise (12 September 2013). "Classical role in theatre for Fresh Meat and Sherlock star Gemma Chan". London Evening Standard.
  19. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Front Row's Cultural Exchange - Gemma Chan". BBC.
  20. ^ "Meghan Markle puts Sinéad Burke on the cover of Vogue's September issue". The Irish Times. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  21. ^ Cheston, Paul (17 September 2013). "Sherlock star Gemma Chan reveals how she 'stared into eyes of calm killer'". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Gemma Chan, Dominic Cooper Make First Public Appearance as a Couple". Us Weekly. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  23. ^ "Vibrant 2012: A Festival of Finborough Playwrights". Finborough Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "The Homecoming - Trafalgar Studios - ATG Tickets". www.atgtickets.com. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
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