Olivia Cheng (Canadian actress)
Olivia Cheng | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979–1980 |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, journalist |
Olivia Cheng (Chinese: 鄭啟蕙, pinyin Zhèng Qǐhuì) is a Chinese Canadian actress, broadcast journalist, and former correspondent for Entertainment Tonight Canada. Some of her roles include concubine Mei Lin in Marco Polo,[1] sinister Master Gao in Deadly Class,[2] Ah Toy (a madam in San Francisco's Chinatown) in the 1870s-set martial arts crime drama series Warrior, Dr. Sylvia Wen (Boulder Free Zone's main doctor) in the 2021 adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand[3] and warrior Charlotte in the dystopian series See.[4]
Early life
[edit]Cheng was born in Edmonton, Alberta,[5] to parents who immigrated from Guangdong.[6] They were part of a co-founding group of Chinese parents that created the Edmonton Mandarin Bilingual program within the city's public school system. Her father worked in software and her mother was a health aide.[6]
Cheng enrolled in her first acting class at the age of six and booked her first commercial at nineteen. The following year, she attended NAIT's Radio and Television Arts program. After finishing school, she became a videographer for Global TV Lethbridge, before moving back to Edmonton to work as a broadcast and print journalist. She went on to freelance as a correspondent for ET Canada.[1]
Career
[edit]In the mid-2000s, AMC was launching its original content division and came to Alberta with a Walter Hill-helmed mini-series executive produced by Robert Duvall. They were looking for five Chinese actresses and were willing to consider amateurs. Duvall saw Cheng's audition and asked to bring her back. She was then cast in Broken Trail (2006), which was nominated for 16 Primetime Emmy Awards and won four, including the Emmy for Outstanding Mini Series.[7]
In 2007, Cheng portrayed Iris Chang in the documentary Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking, based on Chang's best-selling 1997 book The Rape of Nanking.[8][9]
Cheng has appeared in Supernatural and Eureka, as well as in the episode "The New World" of the television show The 4400. In 2013, she appeared as Linda Park in the TV series Arrow.
In 2014, Cheng landed a role in Netflix's series Marco Polo, a lavish television drama about Marco Polo's journey as he travels from his home in Venice to the court of Kublai Khan, where he finds himself in the middle of a war in 13th-century China.[10] The show was one of the most expensive TV series ever produced. Cheng portrayed Mei Lin, a Song dynasty concubine and assassin, and the sister of Jia Sidao. In a December 2014 interview, Cheng joked that owing to her frequent nude scenes in Marco Polo, she would not be watching the series with her parents.[11]
In October 2017, it was announced Cheng would be part of the main cast of the Justin Lin-produced Warrior, set against the backdrop of the Tong Wars of San Francisco.[12] In the series Cheng portrays Ah Toy, a madam in San Francisco's Chinatown during the 1870s, which is a fictionalised version of the real Ah Toy.[13] The series, based on an original idea by the late Bruce Lee,[14] premiered on Cinemax on April 5, 2019.
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Film/TV Series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Shanghai Noon | Dim Sum Girl #1 | Uncredited |
| 2002 | Mentors | Beautiful Girl | Episode – "Enter the Monolith" |
| 2003 | Hollywood Wives :The New Generation | Girlfriend #1 | TV movie |
| Word of Honor | Reporter | TV movie | |
| 2004 | The Twelve Days of Christmas Eve | Jenna Lee | TV movie |
| 2005 | The Christmas Blessing | Anaesthetist | TV movie |
| 2006 | Goose on the Loose | Terry MacNeil | TV movie |
| The 4400 | Wheat Field Reporter | Episode – "The New World" | |
| Broken Trail | Ye Fung aka #4 | TV Miniseries | |
| 2007 | Psych | Bad Nanny | Episode – "Rob-a-Bye Baby" |
| Blood Ties | Wynter | Episode – "Bugged" | |
| Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking | Iris Chang | Documentary | |
| 2008 | The Art of War II: Betrayal | Geena | Direct-to-DVD |
| 2009 | High Noon | Det. Liz Alberta | TV movie |
| Something Evil Comes | Tara | TV movie | |
| 2010 | The Staff Room | Ms. Vu | |
| Eureka | Dr. Lisa Wheeler | Episode – "Crossing Over" | |
| Shattered | Grace Rossi | Episode – "Everyone's a Hostage to Someone" | |
| Messages Deleted | Myrna | ||
| On Strike for Christmas | Television Reporter | TV movie | |
| 2011 | Fringe | Victoria DiMiri | Episode – "The Firefly" |
| Hunt for the I-5 Killer | Young Woman | TV movie | |
| Flashpoint | Ruby Mai | Episode – "A Call to Arms" | |
| The House | Katie | ||
| 2012 | Arctic Air | Eva Lam | Episode – "Vancouver Is Such a Screwed Up City" |
| Fairly Legal | Sullivan | Episode – "Ripple of Hope" | |
| 2011–2012 | Supernatural | Susan / Leviathan | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Broken Trust | Grace | TV movie |
| 2012 | A Killer Among Us | Miss Hetherington | |
| Libelle | Jasmin Lu | ||
| It's Christmas, Carol! | Kendra | ||
| 2013 | Assault on Wall Street | TV Host | |
| Signed Sealed Delivered | Newsperson | ||
| Embrace of the Vampire | Kelly | ||
| Guess Who's Coming to Christmas | Chealsea | TV movie | |
| Blink | Hannah Duncan | TV movie | |
| 2014 | Skye and Chang | Emily Chang | TV movie[15][16] |
| Stolen from the Womb | Nicole | TV film | |
| Shamed | Michelle Kim | ||
| The Flash | Linda Park | Episode – "Pilot" (archive footage) | |
| Deeper | Susan | ||
| 2015 | Marco Polo: One Hundred Eyes | Mei Lin | TV Short |
| 2014-2016 | Marco Polo | Mei Lin | 19 episodes |
| 2016 | Mission NinetyTwo: Dragonfly | Jasmine Chang | |
| 2013-2017 | Arrow | Linda Park | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Deadly Class | Master Gao | Recurring role |
| 2019–2023 | Warrior | Ah Toy | Series Regular |
| 2020 | The Stand | Dr. Sylvia Wen | TV Miniseries |
| 2021–2022 | See | Charlotte | Series Regular |
| 2024 | Lucky Star | Noel | |
| 2025 | The Chinatown Diner | Connie | Post-Production[17] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "How Olivia Cheng - the breakout star of Netflix's Marco Polo - is recasting the role of the submissive concubine" by Marsha Lederman at www.theglobeandmail.com
- ^ "‘Deadly Class’ Gets Early 2019 Debut Date; New Teaser & Castings – New York Comic Con" by Dominic Patten, Dino-Ray Ramos at deadline.com
- ^ "Why Dr. Wen From The Stand Looks So Familiar" by Devon Forward at www.looper.com
- ^ "Edmonton-born Olivia Cheng brings both ferocity and compassion to TV's Warrior and SEE" by Fish Griwkowsky at edmontonjournal.com
- ^ "Why this actress was afraid of money" by Emily Mathieu at www.thestar.com
- ^ a b TV.com. "Olivia Cheng". Archived from the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
- ^ Lasiuta, Tim (June 1, 2006). "Shattered Dreams and Broken Trails".
- ^ "Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking". The Georgia Straight. 14 November 2007.
- ^ "A woman who cried for justice" by Erik Nilsson at www.chinadaily.com.cn
- ^ "First look at Netflix's 'Marco Polo' series". torontosun.
- ^ Kane, Laura (10 December 2014). "'Marco Polo': Olivia Cheng pushes boundaries". Metro News. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2017-10-11). "'Warrior': Cinemax Sets Cast & Director For Bruce Lee-Inspired Martial Arts Series". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
- ^ "Warrior's Olivia Cheng on Bringing Activism to Her Art" by Brea Baker at www.elle.com
- ^ "‘Warrior’ Renewed for Season 2 on Cinemax" by Rick Porter at www.hollywoodreporter.com
- ^ "Skye & Chang pilot to begin production June 9" by Danielle Ng See Quan at playbackonline.ca
- ^ "Inside APTN's rule-breaking sci-fi drama Skye & Chang" by Etan Vlessing at playbackonline.ca
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (19 September 2024). "'The Chinatown Diner': First Teaser Revealed For Under-The-Radar Indie Pic Starring Aileen Wu, Curtis Lum, Andrea Bang, Olivia Cheng & Tzi Ma". Deadline. Retrieved 20 September 2024.