Shaun Chen (born 3 November 1978) is a Malaysian actor and former national badminton player who is based in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. He started as a host for the variety show ''City Beat'' alongside Sharon Au, Jeff Wang and Fiona Xie. In 2003, he made his acting debut in '' True Heroes'' and '' Holland V''. Chen rose to stardom when he received three awards at

Star Awards 2015 Star Awards 2015 (also SA2015, Chinese: 红星大奖2015) is a double television award ceremony which is held in Singapore. It is part of the annual Star Awards organised by Mediacorp for free-to-air channel Mediacorp Channel 8. SA2015 is broadc ...

, winning the Rocket Award, Best Actor and his first Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes award.

Early life and education

Chen was born in

Jelebu The Jelebu District (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Jolobu'') is the second largest district in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia after Jempol, with a population over 40,000. Jelebu borders on the Seremban District to its west and Kuala Pilah District ...

Negri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in ...

, Malaysia. He is the youngest of seven children. When Chen was 13, he went to

Seremban Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Somban'') is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban Municipal Council, Seremban City Council. ...

to study and became a badminton player for the state. Although he tried for the national team, he failed to qualify for it. Chen subsequently earned a diploma in electronic and electrical engineering from a private college.

Career

Prior to coming to Singapore, Chen had worked in many jobs, electrician, car spray-painter, credit card and spectacle salesman model in Malaysia and appeared on billboards for

Maxis Maxis is an American video game developer and a Division (business), division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by Electronic Arts in 1997. Maxis is ...

. Early in his career Chen was known for playing

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

s and earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination in the

Star Awards 2006 Star Awards 2006 is a television awards ceremony telecast in 2006 as part of the annual Star Awards organised by MediaCorp for MediaCorp TV Channel 8. The ceremony, alongside the Walk-of-fame and the Post-show party, were held on 10 December 2 ...

for his role in '' CID''. In 2011, Chen starred in the top-rated drama serial ''

Love Thy Neighbour Love Thy Neighbor or Love Thy Neighbour may also refer to: Film * Love Thy Neighbor (1940 film), ''Love Thy Neighbor'' (1940 film), an American film * Love Thy Neighbour (1967 film), ''Love Thy Neighbour'' (1967 film), a Danish-German comedy fil ...

''.

Breakthrough

In 2015, Chen won the Best Actor award on his second nomination in the

ceremony for his role in '' The Journey: Tumultuous Times''. That same year, he won his first

Star Awards for Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes The Star Awards for Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes is an award presented annually at the Star Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1994. In 2023, the Most Popular Rising Stars award was introduced for artistes who have been in the e ...

award as well as the ''Rocket Award''. His multiple wins at

propelled him into becoming an A-lister. Since then, Chen has played leading roles in blockbuster productions such as '' My Friends From Afar'' and ''

Hero (2016 TV series) ''Hero'' () is a Singaporean blockbuster drama produced and telecast on Mediacorp Channel 8. It stars Shaun Chen, Chen Hanwei and Jesseca Liu as the main casts of this series, and also features cameo appearances by Zoe Tay, Rebecca Lim, Xiang Yu ...

'' In Star Awards 2018, he was nominated for Best Actor for the drama '' My Friends From Afar''. To date, Chen has gotten seven Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes, in 2015 and from 2018 to 2024.

Ventures

In July 2023, Chen invested a six-figure sum in ''The Gold Club'', a high-end bar in

Orchard Road Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major -long road in the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of Singapore. A famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area, with numerous internationally renowned de ...

's The Heeren.

Personal life

Born 陈节隆 (Chén Jiélóng), Chen adopted the stage name 陈泓宇 (Chén Hóngyǔ) when he started out in the entertainment industry in 2003. Chen married his girlfriend of 6 years, Michelle Chia, in May 2009. The couple confirmed their divorce on 27 April 2011 but insist they still remain friends. In July 2015, Chen married his Malaysian girlfriend, Celine Chin. His relationship with Chin was not revealed until October 2015, when he announced that they were going to have a baby. They have two daughters.

Filmography

Television series

Film

Discography

Compilation album

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Shaun 1978 births Living people People from Negeri Sembilan Singaporean male television actors Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Hakka descent Singaporean people of Hakka descent Malaysian male television actors 21st-century Malaysian male actors 21st-century Singaporean male actors 21st-century Malaysian businesspeople Malaysian male badminton players Malaysian television presenters Singaporean television presenters