Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi (in Chinese 張栢芝, born 24 May 1980) is a Hong Kong actress and
cantopop singer. Cheung is considered a "
Sing girl"—an actress who first received media attention through starring alongside
Stephen Chow, and later went on to her own successful career.
Biography
Cheung was born in
Man Wah Sun Chuen,
Jordan, Hong Kong to Davies Shally, who is of half Chinese and half British descent, and Cheung Yan-yung. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old. She was sent to
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
to live with her aunt at the age of fourteen and then attended
Camberwell Girls Grammar School
, motto_translation = Usefulness in Service
, established =
, type = Independent, single sex, early learning, primary and secondary, Christian day school
, denomination = Anglican
, slogan = Create Your Tomorrow
, principal ...
.
She has an elder half-sister, two younger brothers, and a younger half-brother from her father's side.
Career
Her career began in 1998, when she was cast in a television commercial advertising
lemon tea. She caught the attention of
Stephen Chow after shooting the ad. Later, Cheung made her film debut as a young nightclub hostess in Stephen Chow's ''
King of Comedy'' (1999).
''King of Comedy'' became the highest grossing local film of the year, and shot Cheung to fame in Hong Kong. She then starred in ''
Fly Me to Polaris'' (1999), which earned her the award for Best Newcomer at the
Hong Kong Film Awards.
Cheung also sung the theme song for ''Fly Me to Polaris'', which gained attention among the masses for her singing ability. In the same year, Cheung launched her singing career with her first
Cantopop album ''Any Weather'' (1999).
Cheung made inroads into the Korean market with ''
Failan'' (2001) co-starring
Choi Min-shik. The film earned her a nomination at the
Grand Bell Awards
The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea.
The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...
for Best Actress. She then starred in the Chinese comedy film ''
The Lion Roars
''The Lion Roars'' is a 2002 Hong Kong comedy film produced and directed by Joe Ma. The film starred Louis Koo and Cecilia Cheung
Plot
During the Soong Dynasty, a beautiful woman named Moth Liu is searching for a husband, but is unable to fin ...
'' (2002). Cheung impressed the audiences with her portrayal of the independent and spunky heroine, and won the Most Popular Actress award at the
Chinese Film Media Awards.
Cheung reunited with Derek Yee in the crime thriller ''
One Nite in Mongkok'' (2004) where she played a prostitute who cross paths with an assassin (played by
Daniel Wu). She was nominated for the Best Actress award at the
Hong Kong Film Awards for the third time.
Cheung was cast in her first television project, where she played the legendary singer
Zhou Xuan in ''The Wandering Songstress'' (2008). She was reportedly paid 200,000 yuan per episode to film the drama.
Cheung's next few films failed to achieve commercial success and were critically panned.
Cheung has earned 70 million HKD in 2014, ranking number nine in the top ten list of Hong Kong's highest (entertainment) celebrity incomes in 2014.
In early 2021, Cheung joined the second season of Chinese reality series ''
Sisters Who Make Waves'', a singing and dancing competition among 30 women with established entertainment careers.
Personal life
Cheung married fellow Hong Kong entertainer
Nicholas Tse in a secret wedding ceremony in the Philippines in September 2006. She gave birth to their first son in August 2007 and their second son in May 2010.
On 23 August 2011, the couple made a public announcement of an agreement to a divorce. They agreed to hold joint custody of their two sons.
Cheung announced in a
Weibo Weibo may refer to:
* Microblogging in China, or China-based microblogging services (), including:
** NetEase Weibo (), launched by NetEase
** People's Weibo (), launched by ''People's Daily''
** Phoenix Weibo (), launched by Phoenix Television
** W ...
post from her studio that she had given birth to a third son on 18 November 2018, but the father of her son remains unknown.
In March 2020, Cheung voiced her support for
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...
cotton after several international companies announced that they will no longer purchase cotton from the region due to concerns over
Uyghur human rights.
In June 2021, Cheung revealed on the Chinese variety show ''Life Is Beautiful 2'' to fellow actress and friend
Sheren Tang that if she were to enter a new relationship, she would not make it public. On the same show, Cheung revealed she had moved to Shanghai for several months and plans to reside in the city long term due to more work opportunities and to send her children to better schools.
Incidents
1999 Triad threat incident
In 1999, her
triad
Triad or triade may refer to:
* a group of three
Businesses and organisations
* Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America
* Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...
member father, known as ''Bearded Bravery'' or ''Bearded Yung'', got into a misunderstanding with a rival gang. As a result, Cheung received
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
and
death threats against her, when she was still relatively new in the
film industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, ...
.
2008 Edison Chen Photo scandal
In January and February 2008, many explicit photos were found online involving Cheung and
Edison Chen. The scandal also involved
Gillian Chung
Gillian Chung Ka-lai (born Chung Tik-shan, 21 January 1981), known by her stage name Chung Yan-tung, is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is a member of the Cantopop duo Twins, along with Charlene Choi.
Early life
Chung was born in Hong K ...
and
Bobo Chan.
Filmography
Discography
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheung, Cecilia
Living people
1980 births
20th-century Hong Kong actresses
21st-century Hong Kong actresses
21st-century Hong Kong women singers
Cantopop singer-songwriters
Hong Kong Christians
Hong Kong film actresses
Hong Kong television actresses
Hong Kong people of Chinese descent
Hong Kong people of British descent
Hong Kong emigrants to Australia
Hong Kong idols