Christy Chung (born 19 September 1970) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for starring in films '' Mermaid Got Married'', '' The Bodyguard from Beijing'', ''

Love on Delivery ''Love on Delivery'' (破壞之王; aka. ''King of Destruction'') is a 1994 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Lee Lik-Chi. Plot Ho Kam-ang ( Stephen Chow), a weak, disadvantaged but kind lunch delivery boy, happens to fall in love with Lily ...

'' and '' Jan Dara''.

Early life

Chung was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, to a Chinese-Vietnamese father and a native Vietnamese mother. She grew up in Brossard,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, a suburb of

, with French and Vietnamese as mother-tongues. She later learned English,

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

Career

While studying for a career in the tourism industry at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

(UQAM), she entered and won the Miss Chinese Montreal contest in 1992. She then went to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, in her first trip away from home, to participate in the Miss Chinese International Pageant 1993, in which she won despite not knowing a single Chinese word. This opened doors for her to launch her acting career there, despite not speaking a word of Cantonese at the time, and despite her extremely limited acting experience (an uncredited ten-second non-speaking role as a gum-chewing prostitute in

Denys Arcand Georges-Henri Denys Arcand (; born June 25, 1941) is a Canadian filmmaker. During his four decades career, he became one of the most internationally-recognized director from Quebec, earning widespread acclaim and numerous accolades for his "inten ...

's '' Love and Human Remains''). She had to choose between acting in Hong Kong and becoming the weather-forecast presenter at Société Radio-Canada, the French-language government television network in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. A role in ''The Bride with White Hair 2'' brought her instant recognition, and she became a well-known star in Chinese-language popular culture, acting in a large number of films including some films starring Stephen Chow, as well as '' The Bodyguard from Beijing'' starring

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean Martial arts, martial artist and actor. With a Jet Li filmography, film career spanning more than forty years, Li is re ...

. Giving birth to her daughter in 1998 temporarily had a negative effect on her career because of a stereotypical impression that a mother could not function as a sex symbol, but her career recovered in 2000. She subsequently had roles in '' Samsara'' and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

's movie '' The Medallion''. She added Thai to her language repertoire when she starred in Nonzee Nimibutr's 2001 film '' Jan Dara''. Singapore '' FHM'' magazine voted her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2000. In 2010, she starred in '' Bruce Lee, My Brother'', playing the role of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

's mother and Aarif Lee portrayed Lee. She is a brand ambassador and spokeswoman to slimming service Marie France Bodyline, prominently appearing on billboards and print ads. Despite her success, she remains mostly unknown in

, where she was born and grew up, because she has done most of her film work in Cantonese.

Personal life

Chung married Glen Ross in 1998, and gave birth to their daughter Yasmine in Montreal in the middle of the 1998 Ice Storm. Chung and Ross divorced in 2002, and Chung has sole custody of Yasmine. In 2003, Chung married music producer Jon Yen. They have two daughters, Jaden Chloe, born in August 2008, and Cayla Janie, born in February 2010. Chung and Yen divorced in 2011. In November 2016, Chung married Chinese actor Shawn Zhang Lunshuo, also known as Golden Zhang who is 12 years her junior. Chung currently resides in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. She is currently a restaurant owner.

Filmography

*'' Sisters Who Make Waves'' (2020) *'' Fall in Love at First Kiss'' (2019) *'' Into the Rainbow'' (2017) *'' The Right Mistake'' (2015) *'' Bad Sister'' (2014) *''The Incredible Truth'' (2013) *''Better and Better'' (2013) *''Good-for-Nothing Heros'' (2012) *'' Dear Enemy'' (2011) *''The Bright Eleven'' (2010) *'' Bruce Lee, My Brother'' (2010) *'' Hong Kong Express'' (2005) (TV) *''Asian Charlie's Angels'' (2004) (TV) *''Astonishing'' (2004) – Mandy *'' Fantasia'' (2004) – Jane Lam, aka Little Britney *''

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'' is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first serialised concurrently from 3 September 1963 to 27 May 1966 in the newspapers ''Ming Pao'' in Hong Kong and '' Nanyang Siang Pau'' in Singapore. It has been ...

'' (2003 TV series) – Kang Min *'' The Medallion'' (2003) – Charlotte Watson *'' Never Again (Lee Soo Young Music Video)'' (2001) – the Mother in the Video *'' Samsara'' (2001) – Pema *'' Jan Dara'' (2001) – Khun Boonlueang *'' Un Baiser Volé'' - Sophia *'' Gen-Y Cops'' (2000) – Inspector Chung *'' Conman in Tokyo'' (2000) – Banana *'' Tau mung'' (2000) – Sophia *'' Troublesome Night'' (1997) – Mrs. To *'' All's Well, Ends Well 1997'' (1997) – Little Shien *'' 97 Aces Go Places'' (1997) – Li Lai-Shen *'' The God of Cookery'' (1996) – High School Fantasy Girl *'' Tai Chi Boxer'' (1996) – Rose *'' Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star'' ''(Yun cai zhi li xing)'' (1996) – Christie Lee/Angel of Nine Heavens *''Red Wolf'' (1995) – Lai *''

Mack the Knife "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" () is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (). The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld n ...

'' (1995) – Jamie *'' Passion 1995'' (1995) – Tina *
Faithfully Yours
' (1995) – Miss Tang *'' Man Wanted'' (1995) – Yung *''

'' (1994) – Lily *'' Hail the Judge'' (1994) – Stone Mansion *'' Modern Romance'' (1994) – Ady *'' Mermaid Got Married'' (1994) – Wong Siu May, the mermaid *''

I Wanna Be Your Man "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song first recorded and released as a single by the Rolling Stones, and then recorded by the Beatles for their second studio album '' With the Beatles''. The song was primarily written by Pau ...

'' (1994) – Ron *'' The Bodyguard from Beijing'' (1994) – Michelle Yeung *'' Whatever You Want'' (1994) – Pearl Ko *'' Perfect Exchange'' (1993) – Lily *'' The Bride with White Hair 2'' (1993) – Moon

References

External links

*
hkcinemagic entry

''La Presse'' article

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Christy 1970 births Living people 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Montreal Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian actresses of Chinese descent Canadian actresses of Vietnamese descent Canadian expatriates in China Canadian expatriates in Hong Kong Canadian film actresses Canadian restaurateurs Canadian women restaurateurs Canadian television actresses Canadian women in business Miss Chinese International winners People from Brossard Université du Québec à Montréal alumni