Estrella Lin (; born 1980) is a pop music singer from
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, formerly a member of the girl group
3EP Beauties, and the author of a Chinese-language book detailing alleged abuses in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
's pop music industry.
Career
In the 1990s, Lin was a member of Taiwan-based girl group 3EP Beauties () under the stage-name "E-Lin" (), along with "Jin" () and "Tin-Tin" (). One music video of theirs, "All Right", in which all three members wore
bikini
A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...
s, attracted considerable attention at the time; however, the group later dissolved.
In 2002, Lin made her only appearance on the silver screen, in
Ho Ping
Ho Ping (; born 1958) is a Taiwanese film director.
Born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, he studied chemical engineering at Tunghai University before moving to the United States to earn an MFA from Syracuse University. Upon graduation, Ho returned to Ta ...
's movie ''
The Rule of the Game''; she played the role of a married woman who has an affair with a frequent customer at her
hot pot
Hot pot ( zh, c=, s=wikt:火锅, 火锅, t=wikt:火鍋, 火鍋, p=huǒguō, l=fire pot, first=t) or hotpot, also known as steamboat, is a dish (food), dish of soup/stock (food), stock kept simmering in a cooking pot, pot by a heat source on ...
restaurant, played by .
For her role in the film, credited as "Wei Ling", she won the "Best New Actress" award at the 47th
Asia-Pacific Film Festival
The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific (FPA). The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954.
History
The festival was first he ...
in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
.
Lin had made plans to leave Taiwan and move to South Korea to attempt to break into the
K-pop
K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...
industry; however, her
nude
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and no ...
sex scene
Sexual content has been found in films since the early days of the industry, and the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, especially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or sugges ...
in ''The Rule of the Game'', a departure from her "pure and cute" image as a member of 3EP Beauties, caused her difficulties in this regard and forced her to delay her plans.
She finally moved to South Korea in 2007 to work with the talent management agency AntzStar (), run by South Korean actor .
There, she faced grueling conditions, including 15-hour days filled with rehearsals.
She claims to have had to take injections of
painkillers
An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management. Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in so ...
every two weeks in order to find relief from
knee pain
Knee pain is pain in or around the knee.
The knee joint consists of an articulation between four bones: the femur, tibia, fibula and patella. There are four compartments to the knee. These are the medial and lateral tibiofemoral compartments, the ...
caused by dancing for five hours straight each day. Unable to bear the pressure, Lin aimed to go back home, but claims that her management company held her prisoner in her house in South Korea; in December 2009, with the aid of a friend, she escaped and successfully returned to Taiwan.
In August 2010, Lin published a book detailing alleged mistreatment of aspiring stars in South Korea's entertainment industry, including pressure on singers of both genders to provide sexual services to prospective investors.
In response to the controversy, her former management agency made a public announcement to the South Korean media that they had inserted a new clause into their contracts with their trainees making clarifications that they had the right to refuse unnecessary body contact.
However, another trainee at the same institute, Cherry (), noted primarily for her G-cup breasts, refuted some of Lin's accusations in an appearance on talk show ''Gossip Queen'' (), claiming that Lin had not been forced into unwanted sexual contact but rather had actively sought a sexual relationship with her manager.
In July 2010, Lin appeared nude in the Taiwan promotional materials for the Canadian film ''
Splice''. That same month, she also began guest appearances in the
CTV television drama series ''Scent of Love'' (), giving the much younger Fok Siu-man () an on-screen kiss.
In December 2010, she released a new photo collection book, "Angel's Stars" (). However, at the press conference announcing its release, she was careful to emphasise that the book contained no nudity.
Works
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Estrella
1980 births
Living people
Taiwanese expatriates in South Korea
Taiwanese Mandopop singers
Taiwanese women writers
Musicians from Kaohsiung
Writers from Kaohsiung
21st-century Taiwanese singers
21st-century Taiwanese women singers