Marcus Chang (; born 28 May 1983) is a Taiwanese actor and singer-songwriter. He made his acting debut with the film '' Café. Waiting. Love'' (2014). He is best known for his leading roles in the television series '' Back to 1989'' (2016), '' Behind Your Smile'' (2016-2017), and '' Lost Romance'' (2020), for which he won the Asian Star Prize at the 16th

Seoul International Drama Awards Seoul International Drama Awards (), simply known as SDA, is an annual award ceremony based in Seoul, South Korea which honors excellence in television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrat ...

. His other notable works include ''Between'' (2018) and ''Trick or Love'' (2023).

Early life and education

Chang was born on 28 May 1983, in

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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 ...

. He has a younger brother named Jarvis (born 1986). After completing elementary school in Taiwan, Chang was sent to a boarding school. He enrolled at St Peter's College in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. At a young age, he experienced loneliness while living in a foreign country and had to learn independence. He learned to play the piano and guitar at an early age and wrote his first song at the age of 15. By the age of 17, Chang aspired to become a professional singer-songwriter. Despite his family’s expectations for him to take over the family business, Chang chose to study music academically. In 2005, he graduated from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

with a bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts, specializing in popular music, and also studied jazz piano. Additionally, he studied audio engineering at the

SAE Institute The SAE Institute (SAE) and SAE University College (in Australia), formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College and badged SAE Creative Media Education, is a network of colleges around the world that provides creativ ...

in Auckland. After graduation, Chang returned to Taiwan to help with the family business as his father faced health issues. In 2007, Chang participated in ''One Million Star'', a Taiwanese televised singing competition. After completing his one-year mandatory military service in 2009 and following his father’s recovery, Chang decided to leave home due to his family’s opposition to his pursuit of a music career. To support himself, he took on various jobs, including working at Taipei Children’s Amusement Park and Taipei Zoo, where he wore a mascot costume. He also composed songs for children’s theater productions, advertisements, and other projects. Chang is bilingual, fluent in both

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 English.

Career

Acting career

In 2012, Chang appeared in commercials for

CPC Corporation The CPC Corporation () is a state-owned petroleum, natural gas, and gasoline company in Taiwan and is the core of the Taiwanese petrochemicals industry. History Early history CPC was founded on 1 June 1946 in Shanghai as Chinese Petroleum Corpo ...

and Asia-Pacific Interactive Service, which eventually led to his discovery by producer Angie Chai. He was subsequently signed by her management company, Star Ritz International Entertainment. In 2014, he made his acting debut in Giddens Ko’s film '' Café. Waiting. Love,'' portraying the mysterious crush of Vivian Sung’s lead character. In 2015, he was cast in the television series '' To the Dearest Intruder''. Chang’s breakthrough came in 2016 with his first lead role in the television series '' Back to 1989,'' where he played Chen Che, a man from 2016 who accidentally time travels to 1989. His performance brought him widespread recognition, earning him a Best Actor nomination and the Best Potential Award at the 5th Sanlih Drama Awards. Chang later starred in the television series '' Behind Your Smile'' (2016-2017) as Zhao Yi-ting, a businessman motivated by revenge. In 2018, he took on the role of Luo Cheng-kai, an ambitious executive, in the television series ''Between''. In 2019, Chang appeared in the film '' Nina Wu'' and made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in the television series '' Let's Go Crazy on Live!''. In 2020, Chang reunited with Vivian Sung in the romantic-fantasy series '' Lost Romance,'' where he played dual roles: He Tian-xing, a calm and reserved CEO in the real world, and Situ Ao-ran, a

tsundere is a Culture of Japan, Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a character with an initially harsh personality who gradually reveals a warmer, friendlier side over time. The word is derived from the terms (adverb, 'mo ...

and domineering CEO in a fictional romance novel world. He was highly praised for his ability to convincingly portray two contrasting characters. ''Lost Romance'' was named the “Most Popular

Taiwanese Drama Taiwanese drama (, also known as T.W. drama) refer to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and ha ...

of the Year” by ''DailyView''. Chang and Sung were lauded for their on-screen chemistry, which greatly contributed to the series’ popularity. Chang’s performance in ''Lost Romance'' further expanded his fanbase, particularly among international audiences, and earned him the Asian Star Prize at the 16th

in 2021. In 2021, Chang made a surprise cameo appearance in Giddens Ko’s film '' Till We Meet Again'', playing the college boyfriend of Vivian Sung’s character. In 2022, Chang was hospitalized for 11 days due to a collapsed lung, requiring emergency treatment and an extended recovery period. After regaining his health, he made his return to acting in 2023 with the television series ''Trick or Love''. However, he soon took another hiatus, revealing that he had been struggling with a recurring collapsed lung, which led to

pneumothorax A pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and dyspnea, shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is ...

. After making a full recovery in 2024, Chang attended a press conference in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for his upcoming

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

, ''A Controversial Entertainer'', set for release in 2025.

Music career

Chang's debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) ''Zero (±1)'' was released by Sony Music Taiwan on 31 August 2018. The EP reflects his dual identity as both an actor and a musician. Following its success, he released his second EP, ''Oxymoron,'' on 26 December 2019. He also held two solo concerts at Legacy Taipei. Chang also contributed to the soundtrack of television series '' Lost Romance'' with the songs “Lose to You,” “Tonight I’m Here,” and "Talk To Me.”

Filmography

Television

Film

Web series

Theater

Music videos

Marcus Chang at chinesemov.com
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Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Compositions

Music and lyrics written by Chang.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Marcus Living people 1983 births 21st-century Taiwanese male actors 21st-century Taiwanese male singers 21st-century Taiwanese singer-songwriters Male actors from Taipei Singers from Taipei Taiwanese male film actors Taiwanese male stage actors Taiwanese male television actors Taiwanese songwriters Taiwanese Mandopop singers Taiwanese idols People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland University of Auckland alumni