Michelle Ang (born 17 October 1983) is a New Zealand actress. She is best known for her role as

Lori Lee Lori Lee is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Michelle Ang. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 November 2002. Ang departed in 2003 but returned the following year to ...

in the Australian television soap opera '' Neighbours'', and for voicing the female

Jango Fett Jango Fett is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, created by George Lucas. He first appeared as an antagonist in the 2002 film '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'', played by Temuera Morrison. The character is ...

clone Omega in the animated series '' Star Wars: The Bad Batch''.

Early life and education

Ang was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

and is of

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese (; Malay: ''Orang Cina Malaysia''), alternatively Chinese Malaysians, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese descent. They form the second largest ethnic group after the Malay majority constituting 22.4% of the Malaysian p ...

descent. Ang was a talented ballet dancer when she was younger and performed in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'', ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...

'' and ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' with the

Royal New Zealand Ballet The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company. History New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danish ...

. Later she completed studies at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Z ...

for a

double degree A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...

: a

Bachelor of Commerce and Administration A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar ...

(B.C.A.) in Accounting with

Commercial Law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a bra ...

and a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Chemistry. Ang has named ''

The Power of Now ''The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment'' is a book by Eckhart Tolle. It presents itself as a discussion about how people interact with themselves and others. The concept of self reflection and presence in the moment are presented ...

'' by

Eckhart Tolle Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, February 16, 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author of ''The Power of Now'' and '' A New Earth''. After being recommended by Oprah Winfrey, his first book, ''The Power of N ...

as the book that has most influenced her.

Career

Television

Ang got her start in television at a young age through the family series ''

Young Entertainers Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

''. Here, she got to show her skills at singing and dancing, much like ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised f ...

'' show on US television. She played Tai-San in the New Zealand post-apocalyptic drama '' The Tribe'' as part of the core cast from 1999 to 2001, and featured in the final episodes of the 2002 series. Ang also guest starred in the final 2 episodes of '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' as Akemi. She played

in the Australian television soap opera '' Neighbours'', in which she was a major character from 2002 to 2003; she left ''Neighbours'' to finish her university studies but returned briefly in 2004. Ang was nominated for a

Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine '' TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as th ...

for Most Popular New Female Talent for her role in ''Neighbours''. She played the role of Tracy Hong in the first two seasons of the New Zealand TV series '' Outrageous Fortune'' in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, Ang appeared in the American television drama ''

South of Nowhere ''South of Nowhere'' is an American teen drama television series created by Thomas W. Lynch. It first aired on November 4, 2005, on Noggin as part of its teen programming block, The N. The show was produced by Noggin LLC in association with th ...

''. In 2012, Ang featured in the MTV series '' Underemployed'' as an aspiring writer who has to settle for working at a donut shop. In 2015, Ang starred in the web series '' Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462'' as Alex, a passenger caught on a flight at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, and went on to appear in the main series '' Fear the Walking Dead''. Ang received an Emmy nomination for her work on ''Flight 462''. In 2020 she had a recurring role on ''

The New Legends of Monkey ''The New Legends of Monkey'' is a television series inspired by ''Monkey'', a Japanese production from the 1970s and 1980s which garnered a cult following in New Zealand, Australia, the U.K. and South Africa. The Japanese production was based o ...

''. In 2021, Ang starred in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

original animated series '' Star Wars: The Bad Batch'' as Omega, a mysterious female clone of

. She was invited to keep her native New Zealand accent for the role in homage to fellow New Zealander

Temuera Morrison Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a New Zealand actor and Singer who first gained recognition for his role as Dr. Hone Ropata on the soap opera ''Shortland Street''. He gained critical acclaim for his starring role as Jake "The ...

, who portrayed Jango Fett in the franchise.

Film

Ang made her feature film debut in 2004's ''

Futile Attraction ''Futile Attraction'' is a 2004 New Zealand film directed by Mark Prebble. It is an anti-romantic comedy filmed in mockumentary style. The movie attracted media attention for the fact that it was largely funded by web donations. Plot A film cre ...

''. Ang had also appeared in a series of low-budget New Zealand short films including ''Forbidden Fury'' and ''Take 3''. In 2006 she appeared in '' No.2'', directed by

Toa Fraser Toa Fraser (born 1975) is a New Zealand born playwright and film director, of Fijian heritage. His first feature film, '' No. 2'', starring Ruby Dee won the Audience Award (World Dramatic) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His second, ''Dean S ...

. In 2011 Ang portrayed a nerdy

Chinese New Zealander Chinese New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Hainamana o Aotearoa; ) or Sino-New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. The largest subset of Asian New Zealanders, many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ...

in the romantic comedy ''

My Wedding and Other Secrets ''My Wedding and Other Secrets'' is a 2011 romantic comedy film directed by Roseanne Liang, written by Liang and Angeline Loo, and produced by South Pacific Pictures. The film is based on Liang's real-life cross-cultural romance. Plot A Rome ...

'', her first lead role in a feature. It won her the Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film award at the

2011 Aotearoa Film & Television Awards The 2011 Aotearoa Film & Television Awards were held at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland, New Zealand on the evening of Saturday 12 November, with the crafts awards presented at an earlier luncheon on Thursday 10 November. After previously ...

. Her other film credits include '' Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son'' and ''

Triple 9 ''Triple 9'' is a 2016 American heist film, heist action thriller film directed by John Hillcoat and written by Matt Cook. The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Clifton Collins Jr. ...

''. Ang auditioned for the

Cho Chang Dumbledore's Army (or D.A. for short) is a fictional student organisation in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series that is founded by the main characters, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, to stand up against the regime of Hogwa ...

role in ''

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the fourth novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter, a wizard in his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and ...

'', but in the end the role was given to

Katie Leung Katie Leung (born 8 August 1987; ) is a Scottish actress. Initially famous for playing Cho Chang, the titular character's first love interest in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, she is also known for her roles as Caitlyn in the animated se ...

. Prior to her role in ''The Bad Batch'', Ang also had auditioned for a role in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi''.

Personal life

Ang has a son.Instagram
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Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ang, Michelle 1983 births Living people 20th-century New Zealand actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses New Zealand expatriate actresses in the United States New Zealand film actresses New Zealand television actresses People from Christchurch New Zealand people of Chinese descent New Zealand people of Malaysian descent Victoria University of Wellington alumni