Regina Lei Jia-rui (; born 2000) is a Taiwanese actress. She made her feature film debut as Kat in the zombie film '' The Sadness'' (2021) and rose to prominence with her role as Leena in the PTS series ''Port of Lies'' (2023), for which she was nominated for Best Leading Actress in the 59th Golden Bell Awards. She is set to make her Korean debut in '' Twelve'' in 2025.
Early life and education
Lei was born in 2000 in
Puli, Nantou
Puli Township () is an township (Taiwan), urban township in Nantou County, Taiwan. The township is located within the Puli Basin. It is the geographic center of Taiwan.
Name
In the 19th century the city was known as Posia () or Po-li-sia (). ...
, Taiwan, and grew up with a younger brother. She studied at a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
school, and was a member of her high school cheerleading team. She later pursued applied Japanese at
Kainan University
Kainan University (KNU; ) is a private university located near Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan.
KNU was founded as Kainan Commercial and Technical High School in 1917. In January 1990, the school was upgraded to Kainan Institute of Techno ...
, graduating with a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in 2022. In her freshman year, a friend of her mother who worked as a talent agent encouraged Lei to film an audition tape, leading to her casting as an advertisement model. She began working part-time in advertising in 2018, and accumulated around 40 advertisements over the next three years. She also started filming music videos, which she found enjoyable and sparked her interest in acting.
Career
Lei decided to pursue an acting career after graduating from university, and made her debut in the horror anthology series '. She then made her feature film debut as the female lead, Kat, alongside
Berant Zhu
Berant Zhu Xuan-yang (; pinyin: ''Zhū Xuānyáng''; born 4 April 1999) is a Taiwanese actor best known for his role as Chang in the crime mystery film ''Bad Education (2022 film), Bad Education'' (2023), for which he won Golden Horse Award for B ...
's character Jim, a couple trying to reconnect during a
zombie apocalypse
Zombie apocalypse is a subgenre of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Usually, only a few individuals or small bands of human survivors are left living.
There are many d ...
, in Rob Jabbaz's zombie film '' The Sadness''. Han Cheung of ''
Taipei Times
The ''Taipei Times'' is an English-language print newspaper in Taiwan published by the Liberty Times Group. Founded as the third English-language newspaper on 15 June 1999, it is currently the last surviving English-language print newspaper i ...
'' praised her for doing a "satisfactory job" for a debut; while Jasneet Singh of ''
Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
'' commended Lei's "emotional performances" that evoke sympathy from the audience as they "witness the ordeal through er character'seyes". She also appeared as the younger version of 's character in the
SET
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
series '. She was named Top Talent by
Taipei Film Festival
The Taipei Film Festival (TFF; ) is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, through the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government. It was first held in 1998, from September 28 to October 5.
Currently chaired by ...
in 2022.
In 2023, Lei delivered a breakout performance in her starring role as Leena, an Indonesian caretaker appointed as a court translator for a fellow Indonesian accused of murder in the PTS series '. She was cast three weeks before filming after the original Indonesian actress was unable to travel to Taiwan due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and Lei secured the role by auditioning while wearing a
hijab
Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...
. To prepare for her character, Lei learned
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, and practiced
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
customs for a short period. Lu Hao-ping of '' Global Views Monthly'' described her acting as "perfect", making her "seem like an Indonesian migrant herself"; while ''
The Storm Media
The Storm Media is a Chinese-language online news media headquartered in Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan.
Overview
Founder Zhang Guojun was the general manager of Goldman Sachs Taipei Branch and served as a consultant to Fubon Financial Holdings ...
'' ranked her performance as the second best among the ensemble cast based on audience responses. She was also nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film in the 59th Golden Bell Awards with the role. The same year, she landed another starring role as Wang Yu-fan, a girl loved by 's character who seeks sorcery to win her affection, in the horror film '.
In 2024, Lei made a cameo appearance as a
sky lantern
A sky lantern (), also known as Kǒngmíng lantern (), or Chinese lantern, is a small balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended.
Sky lanterns have been made for centuries in cultures around the worl ...
saleswoman in the fourth season of the Japanese
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. She is set to star in a leading role in the Taiwanese-Indian comedy film '' Demon Hunters'', and will make her Korean debut with a main role in the U+ Mobile TV series '' Twelve''. Lei studied
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean
**Korean dialects
**See also: North–South differences in t ...
for a year and participated in auditions in South Korea to secure the role.