CHARLENE CHOI
[2] [3]
Charlene Choi (Chinese name: 蔡卓妍) (born 22 November 1982) is a Hong Kong-based actress and singer. She is best known as a member of the Cantopop girl group Twins, alongside Gillian Chung.
Biography
Choi was born in Vancouver, Canada. She moved with her family to Hong Kong a few years later. She is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin.[1] Charlene Choi was educated at a number of institutions. After graduating from Rosaryhill School, where many other pop stars had attended, she started working full-time as a model in Hong Kong. She was scouted by Emperor Entertainment Group, and was then linked with Gillian Chung to form the C-pop duo Twins.
Solo acting career
Early years
Aside from her musical career, Choi has become a successful actress in the Hong Kong film industry, co-starred alongside famous names such as Andy Lau, Eason Chan, Jay Chou, Mike He, Wu Chun and Nicholas Tse. She wrote an article describing her acting career:
"Earlier before, I have shared with everyone some of my acting experiences. This time, I want to talk about movies. As an artist, whenever I'm working, I have to show the best side and give the best performance to everyone. I have to show the most fit side of me and hence, I'm often in "battling mood". When free, I like to watch slow-pace movies. The too exciting movies I can't stand. I'm the type who can be easily thrown into the world of the movie. Those type of fast-pace movies will end up making me tense and nervous so comedy, romance or humanity issue discussion movies are all more suitable for me."
Choi's first acting gig was a starring role in the 2000 TV Series Youth Y2K. Then, Choi made her first film debut in 2001 in the affecting and emotional film Funeral March (filmed prior to Twins' debut) which drew rave reviews from critics and earned Choi a Best New Artist nomination at the 21st Annual Hong Kong Film Awards. Choi's next big acting break was in 2003 with her earnest and pretence-free portrayal of a young girl who battles through all odds in hopes of becoming a singer in the hit movie Diva - Ah Hey.
Breakthrough success
Since then, Choi has taken Jim Chim Sui-Man as a mentor, and has been in the comedic movie Simply Actors as a kind and comedic porn star. Her breakthrough role in the psychological thriller movie Diary, by the Pang Brothers has earned her many movie award nominations and she received the Best Actress award at the 11th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PIFAN Korean Movie Award).
Choi's solid acting has been once again duly identified by an abundance of film critics with her portrayl of Dani Dan in the box-office hit Simply Actors. Only months later, she left the 2007 Golden Bauhinia Film Awards hand in hand with the awards for Best Actress and Favorite Actress for her portrayal of Dani Dan in Simply Actors. Choi also appeared alongside the young Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou in the much anticipated movie Kung Fu Dunk.
She has appeared in the highly anticipated movie "The Butterfly Lovers", based on a popular Chinese tale. Appearing alongside Wu Chun and Hu Ge, "The Butterfly Lovers" hit theatres October 9, 2008. Throughout the filming of the movie, rumors of an off-set romance between Charlene Choi and Wu Chun (the leading actress and actor) developed. Though they have denied such rumors, Wu Chun has stated that the pair has reached an agreement with Jingle Ma ("The Butterfly Lovers" director) to collaborate once again in the future.
In December 2008, she began filming her first Taiwanese series, Calling For Love (Hu Jaio Da Ming Xing), produced by popular producer Angie Chai and directed by Director Lin. Appears alongside Taiwan heartthrob Mike He, this series began airing May 2010.
Finally in December 2009 after over 1 year of post-production, positive response at the Shanghai International Film Festival, The Storm Warriors was released with Choi taking on the main female lead role as Second Dream and starring alongside actors Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng, Simon Yam and Nicholas Tse. Though it was only released on December 10, 2009, The Storm Warriors was listed as #5 in the list of Top 10 HK Movies of 2009 based on Box Office results.
Present
Despite 2009 being a year more heavily concentrated on music, 2010 is to be a year saturated with acting projects. Starring alongside actress Sandra Ng, 2010 started off with a bang with box-office hit Beauty on Duty. Charlene has next appeared in the highly critically acclaimed summer blockbuster movie blending action, drama, suspense, thriller and romance entitled Triple Tap, starring Daniel Wu and Louis Koo. Starring in The Jade and the Pearl with Raymond Lam, as well as good friends Joey Yung and Wong Cho Lam, the movie is set to release Summer 2010 and will call upon Charlene and Raymond to have a rare collaboration in singing a duet theme song. Charlene has concluded filming God of Fortune's Inn with actors Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung and as of July 2010, she has begun 3-4 month long filming with Nicholas Tse, this time to star in her very first Mainland series entitled Sword Heroes' Fate.
Solo singing career
Solo music released with Twins
Choi's first solo song was released in Twins' 2003 Touch of Love album, entitled Next Station Tin Hau which received a nomination for Best Song at the 23rd Annual Hong Kong Film Awards and won Top 10 Songs at the Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony. Choi's second solo song was released in Twins' 2006 Mandarin album Around the World with 80 Dollars, entitled Watching Movie Alone. Choi's third solo song was released in Twins' 2006 Cantonese album Ho Hoo Tan, entitled You are Not a Good Lover. This served to be Choi's first recorded personal composition and Twins' recorded version won Hit Song at the Metro Showbiz Hit Awards and Top 10 Songs at the Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony.
Choi's remaining 2 solo songs prior to Gillian Chung's photo scandal that placed Twins on hiatus were released in Twins' 2008 Mandarin album Tong Hua Yan Yu and were respectively entitled Little Sister and 60 Percent. Both solo songs were extremely personal, in particular Little Sister which recounts Choi's relationship with her mother throughout the years despite her parents' divorce at a younge age and won Choi several music awards at the Metro Showbiz Hit Awards TVB8 Music Awards.
Choi's first solo single was released in 2008 with the award-winning Make a Wish which sold 5000 copies within a span of 30 minutes with all proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation. Meanwhile, her two hit songs, "Little Sister" and "Make a Wish" topped #1 in music charts and remained in the top 10 for 4 music charts over 11 weeks. With Twins placed on hiatus, Choi went on to be awarded with a variety of solo singer awards in 2008: Favorite Idol and Most Voted Singer at the Metro Showbiz Hit Awards, Most Popular Female Singer at the Vanguard Music Awards and Most Popular HK Female Artist at the Sprite Music Awards.
Music career as a solo female singer
Towards the end of 2008, Choi further expanded her career, entering new fields of the entertainment industry. As an entertainer, not only is she an actress and singer, but she is now a theater star. In the musical, Knight Star, she stars as the female lead Rose. Acting as her lover, she has finally reunited with Jimmy Lin after 7 years. Lin first collaborated with Choi in her first series The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra when she first entered the industry. Other stars in the musical include Julian Cheung, and Alice Liu. The musical served as a promotional event for the Chivas company to expand in China with their "Live with Chivalry" campaign.
Choi's first musical collaboration as a solo singer with another artist was in the form of the hit duet Little Dimples with JJ Lin released in late September 2008. The fresh and sweet collaboration between the two talented singers were given an excellent reception with Little Dimples receiving 6 awards in a matter of the 3 remaining months of 2008.
Charlene Choi released her debut solo album Two Without One on April 9, 2009. In less than one week, the album sold an astounding 10 000 copies in Hong Kong and the album has been certified "Gold" in the Hong Kong region. In less than a month, the album sold a total of 30 000 copies in Hong Kong and the album has been certified "Platinum" in the Hong Kong region. Due to the high sales and popular demand, a second version of the album is slated to be released on May 6 as a limited edition with 5 000 copies available.
Following the success of Two Without One, Choi released her next EP entitled Another Me on October 15, 2009. Consisting of 5 tracks and 3 music videos, the overall theme of the EP is an evolving process as an individual. The release of Another Me marked new territory for Choi with a black-and-white cover and a largescale photo exhibition open to the public. Similarly to Two Without One, Another Me has been certified "Platinum," selling nearly 60 000 copies in the Hong Kong region in addition to high sales in other areas of Asia and oversees. Charlene's success as a solo female singer in 2009 was best displayed at the IFPI HK Top Sales Music Awards for 2009 where Charlene was awarded "Top 10 Best Selling HK Singers of 2009" in addition to Charlene's two albums ("Two Without One" and "Another Me") each awarded "Top 10 Best Selling Cantonese Albums of 2009."
Present
With Charlene's success in 2009 as a solo singer, Charlene released her debut Mandarin album entitled <As A Sa> in 2010. With greater than 1 million HKD spent on producing the album, <As A Sa> was released across China on June 15. Consequently, Charlene launched her country-wide promotional tour with a multitude of mini-concerts, autograph sessions, performances, recorded TV programs, national radio interviews, talk shows, and more. With Charlene having released 3 self-composed songs (You're Not a Good Lover, Love of Prague, Able to Let Go/Willing To Love), when asked about whether Charlene hopes to follow the singer-songwriter path, Charlene explained that she has no intention to follow such a path. However, she enjoys composing songs and she hopes for each of her albums to contain one self-composition. Charlene has released her third Cantonese album entitled <Beauty Remains> on October 15, 2010. On the album cover, Charlene is seen photographed wearing her personally worn clothes that she and her stylist have combined to create new one-of-a-kind high fashion clothing. All the articles of clothing they have created together are being auctioned with all proceeds (no manufacturing costs will be deducted) donated to a foundation providing aid for those in Africa suffering from malaria. Photographed in an abandoned HK meat slaughterhouse, the message Charlene has said she wishes to convey is that as long as you make the effort and have the intention, you will find beauty in even the most unfortunate, unpleasant or unattractive situations, circumstances or even people. Despite nearly no promotions for the album due to Charlene's filming schedule, the album has since gone on to be Charlene's 3rd Cantonese album to be certified with Platinum sales. Charlene has expressed that she hopes to take a break from releasing music before releasing a full length Cantonese album.
Charity
As a donor to the Make a Wish Foundation since 2001 and a Make a Wish ambassador in 2008, Choi released the hit single and award-winning Make a Wish which sold 5000 copies within a span of 30 minutes with all proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation, in addition to selling clothing from her own "SAL" clothing line to fans to raise more money for the Make a Wish Foundation.
She wrote an autobiographical book about her teenage years as a child of divorced parents. Although Choi remains close with both her parents, she lived with her father following her parents' divorce. However, following her decision to become an actress/singer, the time she spent at home and with her parents rapidly diminished. As a result, the means of communicating with her father became all the more special. In her book Single Family's Love, many little notes exchanged between her and her father over the years can be seen. Through the autobiography, readers are encouraged to find happiness in single parent families. The money raised from the 5000 Limited 1st Edition copies sold were all donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. Choi thanked her friends and fans for the good sales of her autobiography. Entertainment friends such as Jay Chou (who wrote her book's introduction), bandmate Gillian Chung (who also put her thoughts into Choi's introduction), Niki Chow, Mani, and Wu Chun were big supporters as well, buying copies for friends and family. As of now, a new edition of her book is being printed and it will be distributed overseas.
Choi in the beginning of February 2009, became ambassador for the 30 Hours Famine charity. She went to Nepal for a week to help local children's and family out. She helped bring supplies to schools and local peoples taught Choi the local gardening techniques. In April 2009, Choi performed at the 30-Hour Famine Concert, opening the concert and performing an assortment of new Chinese and English songs, as well as old Twins songs for nearly an hour.
Discography
- Make a Wish (2008, Cantonese single)
- Two Without One (2009, Cantonese album)
- Another Me (2009, Cantonese EP)
- As A Sa (2010, Mandarin album)
- Beauty Remains (October 2010, Cantonese EP)
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | What Is a Good Teacher | Cameo |
| 2001 | Funeral March | Ginnie |
| Heroes in Love | Charlene | |
| 2002 | Just One Look | Ah-Nam |
| My Wife Is 18 | Yoyo Ma Suk-Ling | |
| Summer Breeze of Love | Choi Ki | |
| 2003 | The Twins Effect | Helen |
| The Death Curse | Ding Sze | |
| Diva... Ah Hey | Kam Dai-Hei | |
| Good Times, Bed Times | Tabby (special appearance) | |
| 2004 | Black Rose Academy | Sandy |
| Fantasia | Chopsticks Sisters (special appearance) | |
| Hidden Heroes | Chan Mei-Ling | |
| Leave Me Alone | Jane | |
| Love on the Rocks | Crystal Au-yeung Sum-Kit (special appearance) | |
| New Police Story | SaSa | |
| PaPa Loves You | Ellen | |
| The Attractive One | Cameo | |
| The Twins Effect II | Spring | |
| 6 A.M. | Herself | |
| 2005 | Bug Me Not! | Cameo |
| A Chinese Tall Story | Meiyan | |
| All About Love | Leung Tze-Ching | |
| House of Fury | Ella (special appearance) | |
| 2006 | Chicken Little | Abby Mallard (Cantonese voice-over) |
| Rob-B-Hood | Yan | |
| Diary | Winnie Leung Wing-Na | |
| 2007 | Twins Mission | Jade |
| Super Fans | Sussie | |
| Simply Actors | Dani Dan | |
| Naraka 19 | Wendy (special appearance) | |
| 2008 | Kung Fu Dunk | Lily |
| The Butterfly Lovers | Zhu Yanzhi | |
| 2009 | All's Well, Ends Well 2009 | Cameo |
| The Storm Warriors | Second Dream | |
| 2010 | Hot Summer Days | Bikini Girl (Cameo) |
| Beauty on Duty | Zhong Aifang | |
| Triple Tap | Ting | |
| The Jade and the Pearl | Princess Yin | |
| God of Fortune's Inn | Starring with Nicholas Tse & Nick Cheung | |
| Legend of the White Snake | Starring with Eva Huang, Jet Li, Raymond Lam |
TV series
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Youth Y2K | |
| 2001 | The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra | Purple Orchid |
| 2003 | Triumph in the Skies | Cameo |
| 2004 | Kung Fu Soccer | |
| Sunshine Heartbeat | Cameo | |
| 2007 | Colours of Love | |
| Life Off Stage | ||
| 2010 | Calling for Love! | Chen Dexin |
| Sword Heroes' Fate | Filming July - October 2010 with Nicholas Tse, Kenny Kwan |
Awards and nominations
2002- 21st Hong Kong Film Awards - Nominated for Best New Performer Award for Funeral March [1]
- 10th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards - Nominated for Best Actress Award for The Death Curse [2]
- 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards - Nominated for Best Original Film Song Award for "Xia Yi Zhan Tian Hou" (Diva, Ah Hey!) Composer: Ronald Ng/ Lyrics: Wyman Wong/ Sung By: Charlene Choi[4]
- 4th Chinese Film Media Awards - Awarded Most Popular Actress Golden Award (Hong Kong and Taiwan Region) for Diva, Ah Hey!/ The Twins Effect
- Yahoo! Search Award 2006 - Awarded Local Movie Actress Award
- Metro Radio King of Entertainment News - Awarded Queen of Actress Award
- HKSAR 10th Anniversary Film Awards - Awarded My Favourite New Generation Actress Award[5]
- HKSAR 10th Anniversary Film Awards - Awarded Most Potential Actress Award[5]
- Hong Kong Filmart 2007 - Awarded Most Popular Local Actress Award (Top 5)
- 11th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival(PiFan) - Awarded Best Actress Award for Diary[6]
- 12th Golden Bauhinia Awards - Awarded Best Actress Award for Simply Actors
- 12th Golden Bauhinia Awards - Awarded Most Popular Actress Award for Simply Actors
- 5th MTV Super Award - Awarded Most Characteristic Actress Award (Hong Kong and Taiwan Region)
- 14th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards - Nominated for Best Actress Award for Simply Actors[7]
- 27th Hong Kong Film Awards - Nominated for Best Actress Award for Simply Actors
- 3rd Tencent 2008 Net Star Ceremony - Awarded Best Actress for Taiwan and Hong Kong for Butterfly Lovers[8]
- Metro Radio Hit Mandarin awards - Awarded Hit Song Little Sister
- Metro Radio Hit Mandarin awards - Awarded Favorite Karaoke Song Little Sister
- Metro Radio Hit Mandarin awards - Awarded "Favorite Idol"
- Yes Idol 2008 - 4 awards bagged- Including Female Yes Idol of 2008.
- Vanguard 2008 Music Event 《音乐先锋榜》 - Awarded Most Popular Female Singer award
- TVB8 Music award - awarded a Top Ten Gold Song award aka Golden Song award <Little Sister>
- The Sixth "Yahoo! Popular Search Awards 2008" - awarded Most Popular Song - Make A Wish
- The Sixth "Yahoo! Popular Search Awards 2008" - JJ and Charlene Choi awarded Most Popular Mandarin Song - Little Dimple
- 3rd Quarter TVB music awards - awarded China's Most Popular Song <Little Dimple>
- TVB Weekly, "The Most Popular Brand Awards 2008" - awarded "Queen of Advertisement 2008"
- Metro Radio Hits Music Songs: Make a Wish
- Metro Radio Hits Karaoke Songs Awards - <Little Dimples> JJ and Charlene Choi
- Metro Radio Hits Songs Awards: <Little Dimples> JJ and Charlene Choi
- Metro Radio Hits Most Voted Singers Big Awards: Charlene Choi
- Baidu 2008 Most Searched Taiwan and Hong Kong Actress
- Baidu 2008 Most Searched Duet -Little Dimple (JJ and Charlene Choi)
- Sprite Music Awards - Awarded "Most Popular Female Artist (Hong Kong)"
- Sprite Music Awards - Awarded "Best Duet (Little Dimples)"
- Sprite Music Awards - Awarded "Media Award (Hong Kong)"
- Music King Awards - Big Media Award
- Yahoo! Brand Awards - Brand Award for Coca Cola Ad with William Chan
- Sina Music Awards - Top 20 Most Listened Songs for <Make a Wish>
- Metro Music Mandarin Awards - Top 21 Songs for <Little Dimples>
- Metro Music Mandarin Awards - Best Karaoke Song for <Little Dimple>
- Metro Music Mandarin Awards - Most Popular Idol (HK & Taiwan Regions)
- HK Radio Station - Ranked #4 for Female Artist with the Most Airplay
- Singapore Golden Melody Awards - Nomination for Favorite Female Artist Award (Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong - The only HK Female Singer nominated)
- Top 5 Best Selling Actress 2009 (3rd Year in a row)
- Jade Solid Gold Round 1 Awards - Excellent Election-Winning Classics for <Two Without One>
- Jade Solid Gold Round 2 Awards - Excellent Election-Winning Classics for {I'm Sorry}
- TVB Weekly Most Popular Brand Awards – Most Popular Advertising Female Artist Award (Second Year in a Row)
- Global Chinese Music Awards - Best Duet for <Little Dimple>
- Global Chinese Music Awards - Golden Melody Award for <Two Without One>
- Global Chinese Music Awards - Top 5 Most Popular Mandarin Female Singers
- HKFDA (HK Fashion Designers Association Annual Best Dressed Personalities Award Show - Top 10 Best Dressed Personalities
- Touch Icon Awards - Touch Icon of the Year
- Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards - People's Choice Best Dressed Award
- Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards - Top 10 Most Searched Songs Award for <Two Without One>
- JSG Round 3 Awards - Top 14 Songs for <Survivor>
- 2009 China Digital Music Awards - Most Downloaded Duet for <Little Dimple> (5, 465, 381 times)
- Baidu 4th Most Searched Taiwan and HK Female Singer (74,539,012 hits)
- MOOV #9 Most Downloaded Song of 2009 for <Two Without One> (108 049 downloads)
- Metro Radio Survey of Over 10 000 HK Highschool Students: Students’ Favorite Female Singer (2nd place)
- Metro Radio Survey of Over 10 000 HK Highschool Students: Idol with the Healthiest Image (1st place among male & female singers)
- Metro Radio Hits Awards - Top 21 Hit Song Award for <Two Without One>
- Metro Radio Hits Awards - Top 4 Best Female Singers Award
- Metro Radio Hits Awards - Top 4 Cover Songs for {I’m Sorry}
- Metro Radio Hits Awards - Top 3 Most Voted Singers Award
- Metro Radio Hits Awards - Ultimate 4 Channels Album Outstanding Performer Big Award GOLD
- TVB8 Music Awards – Top 10 Mandarin Songs for <Two Without One>
- Among Movie Actresses in HK, Taiwan, and Mainland China: #4 Highest Revenue in 2009
- Among Movie Actresses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China: Highest Salary per movie
- Chosen among professionals in all of HK, Taiwan, and Mainland China as #2 in “Ten Most Beautiful Women of 2009”
- RTHK Top 10 Chinese Gold Songs Awards - HK & Taiwan Top 10 Excellent Singers Winners
- RTHK Top 10 Chinese Gold Songs Awards - National Award for Top 5 Best Female Artists
- RTHK Top 10 Awards - Top 5 Female & Male Artist Broadcasts/Radio Airplays
- U-Channel Radio Music Awards - Millenium's Decade Artist with the Healthiest Image
- Canadian Hit Music Awards - North America's Most Esteemed Top 10 Songs for <Two Without One>
- JSG Top 10 Awards – Golden Melody Top 10 Songs Award for <Two Without One>
- JSG Top 10 Awards – Outstanding Performer Award (Silver)
- Sina Music Awards - Top 20 Most Listened Songs for <Two Without One>
- Sina Music Awards - Outstanding Performer Award
- Sina Music Awards - Most Searched (Hits) Artist Award
- Yahoo! Poll - Voted as Netizens' Most Ideal Lover
- Bravely March Forward Show - Won Best Actress Title
- IFPI HK Top Sales Music Awards - Top 10 Best Selling HK Singers of 2009
- IFPI HK Top Sales Music Awards - Top 10 Best Selling Cantonese Albums of 2009 for <Two Without One> Album
- IFPI HK Top Sales Music Awards - Top 10 Best Selling Cantonese Albums of 2009 for <Another Me> EP
- 2010 Forbes Chinese Celebrities List – Ranked #52 Among All Celebrities from China, HK, Taiwan combined (Based on 2009 income and frequency of media exposure)
- JSG Round 1 Awards - Top 14 Golden Melody Awards for <Able to Let Go>
- Yahoo! Brand Awards - Most Ideal & Desired Spokesperson Award
- QQ Music (China’s largest internet music platform) – #1 Overall Music, #1 Mandarin Music, #1 New Music for <Confidant>
- QQ Music (China’s largest internet music platform) – #2 Ranked Album for <As A Sa>
- Music King Awards – Nominated as Most Popular HK Female Singer
- Metro Radio Mandarin Hit Music Awards - Hit Female Singer Award
- Metro Radio Mandarin Hit Music Awards - Most Popular Global Idol Award
- Metro Radio Mandarin Hit Music Awards - Top Mandarin Hit Songs for <Confidant>
- 7th Music King Awards - The Album of the Year for <Two Without One>
- 7th Music King Awards - Top 10 Golden Melody Mandarin Songs for <Confidant>
- 25th China Golden Eagle TV Awards – Nomination for HK & Taiwan’s Most Popular TV Series for <Calling For Love>
- Golden Melody Music Awards – Best KTV Song of the Year for <Little Dimples>
- Golden Melody Music Awards – Top 10 Mandarin Songs for
