Charlene Choi

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Charlene Choi
蔡卓妍
20190402 Charlene Choi (1).jpg
Choi in 2019
Born
Choi Tsoek-jin [1]

(1982-11-22) 22 November 1982 (age 42) [2]
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality
Citizenship
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
Years active2000–present
Spouse
(m. 2006;div. 2010)
Awards Golden Bauhinia AwardsBest Actress
2007 Simply Actors

Musical career
OriginHong Kong, China
Genres
InstrumentVocals
LabelsEmperor Entertainment Group
Chinese name
Chinese 蔡卓妍
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Cài Zhuóyán
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization Choi Cheukyìn
Jyutping Coi3 Coek3jin4
Hong Kong Romanisation Choi Cheuk-yin

Charlene Choi Tsoek-jin (Chinese:蔡卓妍; born 22 November 1982) is a Hong Kong and Canadian actress and singer. She is a member of Hong Kong pop duo Twins, along with Gillian Chung. [3]

Contents

Early life

Choi was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 22 November 1982. [4] [1] She moved with her family to Hong Kong a few years later.[ when? ] She was educated at Marymount Secondary School and Rosaryhill School. She is fluent in Cantonese, English and Mandarin. [2] After graduating from Rosaryhill School, where many other would-be pop stars had attended, she started working full-time as a model in Hong Kong. She was scouted by Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), and was then linked with Gillian Chung to form the Cantopop group Twins.

Career

Acting

Aside from her musical career, Choi has become a successful actress in the Hong Kong film industry. She wrote an article describing her acting career:

Earlier, I 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 my best side and give my best performance. I have to show the fittest side of me and hence, I'm often in "battle mode". When free, I like to watch slow-paced movies. I can't stand movies with too much excitement. I'm the type who can be easily sucked into the world of the movie. That type of fast-paced movie will end up making me tense and nervous so comedy, romance or movies centered on issues of humanity all suit me better."

Choi's first acting gig was a starring role in the 2000 television drama Youth Y2K. Choi made her first film debut in 2001 in Funeral March (filmed prior to Twins' debut), which drew rave reviews from critics and earned her a Best New Performer nomination at the 21st 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 Diva – Ah Hey.[ citation needed ]

Choi has taken Jim Chim as a mentor, and portrayed a kind and comedic porn star in the comedy film Simply Actors (2007). Her breakthrough role in the Pang brothers' psychological thriller Diary (2006) earned her many film award nominations and she received the Best Actress award at the 11th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan Korean Movie Award). Choi's acting was identified by film critics with her portrayal of Dani Dan in Simply Actors. She won the Best Actress and Favourite Actress awards at the 2007 Golden Bauhinia Awards for her performance. Choi also played the leading role alongside the Taiwanese singer Jay Chou in the 2008 comedy-action film Kung Fu Dunk .[ citation needed ]

Choi co-starred with Wu Chun and Hu Ge in The Butterfly Lovers , based on the Chinese legend of the same name, which was released on 9 October 2008. Throughout the filming, rumors of an off-set romance between Choi and Wu Chun developed. Though they have denied such rumors, Wu stated that the pair reached an agreement with director Jingle Ma to collaborate once again in the future.[ citation needed ]

In December 2008, she began filming her first Taiwanese television drama, Calling For Love , produced by Angie Chai, co-starring with Mike He. The series was first aired in May 2010.[ citation needed ]

In December 2009 after over a 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 Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng, Simon Yam and Nicholas Tse. Though it was only released on 10 December, The Storm Warriors ranked fifth in the Hong Kong Chinese-language box office of the year.[ citation needed ]

In 2010, after having concentrated heavily on music in the previous year, Choi started taking on more acting projects. Her first film for that year was Beauty on Duty , which she co-starred with Sandra Ng. Following that, Choi appeared in Triple Tap with Daniel Wu and Louis Koo. Choi's next film, The Jade and the Pearl , saw her co-starring with Raymond Lam and her close friends Joey Yung and Wong Cho-lam, as well as a collaboration between Choi and Lam in singing a duet theme song. Choi concluded work on God of Fortune's Inn with Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung. She again co-starred with Nicholas Tse in Mainland Chinese television series Sword Heroes' Fate , which was aired in 2011.

Starring as Chan in Detective vs Sleuths, the latest film from director Wai Ka Fai, co-founder of Milkyway Image. As per the director's comment during interviews, Choi took the risk by performing many of the stunts herself while shooting.[ citation needed ]

Musical career

Choi's first solo song, Diva, Ah Hey!, was released in Twins' 2003 album Touch of Love . The song received a nomination for Best Song at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards and won a place in the Top 10 Songs at the Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony. Choi's second solo song, Watching Movie Alone, was released in Twins' 2006 Mandarin album Around the World with 80 Dollars . Choi's third solo song, You are Not a Good Lover, was released in Twins' 2006 Cantonese album Ho Hoo Tan . This was Choi's first recorded personal composition and Twins' recorded version earned the place of Hit Song at the Metro Showbiz Hit Awards and one of the Top 10 Songs at the Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony.

Choi's remaining two solo songs, "Little Sister" and "60 Percent", were released before the Edison Chen photo scandal in their 2008 Mandarin album Tong Hua Yan Yu . Both solo songs were extremely personal. "Little Sister" in particular recounts Choi's relationship with her mother throughout the years despite her parents' divorce at a young age and won Choi several music awards at the Metro Showbiz Hit Awards and TVB8 Music Awards.[ citation needed ]

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" ranked first in music charts and remained in the top 10 for four 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 Hong Kong Female Artist at the Sprite Music Awards.

Choi promoting Kung Fu Dunk in 2008 Kungfudunkmoviepromo1.jpg
Choi promoting Kung Fu Dunk in 2008

Towards the end of 2008, Choi further expanded her career, entering new fields of the entertainment industry. In the musical Knight Star she stars as the female lead Rose. Acting as her lover, she reunited with Jimmy Lin after seven 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.[ citation needed ]

Choi's first musical collaboration as a solo singer with another artist was the duet "Little Dimples", released in late September 2008, which she performed with JJ Lin. The song received six awards in the remaining three months of 2008.[ citation needed ]

Choi released her debut solo album Two Without One on 9 April 2009. In less than one week, the album sold 10,000 copies in Hong Kong and has been certified "Gold" in Hong Kong. In less than a month, the album sold a total of 30,000 copies in Hong Kong and was certified "Platinum". Due to high sales and demand, a second version of the album is slated to be released on 6 May as a limited edition with 5,000 copies available.[ citation needed ]

Following the success of Two Without One, Choi released her next EP, titled Another Me, on 15 October 2009. Consisting of five tracks and three 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. As with Two Without One, Another Me was also certified "Platinum", selling nearly 60,000 copies in Hong Kong, in addition to high sales in Asia and overseas. Choi's success as a solo female singer in 2009 was best displayed at the 2009 IFPI HK Top Sales Music Awards, where she was awarded "Top 10 Best Selling Hong Kong Singers of 2009". In addition, Two Without One and Another Me were each awarded "Top 10 Best Selling Cantonese Albums of 2009."[ citation needed ]

Following her success in 2009 as a solo singer, Choi released her debut Mandarin album As A Sa in 2010. With more than HK$1 million spent on producing the album, As A Sa was released across China on 15 June. Consequently, Choi launched her country-wide promotional tour with a multitude of mini-concerts, autograph sessions, performances, recorded television programs, national radio interviews, and talk shows.[ citation needed ]

Choi has released her third Cantonese album Beauty Remains on 15 October 2010.[ citation needed ]

Choi reunited with Gillian and released a new song titled "Femininity" to celebrate Twins' 20th anniversary. The music video was released on 18 May 2021, featuring Twins' songs including "Strawberry Apple Orange", "Summer Frenzy", "Thank You So Much" and "Love is Bigger than the Sky". Affected by the pandemic and quarantine policy, an online concert "TME live Super Live Twins 20 Love You Anniversary Celebration" was held that month, broadcast live exclusively with Tencent's TME and JOOX.[ citation needed ]

Later in the same year, Choi and Gillian went on recording the theme song for the movie "Sunny Sisters" and released a new song "Nice to Meet You".[ citation needed ]

Charlene signed up for the comeback survival reality show Sister Who Make Waves season 3 with her long time bandmate Gillian Chung. They were competing against a lineup of a total of 28 female artists with diverse talents. On 5 August 2022, Charlene Choi debuted at 7th place for the third season of Sisters Who Make Waves which premiered on 20 May 2022, on Mango TV.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

Charlene Choi and Ronald Cheng knew each other through the film The Pursuit of 15 August, scandals are spread that they are dating in the set of this film. At the beginning of 2010, a news broke out on the internet that they got married. On 17 March 2010, at the promotion of the film The Secret Order of Beauty, she said that she had broken up with Cheng for some time, and the two were separated because of mutual understanding. Cheng admitted that he had been separated from Choi during the promotion of the film The Treasure Box of Yue Guang. On 27 March 2010, the Apple Daily in Hong Kong published the marriage certificate that the two married in the Van Nuys, Los Angeles as early as 31 January 2006. [5] In the evening of the same day, the two attended a press conference and admitted that they were married as early as 2006 and had completed the divorce procedures for several months.

Afterwards, Charlene Choi and William Chan publicly kissed each other after their collaboration in the film The Secret Order of Beauty, and they publicly admitted their relationship on 10 October 2010; [6] on 20 September 2015, they both issued a statement on Weibo announcing their breakup [7]

In the fall of 2017, Charlene Choi was rumoured to be dating Shi Hengcong, and later confirmed her new relationship in person during the event. [8] In 2019, Charlene Choi completed her second egg freezing procedure. [9]

Philanthropy

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 foundation. Choi also sold clothing from her own "SAL" clothing line to fans to raise more money for the foundation.[ citation needed ]

Choi also wrote an autobiographical book about her teenage years as a child of divorced parents. Although she remains close to both her parents, Choi lived with her father after her parents' divorce. However, following her decision to become a singer-actress, 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. Her 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 their friends and families. As of now, a new edition of her book is being printed and will be distributed overseas.[ citation needed ]

Choi became an ambassador for the 30 Hours Famine charity in the beginning of February 2009. She went to Nepal for a week to help the locals by bringing supplies to schools. In return, she was taught the local gardening technique. 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.[ citation needed ]

Discography

YearTitleNotes
2008 Make a Wish Cantonese single
2009 Lonely Me Cantonese album
Another Me Cantonese EP
2010As A SaMandarin album
Beauty RemainsCantonese EP
2011Sweetest DayCantonese CD + Cantonese & Mandarin DVD Collection
2012MontageCantonese CD + Cantonese Bonus DVD
2013BloomingCantonese CD + Cantonese Bonus DVD

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotesRef
2000What Is a Good Teacher 自從他來了StudentCameo
2001Funeral March 常在我心Wong Kwan-yee
Heroes in Love 戀愛起義之不得了Charlene
2002 Just One Look Nam
My Wife Is 18 Yoyo Ma Suk-ling
Summer Breeze of Love 這個夏天有異性Choi Kei
2003 The Twins Effect Helen
The Death Curse Nancy Ting
Diva... Ah Hey 下一站…天后Kam Dai-hei
Good Times, Bed Times 戀上你的床TabbySpecial appearance
2004Protege de la Rose Noire 見習黑玫瑰Sandy
Fantasia 鬼馬狂想曲Chopsticks SisterSpecial appearance
Hidden Heroes 追擊八月十五Chan Mei-ling
Leave Me Alone Jane
Love on the Rocks Crystal Au-yeung Sum-kitSpecial appearance
New Police Story Sa Sa
Papa Loves You 這個阿爸真爆炸Ellen Yam Yin-jai
The Attractive One 身驕肉貴Love Cab's taxi driverCameo
The Twins Effect II Spring
6 A.M.Herself
2005 Bug Me Not! Sasako (Sasha)Cameo
A Chinese Tall Story Yue Meiyan
All About Love Leung Tze-ching
House of Fury EllaSpecial appearance
2006 Chicken Little Abby MallardCantonese voice-over
Rob-B-Hood Pak Yin
Diary Winnie Leung Wing-na
2007 Twins Mission Jade
Super Fans 甜心粉絲王Sussie
Simply Actors 戲王之王Dani Dan
Naraka 19 地獄第19層WendySpecial appearance
2008 Kung Fu Dunk Lily
The Butterfly Lovers Zhu Yanzhi
2009 All's Well, Ends Well 2009 Insurance agentCameo
The Storm Warriors Second Dream
2010 Hot Summer Days Bikini girlCameo
Beauty on Duty 美麗密令Zhong Aifang
Triple Tap Ting
The Jade and the Pearl Princess Yin
2011 Treasure Inn Fire Dragon Girl
The Sorcerer and the White Snake Green Snake
2012My Sassy Hubby 我老婆唔夠秤II:我老公唔生性Yoyo Ma Suk-ling
2013 Bring Happiness Home
The Midas Touch Suen Mei Mei
2014 Naked Ambition 2 Maisora AoiCameo
Streets of MacaoShort film
Let Go for Love
Gangster Payday Mei
2015 Sara Sara
2016Good Take!
2017 77 Heartbreaks Eva Lui
Soccer Killer Ling'er
Always Be With You Yu-yan
Growing Pains 會痛的十七歲
2018Mad Ebriety 斷片之險途奪寶
2019The Lady Improper 非分熟女Yuen Siu Man
Goodbye UFO 再見UFO
2020Fatal Visit 聖荷西謀殺案Yanny
202177 Heartwarmings 感動她77次Eva Lui
2022 Detective vs Sleuths Chan YeeAlternative title: Cold Detective
Just 1 Day 給我1天Angelfish
2023 The Goldfinger Carmen Cheung [10]
2025 My Best Bet Ching [11]

Television

YearTitleRoleNetworkNotesRef
2000Youth Y2K 青春@Y2KCheng ShashaRTHK
2001 The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra Purple Orchid TVB
2003 Triumph in the Skies CharleneTVBCameo
All About Boy'z Langlang Princessnow.com.hkAppearance in episode 2
2半3更之困𨋢Ah Sanow.com.hk
2004 Kung Fu Soccer TVBGuest star
Sunshine Heartbeat Ah SaTVBGuest star
家有寶貝Ah SaGuest star
2007Colours of Love 森之愛情Wai-fong / Ching-lanTVB
Life Off Stage
2010Calling for Love! 呼叫大明星Chen Dexin CTS
2011The Legend of Swordman 劍俠情緣Tang Xiaowan / Ning Xin
2012Happy Marshal 歡樂元帥Little Dragon Girl (Xiao Long Nu)
2018Police Tactical Unit 机动部队Ho Wai-Ling
2022Twins Flower Shop 双生花店CharleneShort Series (都市短剧)
2022Forensic JD 女法医JDJD (Jane Doe) / Song On YinTencent VideoTwins 20th anniversary reunion drama

Variety shows and other shows

YearTitleNetworkNotesRef
2014囍从天降Tianjin TVAppearance in episode 1–2
2016Fresh Sunday 透鲜滴星期天Mango TVAppearance in episode 8
Run for Time S02 – The Time Guardians 全员加速中 第二季Mango TVAppearance in episode 9
Happy Camp 快乐大本营Mango TVGuest Star
2017心路Tencent VideoAppearance in episode 4
王牌对王牌2Zhejiang TVAppearance in episode 4
熟悉的味道2Zhejiang TVAppearance in episode 9
饭局的诱惑Tencent VideoAppearance in episode 2
Keep Running S2 奔跑吧Zhejiang TVAppearance in episode 3–4
2017If You Can Talk 冒犯家族iQIYIAppearance in episode 7
2018没想到吧SMG Shanghai TVAppearance in episode 1
2019鲁豫有约一日行第9季NengLiang MediaGuest star (Twins)
没想到吧SMG Shanghai TVAppearance in episode 11
Happy Camp 快乐大本营Mango TVGuest star (with Joey Yung)
2020Do姐有問題TVB
2021因为是朋友呀DouyinAppearance in episode 1–12 (Twins + Joey Yung)
Happy Camp 快乐大本营Mango TV
Perfect Summer S2 完美的夏天2Dragon TVAppearance in episode 5–7 (Twins)
2022Sweet Tasks 2022 甜蜜的任务 2022Mango TVGuest star (Twins)
Hello Saturday 你好,星期六Mango TVGuest star (Twins + Joey Yung)
朋友请听好2Mango TVAppearance in episode 4
Sisters Who Make Waves (Season 3) 乘风破浪3Mango TVDebuted 7th place
The Late Lovers 迟到的恋人MiGuAppearance in episode 3–5
百川可逗鎮DouyinGuest star (Twins)
Promise For You 星星的约定Mango TVEP1 released. Off air.
2022–2023Meet Rosy Clouds 与彩云相遇Yunnan Int. ChannelRenamed from Original 'Promise For You'
2022–2023Hunan Satellite TV's 2022 – 2023 New Year's Eve Concert 湖南卫视2022–2023跨年晚会Mango TV2 Performances (Twins + First Day)

Awards and nominations

2002

2004

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2013

2014

2015

2019

2020

2021

Notes

  1. Choi family moved to the British Hong Kong in the 1980s. After the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, all Hong Kong people of Chinese descent, regardless of whether they have foreign nationality or not, automatically became Hong Kong residents of Chinese nationality.
  2. Hong Kong permanent residents, regardless of whether they have Chinese nationality or not, have the right to vote or register as voters.

References

  1. 1 2 "郑中基和蔡卓妍:分手原来是离婚". Sina Education (in Chinese). 29 March 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 EEGmusic. "EEGmusic Archived 2012-10-26 at the Wayback Machine ." Other information. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
  3. Charlene Choi at IMDb IMDb. Biography for Charlene Choi
  4. "Charlene Choi flew back to Hong Kong for birthday". my.entertainment.yahoo.com. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  5. "《蘋果》獨家越洋追擊 真的假不了 阿Sa、鄭中基洛杉磯婚書曝光 | 蘋果日報". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  6. "阿Sa、陳偉霆攬住返港 「我好幸福」 | 蘋果日報". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  7. "蔡卓妍陳偉霆宣布五年情玩完". on.cc東網 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 20 September 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  8. "【Twins都有着落】同鄭中基秘婚四年 蔡卓妍情歸「百億麻雀館太子爺」 | 蘋果日報". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  9. "與卓韻芝臨急改演繹方法 阿Sa再度雪卵收穫豐". 明周娛樂. 15 August 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  10. "The Goldfinger review: high gloss Hong Kong corruption". BFI. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  11. Lee, Edmund (27 January 2025). "My Best Bet movie review: Charlene Choi, Louis Cheung battle gambling addiction in comedy". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 29 January 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  12. HKFAA. "HKFAA Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine ." 21st Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved on 4 November 2015.
  13. HKFAA. "HKFAA Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine ." 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved on 4 November 2015.
  14. 1 2 Radio Television HK. "RTHK Archived February 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine ." Hong Kong film month 2007. Retrieved on 9 March 2007.
  15. Puchon. "Puchon Archived September 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine ." Awards. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
  16. Filmcritics.org. "Filmcritics.org Archived January 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine ." Award list. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
  17. "Best Actress Recipients". 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  18. HKFAA. " Archived 30 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine ." 21st Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved on 20 April 2019.