| Charlene Choi | |||||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | zh-hant | ||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Choi Tsoek-jin[1] | ||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1982 11, df=y[2] | ||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | ||||||||||||
| Years Active: | 2000–present | ||||||||||||
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Charlene Choi Tsoek-jin (Chinese: link=no|t=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]
Choi was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 22 November 1982.[4] She moved with her family to Hong Kong a few years later. She was educated at Marymount Secondary School and Rosaryhill School. She is fluent in Cantonese, English and Mandarin. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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."
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.
Choi has released her third Cantonese album Beauty Remains on 15 October 2010.
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.
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".
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.
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]
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.
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.
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.
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Make a Wish | Cantonese single | |
| 2009 | Lonely Me | Cantonese album | |
| Another Me | Cantonese EP | ||
| 2010 | As A Sa | Mandarin album | |
| Beauty Remains | Cantonese EP | ||
| 2011 | Sweetest Day | Cantonese CD + Cantonese & Mandarin DVD Collection | |
| 2012 | Montage | Cantonese CD + Cantonese Bonus DVD | |
| 2013 | Blooming | Cantonese CD + Cantonese Bonus DVD |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | What Is a Good Teacher 自從他來了 | Student | Cameo | ||
| 2001 | Funeral 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 | Tabby | Special appearance | |||
| 2004 | Protege de la Rose Noire 見習黑玫瑰 | Sandy | |||
| Fantasia 鬼馬狂想曲 | Chopsticks Sister | Special appearance | |||
| Hidden Heroes 追擊八月十五 | Chan Mei-ling | ||||
| Leave Me Alone | Jane | ||||
| Love on the Rocks | Crystal Au-yeung Sum-kit | Special 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 driver | Cameo | |||
| 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 | Ella | Special appearance | |||
| 2006 | Chicken Little | Abby Mallard | Cantonese 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 | Wendy | Special appearance | |||
| 2008 | Kung Fu Dunk | Lily | |||
| The Butterfly Lovers | Zhu Yanzhi | ||||
| 2009 | All's Well, Ends Well 2009 | Insurance agent | Cameo | ||
| The Storm Warriors | |||||
| 2010 | Hot Summer Days | Bikini girl | Cameo | ||
| 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 | |||||
| 2012 | My 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 Aoi | Cameo | ||
| Streets of Macao | Short film | ||||
| Let Go for Love | |||||
| Gangster Payday | Mei | ||||
| 2015 | Sara | Sara | |||
| 2016 | Good Take! | ||||
| 2017 | 77 Heartbreaks | Eva Lui | |||
| Soccer Killer | Ling'er | ||||
| Always Be With You | Yu-yan | ||||
| Growing Pains 會痛的十七歲 | |||||
| 2018 | Mad Ebriety 斷片之險途奪寶 | ||||
| 2019 | The Lady Improper 非分熟女 | Yuen Siu Man | |||
| Goodbye UFO 再見UFO | |||||
| 2020 | Fatal Visit 聖荷西謀殺案 | Yanny | |||
| 2021 | 77 Heartwarmings 感動她77次 | Eva Lui | |||
| 2022 | Detective vs Sleuths | Chan Yee | Alternative title: Cold Detective | ||
| Just 1 Day 給我1天 | Angelfish | ||||
| 2023 | The Goldfinger | Carmen Cheung | [10] |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Youth Y2K 青春@Y2K | Cheng Shasha | RTHK | |||
| 2001 | Purple Orchid | |||||
| 2003 | Triumph in the Skies | Charlene | TVB | Cameo | ||
| All About Boy'z | Langlang Princess | now.com.hk | Appearance in episode 2 | |||
| 2半3更之困 | Ah Sa | now.com.hk | ||||
| 2004 | Kung Fu Soccer | TVB | Guest star | |||
| Sunshine Heartbeat | Ah Sa | TVB | Guest star | |||
| 家有寶貝 | Ah Sa | Guest star | ||||
| 2007 | Colours of Love 森之愛情 | Wai-fong / Ching-lan | TVB | |||
| Life Off Stage | ||||||
| 2010 | Calling for Love! 呼叫大明星 | Chen Dexin | ||||
| 2011 | The Legend of Swordman 劍俠情緣 | Tang Xiaowan / Ning Xin | ||||
| 2012 | Happy Marshal 歡樂元帥 | Little Dragon Girl (Xiao Long Nu) | ||||
| 2018 | Police Tactical Unit 机动部队 | Ho Wai-Ling | ||||
| 2022 | Twins Flower Shop 双生花店 | Charlene | Short Series (都市短剧) | |||
| 2022 | Forensic JD 女法医JD | JD (Jane Doe) / Song On Yin | Tencent Video | Twins 20th anniversary reunion drama |
| Year | Title | Network | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 囍从天降 | Tianjin TV | Appearance in episode 1–2 | ||
| 2016 | Fresh Sunday 透鲜滴星期天 | Mango TV | Appearance in episode 8 | ||
| Run for Time S02 – The Time Guardians 全员加速中 第二季 | Mango TV | Appearance in episode 9 | |||
| Happy Camp 快乐大本营 | Mango TV | Guest Star | |||
| 2017 | 心路 | Tencent Video | Appearance in episode 4 | ||
| 王牌对王牌2 | Zhejiang TV | Appearance in episode 4 | |||
| 熟悉的味道2 | Zhejiang TV | Appearance in episode 9 | |||
| 饭局的诱惑 | Tencent Video | Appearance in episode 2 | |||
| Keep Running S2 奔跑吧 | Zhejiang TV | Appearance in episode 3–4 | |||
| 2017 | If You Can Talk 冒犯家族 | iQIYI | Appearance in episode 7 | ||
| 2018 | 没想到吧 | SMG Shanghai TV | Appearance in episode 1 | ||
| 2019 | 鲁豫有约一日行第9季 | NengLiang Media | Guest star (Twins) | ||
| 没想到吧 | SMG Shanghai TV | Appearance in episode 11 | |||
| Happy Camp 快乐大本营 | Mango TV | Guest star (with Joey Yung) | |||
| 2020 | Do姐有問題 | TVB | |||
| 2021 | 因为是朋友呀 | Douyin | Appearance in episode 1–12 (Twins + Joey Yung) | ||
| Happy Camp 快乐大本营 | Mango TV | ||||
| Perfect Summer S2 完美的夏天2 | Dragon TV | Appearance in episode 5–7 (Twins) | |||
| 2022 | Sweet Tasks 2022 甜蜜的任务 2022 | Mango TV | Guest star (Twins) | ||
| Hello Saturday 你好，星期六 | Mango TV | Guest star (Twins + Joey Yung) | |||
| 朋友请听好2 | Mango TV | Appearance in episode 4 | |||
| Sisters Who Make Waves (Season 3) 乘风破浪3 | Mango TV | Debuted 7th place | |||
| The Late Lovers 迟到的恋人 | MiGu | Appearance in episode 3–5 | |||
| 百川可逗鎮 | Douyin | Guest star (Twins) | |||
| Promise For You 星星的约定 | Mango TV | EP1 released. Off air. | |||
| 2022–2023 | Meet Rosy Clouds 与彩云相遇 | Yunnan Int. Channel | Renamed from Original 'Promise For You' | ||
| 2022–2023 | Hunan Satellite TV's 2022 – 2023 New Year's Eve Concert 湖南卫视2022–2023跨年晚会 | Mango TV | 2 Performances (Twins + First Day) |
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