Fann Wong Biography

Fann Wong (范文芳) (born January 27, 1971), birth name Fann Woon Fong, is a Singaporean Chinese actress, singer and model. She was born in Singapore. She has starred in numerous films and television series in Singapore and China but she is most known in the United States for her role as Jackie Chan's sister in Shanghai Knights.
Fann Wong created her stage name by combining her father and mother's surnames (Fann and Wong, respectively).

She started modelling at 16 and won early fame with her Oil of Ulan (now Olay) TVC, aired in Taiwan and Singapore. In 1994, she was discovered by a Singapore TV producer who cast her in a drama series titled Dreams Come True. Fann soon starred in two more TV series, The Challenger and Chronicle of Life, which brought her critical accolades and popularity in Singapore.

Her role in Chronicle of Life won her the Best Actress Award and the Best Newcomer Award in Singapore's 1995 Star Awards, an impressive feat considering that she had only been in the Singapore TV industry for only a year. In that same year, Fann took on several other roles in TV series including Sparks of Life, The Morning Express, and The Golden Pillow, as well as telemovies including Fatal Memory and Somewhere in Time.

In 1996, her role in The Unbroken Cycle won her her first regional nomination at the Asian Television Awards. In addition to starring in TV series such as A Romance in Shanghai, Wild Orchids and Brave New World, Fann also released her first Mandarin pop album, Fanntasy, which contained a duet with Taiwanese singer Jeff Chang. Her foray into the Taiwanese music market proved successful in late 1997, when this album (retitled I Live Alone) was repackaged with two additional songs. The album won 4 IFPI platinum sales awards and launched Fann as a bona fide regional artiste.

In mid-1998, the simultaneous release of her definitive hit gongfu drama Return of the Condor Heroes, and her second album, Shopping, immensely increased her exposure and popularity in Taiwan and China. Famed Hongkong director Derek Yee caught Fann in her Shopping MTV on Channel V in Hongkong and cast her as the lead actress in her first big-screen film, the Hongkong art movie The Truth About Jane and Sam. This gritty wild-child role won her a Best New Performer nomination at the 19th Hongkong Film Awards in 2000.

In 1999, she released her third album, Missing You, which contained a duet with British boyband 911 (Private Number). She also sang Singapore's national millennium song, Moments of Magic. In 2000, she was also the first Singapore artiste to stage a solo concert ("My Story" - Fann Wong In Concert) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. That same year, she released her fourth Mandarin album, No Problem.

Over the next several years Fann began to focus on acting for TV and film, with varied work such as a feminist Hongkong film titled When I Fall in Love...With Both, a romantic Singapore TV series Looking for Stars, and an action-packed Taiwanese period series titled Madam White Snake. During this time she also began hosting travelogue shows, including Travel Hunt: Japan and Fann Adventure, filmed in South Africa and Malaysia.

In 2002, she scored a coup when she became the first Singaporean actress to score a major role in a Hollywood production, Shanghai Knights, directed by David Dobkin. When she appeared in her first Hollywood role Chon Lin alongside international stars Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, she received accolades in the Asian and Western media, and was subsequently nominated under the Best Fight Sequence category in the 2003 MTV Movie Awards. In 2004, she won the Singapore Street Festival's Best International Artiste Award.

In 2004, Fann continued work on China gongfu dramas such as Moon Fairy and My Fair Lady which gradually consolidated her presence as the top Singaporean actress in China. Amidst this, she still had time to shoot a Singapore serial on the SARS virus, Always On My Mind, which won her a Best Actress nomination in the 2004 Star Awards.

In mid-2004, Fann snagged her second English-language lead role in the German-Singapore telemovie, House of Harmony, opposite German actor Philippe Brenninkmeyer and Hongkong actress Maggie Q. She also took on a lead role in a Taiwanese romance film, Longan Porridge, to be released in late 2005. In April 2005, Fann was invited to the Cannes MIPTV Media Market where she promoted House of Harmony and discussed possible collaborations with European industry professionals.

FANN WONG PICTURES

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FANN WONG BIOGRAPHY