Bernice Jan Liu (born January 6, 1979) is a Canadian actress, singer, and

commercial model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though ...

based in Hong Kong. She has previously held the title Miss Chinese Vancouver 2000 as well as Miss Chinese International 2001, the latter position bringing her fame in Hong Kong. Liu left Television Broadcasts Limited (

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

) in 2011 and returned to Canada to continue her education. As of 2016, she has continued her acting for new broadcaster

ViuTV ViuTV is a Cantonese language general entertainment television channel in Hong Kong operated by HK Television Entertainment (HKTVE), whose parent company PCCW also operates the IPTV platform Now TV and the media streaming service Viu. The chann ...

. Liu was best known for her role as Princess Sam-tin in the long-running

sitcom, ''

Virtues of Harmony {{Infobox television , image = Virtues of Harmony.jpg , caption = Official poster , alt_name = , genre = Historical period sitcom , creator = Tsui Yu-on , developer ...

'', which was also her first role after joining TVB in 2001. Liu's singing breakthrough came to an attention in 2005 after she lent her voice for the theme song of the 2005 TVB serial drama, ''

Into Thin Air ''Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster'' is a 1997 bestselling nonfiction book written by Jon Krakauer. It details Krakauer's experience in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, in which eight climbers were killed and several ...

,'' which she also stars in. The theme song, "Truth," was Liu's first theme song and was one of the primary promotional songs for the TVB compilation album, '' Lady in Red'' (2006), which sold past 10,000 copies in the first day of release. Liu was also listed by critics as one of the few TVB artists to look forward to in a future singing career.

Early life and education

Liu was born in

Prince Rupert, British Columbia Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12, ...

on January 6, 1979. Liu has a brother and a sister. Liu attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

for three years as a pre-med student in the Faculty of Science before transferring to

UBC Sauder School of Business The UBC Sauder School of Business is a faculty at the University of British Columbia. The faculty is located in Vancouver on UBC's Point Grey campus and has a secondary teaching facility at UBC Robson Square downtown. UBC Sauder is accredited by A ...

to pursue a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

. While in university, she worked at a Chinese language television station in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

to learn conversational

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

. The television executives encouraged her to participate in beauty pageants, which led her to win both Miss Chinese Vancouver 2000 and Miss Chinese International 2001. Her victories caught the attention of talent scouts at TVB, who offered her an acting contract in March 2001. Liu accepted the offer and put her studies on hold to pursue an entertainment career. She originally struggled with reading the scripts as they were written in Chinese and received help from her family. She later re-enrolled at UBC Sauder in May 2018 and graduated spring 2020.

Career

In 2002, after a successful reception of ''Virtues of Harmony'', TVB decided to produce a modern spin-off for the sitcom, which she played a different character. In early 2011, after filming ''

Show Me the Happy ''Show Me the Happy'' (Traditional Chinese: (依家有喜) is a 2010 TVB modern sitcom series. Plot "Family Style," is a dedicated medical clinic ran by the Chai's family three siblings after the death of their parents. Oldest sister Anna Chai Chu ...

'' and ''

Home Troopers ''Home Troopers'' (Traditional Chinese: 居家兵團) is a 2010– 11 Hong Kong television serial drama starring Liza Wang, Ha Yu, Kevin Cheng and Bernice Liu. Produced by Lam Chi-wah, the series is a TVB production. The drama's original run ...

'' with TVB, Liu left the station. She later starred in several Chinese dramas between 2011 and 2016 and continues to star in dramas for ViuTV. Liu is the CEO and director of Bellavizio, a wine company she founded in 2008. They produce wine out of

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

, and

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...

. Liu is the owner o
WineMaven
an online community for wine enthusiasts. Liu was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

in 2012.

Personal life

Liu is a Christian. She was previously linked to actors

Hawick Lau Hawick Lau Hoi-wai (; born 13 October 1974) is a Chinese actor and singer from Hong Kong. He was named as one of the "Five Fresh Tigers of TVB" and is best known for his performances in the series ''A Kindred Spirit'' (1995), ''Virtues of Harmony' ...

and

Moses Chan Moses Chan Ho (born 16 April 1971) is an actor from Hong Kong. Career and personal life Chan lived and studied in Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney) for 10 years prior to returning to Hong Kong to embark on his acting career. On 17 Nov ...

. She married French boyfriend Emmanuel John in 2008. They announced in 2012 that they had separated in 2009 and were later divorced.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * *
Bernice Liu's profile on TVBOfficial Bernice Liu YouTube ChannelPhoto of Bernie Liu as Vice
in

King of Fighters ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of ''The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was developed originally for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. This served as the main pl ...

Interview with Bernice Liu
from

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Miss Chinese Vancouver Miss Chinese Vancouver Pageant (Chinese: 溫哥華華裔小姐競選), also known as MCV and formerly branded as Miss Chinese (Vancouver) Pageant, is an annual beauty pageant organized by Fairchild TV that selects Vancouver's representative for ...

, - , - ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" ,

Miss Chinese International Miss Chinese International Pageant (, formerly 國際華裔小姐競選), or MCI () for short, is an annual international beauty pageant, organized and broadcast by TVB, a network television station in Hong Kong. It was established in 1988 and th ...

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Bernice 1979 births 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Vancouver Canadian actresses of Hong Kong descent Canadian expatriates in Hong Kong Female models from British Columbia Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Living people Miss Chinese International winners Musicians from Vancouver People from Prince Rupert, British Columbia UBC Sauder School of Business alumni 21st-century Canadian women singers Canadian-born Hong Kong artists