Celina Jade

Celina Jade (born Celina Horan; 10 June 1985) is a Hong Kong-American actress, singer, songwriter, model, and martial artist. She is nominated as one of four the greatest beauties in Hong Kong SAR besides Carol Cheng, Lydia Shum and Amy Yip. She is the first Hong Konger of European descent to win this title.

Internationally she is best known for her role as Shado (and Mei) in the 2010s CW series ''Arrow''. In China she is best known for starring in the 2017 blockbuster ''Wolf Warrior 2'', the second highest-grossing Chinese film ever made.

Early life and education

Celina Jade was born in Hong Kong to American kung fu star Roy Horan and Chinese mother Christina Hui. She was educated at a local Chinese school from kindergarten through high school, and is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. She learned archery, shooting and Taekwondo from her father growing up. At 14, she left Hong Kong for New Jersey, but returned to Hong Kong shortly after, and attended Island School. She later attended the London School of Economics. She graduated top of her class with First Class Honours in BSc Management.

Career

Acting

Jade's acting career started in Hong Kong & China in 2007. She was cast as the leading lady in her first film, ''Legendary Assassin'' alongside Wu Jing. She also starred in Chinese Films ''Love Connected'', and ''All's Well Ends Well''; appearing on TV shows like ''Dolce Vita'', ''Jade Solid Gold''; with regular appearances across TV channels in China including TVB, CCTV and Hunan TV. In 2012, she landed her first role in a US film by Universal Pictures, ''The Man with the Iron Fists'', as directed by the RZA starring Russell Crowe & Lucy Liu. During the same year, she lent her voice as the character, Not Ping, in the Square Enix game '' Sleeping Dogs''. She also began filming her first web series, ''Wish Upon a Star'', as lead actress alongside Asian actor Peter Ho. Later in 2012, Jade was cast to play the recurring role of Shado (Oliver Queen's martial arts teacher & girlfriend) in The CW series ''Arrow'', a TV Show based on the DC Comics Green Arrow. She appeared in eighteen episodes over the first two seasons, before reappearing as Shado's twin sister Mei for two episodes of season three and 1 episode in season 4. In 2015, Jade starred opposite Asian action star Tony Jaa, Dolph Lundgren and Ron Perlman in “ Skin Trade” as the leading lady. Shortly after, she was cast to play the character April in Indie film "April Flowers". In 2016, Jade rejoins Wu Jing to play the lead actress in the sequel of Chinese Franchise Wolf Warrior alongside China's Zhang Han & Frank Grillo. The film was the sixth highest-grossing film of 2017 at US$874 million, making it the 54th highest-grossing film worldwide. It is the first and only non-Hollywood film ever to be included in the list of 100 all-time highest-grossing films worldwide. It was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

Music

At age 14, Jade won an Asia-wide singing competition, which led to a record deal with Japanese producer, Tetsuya Komuro. Together, they released two EPs, ''Good News Bad News'' and 'Kwong Ying Zi Gan'. In July 2000, she performed alongside Namie Amuro in front of President Bill Clinton & other world leaders at the G8 Summit in Okinawa, Japan. At age 15, she had her first number-one hit with the song, "Kwong Ying Zi Gan" in Taiwan. She has since then been featured in multiple ad campaigns for Marks & Spencers, Cathay Pacific, Motorola and Ponds globally.

Jade signed with music mogul Paco Wong under Gold Typhoon (EMI) in 2007. She also sang the theme song for Legendary Assassin, "Ceng Jing Xin Teng", which was performed live on TV and radio stations across China. In 2009, she left GoldTyphoon (EMI) and signed with Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group (the force behind Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Dido). In 2011, Jade wrote & sang the Mandarin single "Xun Zhao (The Find)" for the web series Wish Upon A Star & sang the theme song "Shi Zhong" with The Wheels. In late 2012, Jade independently released her first self-written album across the internet, Celina. In 2013, Jade was cast as the leading lady in the musical Good Morning Hong Kong which played at the Lyric Theatre in the Academy of Performing Arts. In 2014, Jade recorded a duet "迷彩 Fighting For" which hit No.1 on the TVB8 Chart and won the TVB8 Best Song Awards. The "Fighting For" Music Movie was selected by the Hanoi International Film Festival 2014 to premiere in Asia, and was the only Hong Kong short film to be in competition with 30 other shorts.

Charity work

In 2014 and 2015, Jade supports Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Hong Kong and offers her singing performances to raise money at the Fayre of St John's yearly event. Other charities & causes supported by Jade throughout the years include Filmaid using the power of film and media to transcend language and literacy, Room To Read focusing on girls' education and children's literacy in Asia and Africa, Bloomberg Charity Day, the Elephant Society working to stop the illegal trade in wildlife and animal parts, Foodlink Hong Kong mitigating hunger, fighting poverty and fostering nutritional wellness in HK, AMFAR supporting HIV/AIDS research, Asia Society forging closer ties between Asia and the West through arts, education, policy and business outreach.

Personal life

Jade is a vegetarian, a daily meditator and a healthy eating advocate for battling climate change. Inspired by a serious burn accident in 2012, Jade began her journey as a vegetarian and in 2016, worked hand-in-hand with Christian Gerard Mongendre in opening a two floor plant-based restaurant in Hong Kong called HOME - Eat to Live to promote sustainable living and healthier lifestyles. The restaurant closed in 2017.

Since February 2018, Jade has been in a relationship with Han Geng, a Chinese actor, singer and former member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior.
The two married on 31 December 2019 in New Zealand. In September 2022, Jade gave birth to their first child, a daughter.

Filmography

References

External links

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Celina Jade at chinesemov.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jade, Celina
Living people
1985 births
21st-century Chinese actresses
Chinese film actresses
Chinese television actresses
American female models
Alumni of the London School of Economics
People educated at Island School
Chinese people of American descent