Eugenia Yuan is an American actress and former

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

who has won a

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, act ...

Early life

On January 22, 1976, Yuan was born in Inglewood, Los Angeles county, California. Yuan's mother is Cheng Pei-pei, an actress who is known for being a

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

alumnus and the role of Jade Fox in

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung . The film features a cast of actors of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity, including Ch ...

. Yuan grew up in

San Marino, California San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of househol ...

Career

Gymnastic

Yuan began her career as a

for the

U.S. Olympic Team United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern era Olympic Games, except for the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. American athletes have w ...

and was ranked #4 in the world. Yuan was a member of the team for about seven years with the U.S. National Rhythmic Gymnastics team.

Entertainment

Yuan's first screen role was acting alongside her mother in Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger (2002), a martial arts movie. Yuan co-starred in the 2002 drama ''Charlotte Sometimes'' which won the best first feature award at the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

. Yuan returned to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

to star in one segment of ''

Three 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

'' where she was named "Best Newcomer" in the

Hong Kong Film Awards The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, ac ...

. Hollywood director

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), ''Jumper'' (2008), ''Edg ...

chose her for the title role of the

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

''Mail Order Wife'', for which she was named as a "Rising Star/Screen Acting Discovery" at the

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October a ...

. She was nominated at Hong Kong's

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

for her starring role in 2004's ''

The Eye 2 ''The Eye 2'' is a 2004 Hong Kong supernatural horror film directed and edited by Danny and Oxide Pang. It is a standalone sequel to '' The Eye'' (2002). Produced by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures and Applause, the film was released in Hong Kong o ...

'' and had roles in the

John Dahl John Dahl (born December 11, 1956) is an American film director, film and television director and screenwriter, writer, best known for his work in the neo-noir genre. Life and career John Dahl was born in Billings, Montana, the second of four c ...

film ''

The Great Raid ''The Great Raid'' is a 2005 war film about the Raid at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines during World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Connie Nielsen, Marton Csokas, Joseph Fiennes with Motok ...

'' and the Oscar-winning ''Memoirs of a Geisha''. The jewelry retailer Me & Ro created a special edition hair ornament inspired by Yuan's character in the movie. Yuan continues to travel back and forth between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

to take studio, Chinese-language and American independent roles alike including the 2007

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

winning film ''

Choking Man ''Choking Man'' is a 2006 drama film, written and directed by Steve Barron. The film stars Octavio Gómez Berríos and Eugenia Yuan. Synopsis ''Choking Man'' is an intense blend of psychological drama and magical realism that encapsulates the co ...

''. She also co-stars with

Tony Leung Ka Fai Tony Leung Ka-fai (; born 1 February 1958) is a Hong Kong actor who is a four-time winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. As he is often confused with actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tony Leung Ka-fai is known as "Big Tony," while Tony Leu ...

in the

Kenneth Bi Kenneth Bi (born March 4, 1967) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian filmmaker. He has written, directed, and acted in Canada and Hong Kong in numerous theatre and film productions. Biography Kenneth Bi is the son of two movie stars from the Shaw Broth ...

film, '' The Drummer'', and

Erica Leerhsen Erica Lei Leerhsen (born February 14, 1976) is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her leading part in the moderately successful horror sequel '' Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'' (2000). Her work led her to take on a recurring r ...

in ''Slaughter''. Most recently she has appeared in the Australian television drama '' Secret City''.

Filmography

References

External links

Eugenia Yuan at AliveNotDead.comMeniscus Magazine interview with Eugenia YuaniFilm 2006 Gotham Awards interviewDetroit News
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuan, Eugenia 1976 births 21st-century Hong Kong actresses American film actresses American actresses of Chinese descent American television actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Hong Kong film actresses Living people People from San Marino, California 21st-century American women