Luísa Isabella Nolasco da Silva Leong Lok-yau (born 23 June 1988), better known as Isabella Leong, is a Macanese actress and former singer.

Early life

Luísa Isabella Nolasco da Silva was born on 23 June 1988, in

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

to Luís Alberto Marques Nolasco da Silva (b. Sé, 8 August 1951; d. São Lourenço, 20 January 1989) and a croupier. She has a sister who is seven years older. Leong's father was a descendant of one of the most prominent and long-established Macanese families, . Her father was a

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

born to Frederico Joao Moreira de Sousa Teles de Menezes, a Portuguese father and Terry Marques Nolasco, a Chinese woman living in Portugal. Frederico Joao is the sixth generation of the family and former President of the

Macau Football Association The Macau Football Association ( Pinyin: Àomén zúqiú zǒng huì; pt, Associação de Futebol de Macau) is the governing body of association football in Macau, China. History The Hong Kong–Macau Interport tournament, jointly organized by ...

. Leong's father has two elder brothers, Henrique and Frederico and one younger brother, Jose Manuel. Leong's father suffered from a secret drug addiction and died from an overdose when she was only 6 months old. Leong had never received recognition from her paternal family, so she took her mother's surname. Leong's mother worked as a croupier in Casino Lisboa and Leong was responsible for contributing to the family's finances. In 1993, she moved from Macau to Hong Kong and enrolled in Po Leung Kuk Camões Tan Siu Lin Primary School, after which she went to several schools in Hong Kong and Macao. She attended Macau Sam Yuk Middle School in 1999 but dropped out.

Career

To help provide for her family, Leong abandoned school at age 12 to become a model for

Emperor Entertainment Group Emperor Group is a diversified group of companies founded by Albert Yeung in Hong Kong. Albert Yeung's father, Mr Yeung Shing, opened a watch shop named "Shing On Kee Watch Shop" in 1942, setting the business foundation.

.South China Morning Post. We paid nothing to settle: Emperor. Retrieved 18 November 2008. She later began singing and released her debut album, ''Isabella,'' when she was 16 years old. ''Isabella'' did not achieve the success hoped for and Leong subsequently debuted with acting. From 2005 to 2007, she made a string of films including ''

The Eye 10 ''The Eye 10'' (also known as ''The Eye Infinity'' and ''The Eye 3'') is a 2005 horror film directed by the Pang brothers. An international co-production of Hong Kong and Thailand, the film is the third entry in a trilogy, following the films ' ...

'', ''

Bug Me Not! ''Bug Me Not!'' (), - "Bugs Don't Know," is a 2005 Hong Kong film directed by Law Chi-Leung. Isabella Leong, portraying Moon in ''Bug Me Not!'', was nominated for Best New Performer for the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2006. Plot Moon is a y ...

'', ''

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

'', ''

Diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

'', and '' Spider Lilies''. Leong won her first American film role in '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'', which was released in 2008.

EEG contract dispute

filed a lawsuit in the High Court on 3 April 2008, to seek damages from Leong for breaking a 10-year contract which Leong's mother signed for her when she was only 12 years old. Leong filed a

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

against the company on 27 April. In November 2008, the legal battle between Leong and EEG ended in an out-of-court settlement, with the star "free to pursue her career".

Personal life

In 2008, Leong met Hong Kong businessman

Richard Li Richard Li Tzar-kai is a Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist. The founder and chairman of the private investment group Pacific Century Group (PCG), Li started his career in the 1990s with the founding of STAR TV, a pan-Asian television ...

, son of billionaire

Li Ka-shing Sir Ka-shing Li (; born 13 June 1928) is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. As of June 2019, Li is the 31st richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$33.4 billion. He is the senior ad ...

, on a movie set, when she was 20 and he was 41. In April 2009, Leong gave birth to their first son Ethan Li Cheung Tsz. For this, Leong was allowed to use Li's family mansions in San Francisco. They also provided her with an entourage of caregivers, including five bodyguards, four full-time nannies and a personal attendant.Channelnewsasia.com
/ref> In June 2010, Leong gave birth to Li's twin sons in San Francisco.
In March 2011, Leong announced that she and Li had ended their relationship. They both declared that the split was amicable and that they would both take care of their children.

Discography

Publication

Filmography

Awards

Fantasporto Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to Fantasy film, fantasy/Science fiction film, science fiction/Horror film, horror-oriented commercial fe ...

(2006) * Best Actress for

Golden Bauhinia Awards Golden Bauhinia Awards () is a Hong Kong film award organised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. Its first award presentation ceremony took place in 1996. The award attracted controversy in 2007, when ten nominations were given to Pang ...

(2006) * Best New Performer for

Nominations

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 ...

(2005) * Best New Performer for Bug Me Not

(2007) * Best Actress for

(2007) * Best Supporting Actress for

References

External links

*
EEG Isabella Leong Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leong, Isabella 1988 births Nolasco da Silva family Cantopop singers 21st-century Hong Kong women singers Hong Kong film actresses Hong Kong television actresses Hong Kong people of British descent Hong Kong people of Portuguese descent Living people Macau-born Hong Kong artists Macanese film actresses