Jessica Hester Hsuan (; PA: syn hyn, also known as Suen Huen, is a

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 Delta i ...

actress.

Early life

Hsuan's father gave her the name Jessica, while her mother gave her the middle name Hester. She was educated in

Maryknoll Convent School Maryknoll Convent School (MCS, ) is a Roman Catholic girls' school with primary and secondary sections at Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded by the American Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong in 1925 at Kowloon Tsai, Hong Kong. MCS is a pre ...

for primary education and at

Pooi To Middle School Pooi To Middle School was founded in 1888 by the Southern Baptist Convention. As one of the few Hong Kong schools with over a hundred years of history, it aims at nurturing young women to "speak confidently and think critically in bilingual lea ...

. She later boarded at

Roedean School Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sus ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. Hsuan graduated with a bachelor's degree in materials science and engineering from

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

in 1992.

Career

Hsuan started her career in late 1992 and early 1993. Along with

Maggie Cheung Ho Yee Maggie Cheung Ho-yee (; born 20 March 1969) is a Hong Kong actress. Career Maggie Cheung Ho-yee competed in TVB's 1994 Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, reaching the final five but not placing. However she did gain a special award for best "pot ...

Ada Choi Ada Choi Siu-fan (; born 17 September 1973) is a Hong Kong actress best known for her work for TVB television, as an evil empress in the Chinese television series '' Empresses in the Palace'' (甄嬛傳), and to a lesser extent, for her film work. ...

Flora Chan Flora Chan Wai-shan (Traditional Chinese:陳慧珊, born May 30, 1970 in Hong Kong), is an American actress active primarily in Hong Kong television and film. Along with Maggie Cheung Ho-yee, Kenix Kwok, Jessica Hsuan, and Ada Choi, she is kno ...

and

Kenix Kwok Kenix Kwok Ho-ying (born 27 November 1970) is a Hong Kong actress with family roots in Zhongshan, Guangdong, China. Along with Maggie Cheung Ho-yee, Ada Choi, Flora Chan and Jessica Hsuan, Kenix is known as one of the Top 5 " Fa Dans" (花旦) ...

, she was known as one of the top five "''

Fa Dans The term TVB "fadan" (花旦) is used to describe the most popular and highest paid actresses at Hong Kong television station, TVB. This term was first coined in the 1970s with the first group of fadans, Louise Lee, Liza Wang, Gigi Wong, and Angie ...

''" (a term borrowed from Peking Opera for roles depicting young maidens, and used for actresses with high popularity) of

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 ...

from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s. She has collaborated with many TVB leading actors including

Louis Koo Louis Koo Tin-lok ( zh, t=古天樂; born 21 October 1970) is a Hong Kong people, Hong Kong actor, singer and film producer. He began his professional career as an actor in local television series, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 and 2001 ...

Wong He Wong He (born 27 July 1967), sometimes credited as Wong Hei, is a Hong Kong actor, singer, and presenter. He is best known for his firefighter roles in TVB's ''Burning Flame'' trilogy. As a former police officer, Wong has acted primarily in l ...

, Chilam Cheung,

Nick Cheung Nick Cheung Ka-fai (; born 2 December 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and director. Background He was formerly a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for four years, but he left the job after his request to be transferred to the criminal investigat ...

Gallen Lo Gallen Lo Ka-leung () is a Hong Kong actor and singer who primarily acts in television series. He is sometimes credited as King Gallen or Law Ka-Leung. Career Lo started his television career in 1984 at ATV. He received short-term success in a ...

Roger Kwok Roger Kwok Chun-on is a Hong Kong television actor and former singer, who works for the TV station TVB. Kwok was born in Hong Kong, and his native family roots are in Zhongshan, Guangdong. He is one of the three actors who won Best Actor three ...

, Sunny Chan, Joe Ma and Bobby Au-yeung. She won the 1999

TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actress The TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is one of the TVB Anniversary Awards presented annually by Television Broadcasts Limited Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Ko ...

for her role in ''

Detective Investigation Files IV ''Detective Investigation Files IV'' () is the 4th and final installment of the '' Detective Investigation Files'' TV franchised by TVB in Hong Kong. It won two TVB Anniversary Awards, including Best Actor for Louis Koo and Best Actress for Je ...

''. She changed her contract to a "per-series" in late 2006, after it was disclosed that she had not renewed her current contract. In 2017, Hsuan played a leading role in TVB series ''My Unfair Lady'' (Chinese: 不懂撒嬌的女人). She won the My Favorite TVB Actress (also known as

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

's TV Queen) at the TVB Star Awards in

in 2017 for her performance in this series, her first leading actress award since 1999.

's film production company, One Cool Film Production, was able to acquire the rights of the series A Step into the Past in 2015 and adapt to the big screen -

Back to the Past ''Back to the Past'' (Chinese: 尋秦記) is an upcoming Hong Kong historical fiction, historical science fiction film, science fiction Hong Kong action cinema, action film directed by Ng Yuen-fai and Jack Lai, with stage combat, action direct ...

. Production for the film officially wrapped on 7 July 2019. Hsuan will play a role in the movie.

Frequently Acting as Hostage in TV Drama and Films

Among the TV drama and films Hsuan starred in, she was frequently "kipnapped" in the stories. This has drawn the attention of internet users in Hong Kong. Occasionally she was known as the "Queen of hostage" (人質王). Nevertheless, she always survived in the end.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Hsuan is one of the most honored actresses in Hong Kong, with 13 Best Actress awards. *1995: Next Magazine TV Award: Top 10 Artists - Ranked #8 *1999:

32nd Anniversary: My Favorite Actress In A Leading Role (

) *2000: TVB 33rd Anniversary: My Top 10 Favorite Television Characters - Ranked #7 ( A Matter of Customs) *2000: Next Magazine TV Award: Top 10 Artists - Ranked #2 *2001: TVB 34th Anniversary: My Top 13 Favorite Television Characters - Ranked #9 ( A Step Into The Past) *2002: TVB 35th Anniversary: My Top 12 Favorite Television Characters - Ranked #2 (

Golden Faith ''Golden Faith'' is a 2002 Hong Kong television drama produced by TVB, starring Gallen Lo, Deric Wan, Jessica Hsuan, Raymond Lam, Anne Heung, Myolie Wu, Tavia Yeung, Michelle Ye, Paul Chun, Lau Dan, Shek Sau, Kwok Fung, Lau Kong, and Gigi Wo ...

) *2002: Next Magazine TV Award: Top 10 Artists - Ranked #2 *2003: TVB 36th Anniversary: My Favorite On-Screen Partners (Jessica Hsuan &

Square Pegs ''Square Pegs'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1982–1983 season. The series follows Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren Hutchinson ( Amy Linker), two awkward teenage girls desperate to fit in at Weemawee High S ...

) *2003: TVB 36th Anniversary: My Top 12 Favorite Television Characters - Ranked #5 (Square Pegs) *2003: Next Magazine TV Award: Top 10 Artists - Ranked #1 *2004: TVB 37th Anniversary: My Top 12 Favorite Television Characters - Ranked #1 ( Lady Fan) *2005: Next Magazine TV Award: Top 10 Artists - Ranked #3 *2005: Next Magazine TV Award: Most Elegant Artiste Award *2006: Next Magazine TV Award: Top 10 Artists - Ranked #2 *2006: Next Magazine TV Award: Most Feminine Beautiful Award *2007: Asian Television Award: Best Comedy Performance by an Actress (Nominated) *2008: I Weekly Magazine Awards Top 10 Female Artists - Ranked #1 *2008: Next Magazine TV Award: Top 10 Artists - Ranked #2 *2008: Sina Awards: Best Style Actress *2008:

Astro Wah Lai Toi Astro Wah Lai Toi () is a Cantonese Video on demand (Formerly from Cantonese TV Channel) owned and operated by Astro in partnership with Hong Kong's TVB. The channel offers mainly TVB programming, alongside some local content. To satisfy a g ...

Drama Awards 2008: My Favorite Character - Ranked #6 (

Dicey Business ''Dicey Business'' (Traditional Chinese: 賭場風雲) is a 2006 grand production drama by Television Broadcasts Limited. Plot The talented gambling artist, Cheung (齊歡暢) (Bobby Au Yeung), entered a worldwide card playing tournament when he ...

) *2015:

7th Macau International Movie Festival The 7th Macau International Movie Festival ceremony (), organized by the Macau Film and Television Media Association and China International Cultural Communication Center, honored the best films of 2015 in the Greater China Region and took place o ...

: Golden Lotus Award for Best Supporting Actress (

The Kid from the Big Apple ''The Kid from the Big Apple'' () is a 2015 Malaysian film. The film stars Sarah Tan as Sarah, an 11-year-old girl from New York City who was forced to move to rural Malaysia to stay with her grandfather. The film garnered several awards at the ...

) *2017:

TVB Star Awards Malaysia The TVB Star Awards Malaysia () is an annual awards ceremony honoring Cantonese programming achievements in Malaysia. It is produced by TVB Entertainment News, with Astro and MY FM as media partners. The ceremony was previously known as the My A ...

: My Favorite TVB Actress in a Leading Role (

My Unfair Lady ''My Unfair Lady'' (Chinese : 不懂撒嬌的女人) is TVB's first 4K resolution television series. It stars Frankie Lam, Jessica Hsuan, Vincent Wong and Natalie Tong as the main leads, with Lai Lok-Yi, Samantha Ko, Max Cheung and Zoie Tam as th ...

) *2017: People's Choice Television Awards: People's Choice Best Actress (My Unfair Lady) Facebook 2018-01-01 *2017: Hong Kong Television Awards: Best Leading Actress in Drama Series (My Unfair Lady)

References

External links

Jessica Hsuan
on Sina Weibo * *
Jessica Hsuan's official Instagram page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsuan, Jessica 1970 births Living people Alumni of Imperial College London Hong Kong film actresses Hong Kong television actresses People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex TVB veteran actors 20th-century Hong Kong actresses 21st-century Hong Kong actresses