Kelly Lin or Lin Hsi-Lei () is a Taiwanese actress and model who has appeared mainly in Hong Kong films.

Biography

Lin was born in Taiwan in 1973. She moved to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

with her family at the age of 12. She graduated from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

with a Degree in Economics. Not knowing what to do after college, Lin decided to pursue a career in show business in Taiwan.

Career

Lin initially wanted to be a singer and recorded demo tapes for a record company, but she was given numerous offers for modeling on television and print ads. Hailed by ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

'' as "Asia's Sexiest Woman" in 2002, she modelled for the covers of numerous fashion magazines in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. She has also appeared on copies of ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'' – French Edition (2005) and ''

VOGUE Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''N ...

'' (2007). Lin has been seen in various

Hong Kong films The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of po ...

and has worked with film directors such as

Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...

, Patrick Tam and, most frequently,

Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...

. Lin has co-starred alongside Asian superstars, including

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for ''Shaolin Soccer'' and ''Kung Fu Hustle''. Early life and education Stephen Chow was born in British ...

and

Ekin Cheng Ekin Cheng is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Early in his career, he used the name Dior as a first name (because that was what it sounded like when his younger sister tried to call him 二哥 in Cantonese). He has also been referred to as Noodl ...

. With her success as an actress, she decided to drop her hopes of becoming a singer. After a two-year hiatus from the film industry, Lin returned to acting with films such as ''

Tokyo Trial The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conven ...

'' and ''

After This Our Exile ''After This Our Exile'' (父子, literally ''Father-Son'') is a 2006 Hong Kong drama film directed by Patrick Tam. A critical hit, the film won both the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film and the Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film award ...

'' for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2006

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 ...

. In 2006, she worked with award-winning French director,

Olivier Assayas Olivier Assayas (born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his slow-burning period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs and French comedies. His work has become synonymous with the ...

, and shared film credits with Italian-born Hollywood actress,

Asia Argento Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with a ...

, in the film, ''

Boarding Gate ''Boarding Gate'' is a 2007 French thriller film about the sophisticated power plays between a debt-ridden underworld entrepreneur, his provocative and ambitious ex-associate and a manipulative young couple who employ her. Written and directed by ...

'', which aired at the Midnight Screening of the 2007

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. She also co-starred in the three-part-segment film, ''

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

'', which was also shown at the festival, and in ''

Mad Detective ''Mad Detective'' () is a 2007 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai. ''Mad Detective'' was first screened at the 64th Venice International Film Festival, and later premiered at the 2007 Toronto International ...

'', which was a runner-up and a "surprise film" at the 64th Venice International Film Festival 2007. '' Sparrow'', directed by

, which took three years to make, was nominated for the "

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

" at the

Berlin International Film Festival 2008 Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

. Lin seems to have wisely chosen her movie projects, making herself be involved in art films, and giving her opportunities to travel around the world attending various film festivals. She gained the reputation of "Film Festival Queen" in Chinese entertainment. In 2008, Lin became the first artist to be signed with Stellar Entertainment Ltd., owned and managed by

Michelle Yeoh Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own ...

and international film producer

Terence Chang Terence Chang Chia-Chen () is a Hong Kong and American film producer. Career Chang is one of John Woo's long time friends and favoured producers. Chang produced the 1997 action hit ''Face/Off'' and '' Mission: Impossible 2''. Following the box- ...

. The new company aims to launch Asian artists to international stardom. She is one of the celebrity prime movers of BVLGARI "Rewrite The Future-Save The Children" campaign, alongside global celebrities like Isabella Rosellini, Lena Headey, Mischa Barton, Willem Dafoe and many others. Lin is also a staunch supporter of adopting stray puppies / dogs in Taiwan. Lin later starred in Wai Ka Fai's "Written By", alongside award-winning actor Sean Lau once again. The film opened the 2009 New York Asian Film Festival and was released in Hong Kong on 10 July 2009. Lin entered the dark comedy genre by starring in tKing Ge You's film called "Gasp", which also stars Hollywood actor John Savage. It was released in Mainland cinemas in August 2009; ''Dirt Rich in Shanghai'' was released in October 2009. In this romantic comedy film involving Peter Lee,

John Woo John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...

, Michelle Yeoh, and Terence Chang, her screen partner is Sun Honglei. After making two comedy movies in a row, Kelly Lin appeared in the

Wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...

movie ''

Reign of Assassins ''Reign of Assassins'' is a 2010 ''wuxia'' film directed by Su Chao-pin and co-directed by John Woo. The film is shot in China and set during the Ming Dynasty. The film stars Michelle Yeoh, who plays an assassin who tries to return to a normal life ...

'' with Michelle Yeoh and acclaimed Korean actor Jung Woo Sung. Production began in 2009 and release in 2010.

Personal life

On 28 March 2011, Lin married Chinese-American businessman Chris Young in a low-key beach wedding in the Maldives. On 31 August, she gave birth to their daughter named Kaitlin. On 26 Feb 2014, Lin gave birth to another daughter Mila.

Filmography

*''

The Conmen in Vegas ''The Conmen in Vegas'' is a 1999 Hong Kong action comedy film produced, written and directed by Wong Jing and is a sequel to the 1998 film '' The Conman''. The film stars original returning cast members Andy Lau and Nick Cheung with new cast m ...

'' (1999) *''

The Tricky Master ''The Tricky Master'' (千王之王2000) is a 1999 Hong Kong crime comedy film directed by Wong Jing. Plot Leung Foon is a happy-go-lucky man with a girlfriend named Pizza and he is a police detective in the Happy Valley Police Station tasked ...

'' (1999) *''

The Legend of Speed ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1999) *'' Raped by an Angel 5'' (2000) *''

For Bad Boys Only ''For Bad Boys Only'' is a 2000 Hong Kong science fiction action romantic comedy film directed by Raymond Yip and starring Ekin Cheng, Louis Koo, Shu Qi, Kristy Yang and Daniel Chan. Plot "For Bad Boys Only" is an unconventional detective a ...

'' (2000) *''

Martial Angels ''Martial Angels'' () is a 2001 Hong Kong film directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung. The film has been described as part of the "girls with guns revival" cycle of the early 2000s. Other films in this subgenre included ''The Wesley's Mysteriou ...

'' (2001) *''

Fulltime Killer ''Fulltime Killer'' () is a 2001 Hong Kong action cinema, Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Johnnie To, and also written, produced and directed by Wai Ka-Fai, Wai Ka-fai, and also produced by and starring Andy Lau. The film was rele ...

'' (2001) *''

The Legend of Zu ''The Legend of Zu'', also known as ''Zu Warriors'', ( zh, t=蜀山傳) is a 2001 Hong Kong film produced and directed by Tsui Hark. The film starred Ekin Cheng, Cecilia Cheung, Louis Koo, Patrick Tam, Kelly Lin, Wu Jing, with special appearan ...

'' (2001) *''

Running Out of Time 2 ''Running Out of Time 2'' (, literal title:''Hidden War 2'') is a 2001 Hong Kong crime caper film co-directed by Johnnie To and Law Wing-cheung. It is a sequel to To's 1999 film '' Running Out of Time'', with Lau Ching-wan returning as Inspec ...

'' (2001) *''

Devil Face, Angel Heart ''Devil Face, Angel Heart'' is a 2002 thriller film directed by Billy Chung. Plot The movie begins as Long (Daniel Wu), born with a disfigured face, and his brother Kwan work as assassins for the notorious Hong Kong triad leader, "Dinosaur." Din ...

'' (2002) *'' The Irresistible Piggies'' (2002) *'' Sleeping with the Dead'' (2002) *''

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts ''My Left Eye Sees Ghosts'' () is a 2002 Hong Kong film produced and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, and starring Sammi Cheng, Lau Ching-Wan, Lee San-San, and Cherrie Ying. The film includes elements of tongue-in-cheek horror, comedy ...

'' (2002) *'' The Tokyo Trial'' (2006) *''

'' (2006) *''

'' (2007) *''

'' (2007) *'' Sparrow'' (2008) *''

Written By ''Written By'' ( zh, t=再生號, s=再生号, first=t) is a 2009 Hong Kong fantasy drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Wai Ka-Fai, and starring Lau Ching-Wan and Kelly Lin. Lau plays a lawyer who is killed in an accident, leaving ...

'' (2009) (Opening Film To New York Asian Film Festival 2009) *''

Gasp Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using techniques such as prosody, pitch, volume, intonation, etc. It is sometimes defined as relati ...

'' (2009) *'' My Fair Gentleman'' (2009) *''

'' (2010) *''

Just Call Me Nobody ''Just Call Me Nobody'' () is a 2010 comedy-martial arts film directed by Kevin Chu. The film is about a bumbling cobbler ( Xiao Shen Yang) who becomes a martial arts master. Plot In ancient China, a poor shoe repair man Wu Di ( Xiao Shen Yang) ...

'' (2010)

Television

*'' Astrology Stories: A Documentary On Kelly Lin''(1999) *'' Xin Shao Lin Wu Zu'' (2000) *'' Shuangfei MV'' (2000) *'' Xiang Shuai Chuan Qi'' (2001) *'' Hong Yan Hua'' (2001) *'' Huan Xi Ren Jia'' (2001) *'' Existence Of Love MV'' (2001) *'' The New Adventures of Chor Lau-heung'' (2001) *'' Honour And Unforgiven'' (2002) *'' The Seventh Grade'' (2003) *''Asian Charlie's Angels'' (2004) *'' Beautiful Girls'' (2005) *''

Atheism MV Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

'' (2006)

Book

*''Offbeat'' (1999)

Awards

* Best Actress Nominee- 2008 Berlin Film Festival (Germany) '' Sparrow'' * Best Actress Nominee – 2007 Venice Film Festival (Italy) ''

'' * Best Actress Nominee – The 29th Hundred Flowers Film Awards (2008) '' The Tokyo Trial'' * Best Supporting Actress Nominee- 26TH Hong Kong Film Awards ''

'' * Best Supporting Actress Nominee −2006 HongKong Bauhulian Awards ''

'' * ELLE Magazine's Most Fashionable Chinese Actress (2006) * FHM's Sexiest Asian Woman (2002)

Endorsements

*CHINFEI skin care products (2010) *RADO watches (2010) *CHANEL Handbags (2009) *LOEWE (2009) *PARFUMS CHRISTIAN DIOR (2009) *BVLGARI-Rewrite The Future, "Save The Children" Campaign (2009) *BVLGARI (2008) *CHAUMET Jewelries (2008) *BURBERRY-Taiwan (2008) *GUCCI (2008) *CHANEL No5 (Taiwan) (2008) *Paul & Shark '08 (2008) *Estee Lauder (2008) *agnes b. (2008) *PC Ladies Brassiere & Lingerie (2008) *Celine (2008) *Louis Vuitton (2004–2008) *Adidas (2007–present) *Motorola (2006–present) *Cindy Chao Jewelries (2004–present) *Jaeger-LeCoultre (2007–2008) *Emporio Armani (2007) *Versace (2007) *Laneige Cosmetics (2007) *Cartidea (2007) *ESPRIT (2007) *Omega Jewelries (2006) *Raymond Weil Geneve Watch (2006) *Cartier (2005) *Lancôme (2005) *Pantene Shampoo (2003) *Ponpon (2002) *Neutrogena Facial Cleanser (2002) *LAUREL Foods – Cairu Wanton (2000) *Taiwan Mobile TV Ad (1999)

References

External links

*
Kelly Hsi-Lei Lin's Official Website
*Kelly Lin 林熙蕾, official Facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kelly-Lin-lin-xi-lei/233281929920?v=wall&ref=ts
Kelly Lin In Triangle
at Variety.Com

at GoldSea Asian American News.com
Kelly Lin's Good Performance Landed A Best Actress Nomination At The 2008 Golden Rooster Hundred Flowers Award
at ENorth.com.cn

at Berlinale.com * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080719223211/http://monkeypeaches.com/ Nomination List of Hong Kong's 12th Golden Bauhinia Film Awardsat Monkey Peaches.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Kelly 1975 births 20th-century American actresses 20th-century Taiwanese actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century Taiwanese actresses Actresses from California American actresses of Taiwanese descent American expatriate actresses in China American expatriate actresses in Hong Kong American female models American film actresses American models of Taiwanese descent American television actresses Female models from California Living people People from Shanghai People with acquired American citizenship Taiwanese emigrants to the United States Taiwanese expatriate actresses in China Taiwanese expatriate actresses in Hong Kong Taiwanese female models Taiwanese film actresses Taiwanese television actresses University of California, Irvine alumni Taiwanese-born Hong Kong artists