Samantha Wan (born 1990 or 1991) is a Canadian actress, screenwriter, producer, and

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

creator. She is known for co-creating, writing, and starring in the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Second Jen ''Second Jen'' is a Canadian television sitcom that premiered on City on October 27, 2016. The series is produced by Don Ferguson Productions and stars Amanda Joy and Samantha Wan as Mo and Jen,

''. Since 2017, she has starred in the

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after ...

series '' Private Eyes''.

Career

Wan began her career in the early 2010s, playing supporting roles in several low-budget productions, including a recurring role on the popular

'' Out with Dad''.

''Second Jen''

Wan garnered further attention in 2016, when she co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the Canadian

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'', alongside

Amanda Joy Amanda Joy is a Canadian actress, screenwriter, comedian, satirist, and producer. She is best known for co-creating and starring in the Omni Television original series ''Second Jen''. Early life and education Joy studied vocal music at Cardinal ...

. The series follows two young

Asian Canadian Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the continent of Asia. Canadians with Asian ancestry comprise both the largest and fastest growing group in Canada, after European Canadians, with roughly 19.3 ...

women experiencing the ups and downs of being independent after moving out of their parents' homes for the first time. The series received mixed reviews from critics upon release; Brad Wheeler of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' hailed the show as "A Laverne & Shirley for the Digital Age" as it stars "two sparky second-generation Asian-Canadian millennial women coming of age in an era so economically challenging that Laverne and Shirley would be crying in their beers instead of merrily goofing off at the bottling plant." In contrast, John Doyle, also of ''The Globe and Mail'', panned the show, calling it "light, slight, silly and only occasionally outright funny." However, he also called it "mediocre," writing: "''Second Jen'' is notable for having two female Asian lead characters but it is not notable, nor funny, as a comedy." Nevertheless, it was renewed for a second season in late 2017. The second season premiered on August 4, 2018.

Other work

In addition to her work on ''Second Jen'', Wan is also the creator, writer, and star of ''Sudden Master'', which is a female-centric web series that focuses on

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. Th ...

. It was funded and produced with OMNI and has won several awards, including Best Action Series at the

Vancouver Web Series Festival The Vancouver Web Series Festival, also known as the Vancouver Web Fest, is a web series festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is known as the first ever Canadian festival dedicated solely to entertainment and programming cr ...

in 2016. The series was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

via the

KindaTV Shaftesbury Films is a film, television and digital media production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of original content for television an ...

channel, which is run by Smokebomb Entertainment. As of 2022, she has a recurring role in the CBC Television sitcom ''

Run the Burbs ''Run the Burbs'' is a Canadian television sitcom, which premiered on CBC Television on January 5, 2022.Greg David"CBC announces winter premiere dates" ''TV, eh?'', November 23, 2021. The series stars Andrew Phung as Andrew Pham, a suburban stay- ...

''.

Personal life

Wan is of

Chinese descent Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...

. In interviews, Wan has been outspoken about the need for more diversity and accurate

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

representation on television and in the media.

References

External links

Official website
* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian television actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian actresses of Chinese descent Canadian women screenwriters {{Authority control