Gemma Chan

Biography

Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is a British actress and model. A graduate of Worcester College, Oxford, Chan began acting during the late 2000s, making her film debut in 2009. She rose to attention with her lead role in the Channel 4 science fiction series Humans (2015–2018), and gained prominence with her starring film roles as Astrid Leong in Crazy Rich Asians and as Elizabeth Hardwick in Mary Queen of Scots (both 2018). Chan next appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain Marvel (2019) and Eternals (2021), portraying Minn-Erva and Sersi, respectively. She also appeared in Olivia Wilde's psychological thriller Don't Worry Darling (2022) and Gareth Edwards' science fiction film The Creator (2023). She had a voice role in the Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). Offscreen, Chan has been labelled a fashion icon.

== Early life and education == Chan was born at Guy's Hospital in Southwark, South East London. Her father was an engineer who grew up in Hong Kong and her mother was a pharmacist raised in Greenock, Scotland after her parents had emigrated from Hong Kong. She speaks basic Cantonese. Raised in the suburb of Locksbottom in the London Borough of Bromley, Chan attended Newstead Wood School for Girls in Orpington, London. She went on to graduate with a degree in law from Worcester College, Oxford. Following graduation, Chan gained a training contract offer as a graduate at the law firm Slaughter and May, but turned it down to train at the Drama Centre London and pursue an acting career.

== Career ==

=== Early career (2000s) === Chan made her professional debut in the 2006 Horror Channel miniseries When Evil Calls. She was one of the models on the first series of the Sky One reality series Project Catwalk. Chan made her stage debut in the British premiere of Bertolt Brecht's final play Turandot at the Hampstead Theatre, London in 2008. Chan made a guest appearance in the autumn 2009 special of Doctor Who on BBC One titled "The Waters of Mars", playing geologist Mia Bennett. The episode later won a Hugo Award. In the same year, Chan starred in the psychological thriller Exam, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to mixed reviews.

=== Rise to prominence (2010s) ===

At the start of 2010, Chan appeared in two episodes in the Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd She played a heavily accented Chinese immigrant named Soo Lin Yao in The Blind Banker, a first series episode of BBC One series Sherlock. The episode was criticised partly because of its orientalist clichés. Chan had roles in three films that year: Pimp as Bo, Shanghai as Shin Shin, and Richard Ayoade's Submarine as Kim-Lin. The latter premiered at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews. Chan joined the main cast of the ITV2 drama Secret Diary of a Call Girl for its fourth and final series as Charlotte, the rival of Billie Piper's character. The series aired on ITV2 in 2011. Later that year, she appeared in the Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat and made a film for Amnesty International to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2012, Chan played Kiera in the second series of the Sky Living supernatural series Bedlam and Kathy in the semi-improvised BBC One miniseries True Love. She starred in the British premiere of David Henry Hwang's play Yellow Face at The Park Theatre, London. Chan returned for its 2014 revival at the Royal National Theatre. While promoting the play, Chan spoke about her struggles to get cast in non Chinese-related productions and period dramas due to her ethnicity. In November 2013, Chan performed in the world premiere of Our Ajax by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Southwark Playhouse, London. Michael Billington of The Guardian described her performance as "beautifully svelte omniscience". Later that year, she featured in the first series of the BBC Scotland crime drama Shetland as Hattie James, and guest-starred in episodes of Death in Paradise on BBC One and the Channel 4 romantic drama Dates. Chan appeared in the film The Double (2013), which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival to critical success.

Chan appeared in the action-thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), which met mixed reception but financial success. In 2015 she portrayed Ruth in the West End revival of Harold Pinter's domestic drama The Homecoming directed by Jamie Lloyd. She received rave reviews with Michael Billington of The Guardian writing, that "Chan shows, with great skill...a coolly inscrutable Ruth". The Evening Standard described Chan's performance as "cool" and "elegant". Chan said of the experience "There is a lot of ambiguity with [my] character and in [Pinter's] text, but as you work on it you have to make choices and decide what your truth is... A lot of people think she's controversial and ask why she behaves the way she behaves, and it's been really interesting trying to work that out." That same year she portrayed the protagonist's girlfriend, Chen-Lin, in French comedy-drama Belles Familles (2015), which was released at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. She lent her voice to the BBC One animated miniseries Watership Down in 2018. Chan starred as the anthropomorphic robot Anita/Mia in Humans, an AMC/Channel 4 science-fiction drama, from 2015 to 2018. The A.V. Club wrote that Chan "anchors the series", with her performance "awakening in ways both subtle and overt ... to reflect every new emotion." Chan voiced robot Quintessa in Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), which was panned by critics. Chan starred in action-thriller Stratton (2017) as the titular character's "smart-girl" colleague, Aggie. In 2018, Chan joined Andrea Riseborough, Jane Horrocks, Jaime Winstone, and Laura Carmichael to star in a film produced by ActionAid, encouraging the British public to support girls at risk of sexual violence.

Also in 2018, Chan co-starred as Astrid Leong-Teo in the film Crazy Rich Asians. Originally asked to portray the lead, Chan preferred the "more intriguing" role of Astrid. She first heard about the novel Crazy Rich Asians in a text message from her sister, read it on holiday, and "fell in love with Astrid". On her role, Chan stated that "what you see with Astrid is not necessarily what you get. There are layers to her ... [she] seemingly has it all together. The film became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the decade and received critical acclaim for its cast, visuals and on-screen representation. The Hollywood Reporter lauded Chan as "a radiant presence who lights up her every scene". That same year, she featured in the short film titled Leading Lady Parts in support of the Time's Up movement. Chan appeared as Petronella in London Fields (2018), which was a box-office bomb. Chan portrayed Elizabeth Hardwick in Josie Rourke's directorial debut, historical drama Mary Queen of Scots (2018), which premiered at the AFI Fest. Chan's casting "provoked controversy among internet trolls", as her character had been a white woman. Chan responded that "if John Wayne can play Genghis Khan, I can play Bess of Hardwick" and remarked that "art should reflect life now." Chan appeared in Captain Marvel (2019) in a supporting role as Minn-Erva, a sniper who is part of the Kree Starforce. The role required an extensive amount of prosthetic makeup, described as "four layers of airbrush paint" that took four hours to apply. The film had the sixth-biggest opening of all time to critical success. That same year, she was one of fifteen women selected to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue, by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.