File:Joan_Chen_Sundance_2025_Cropped.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Joan Chen
Sign in to saveChinese-American actress and director
OverviewAI-generated
Joan Chen is an American and Chinese actor, screenwriter, and film director. Born in Shanghai in 1961, she began her work period in 1975. She is known for notable works including the film *Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl* and the series *Twin Peaks*. Chen speaks and writes in English and Chinese, with English as her native language. She has worked primarily in the United States.
Chen has received the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She has also been nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She was educated at California State University, Northridge, and Shanghai International Studies University. She resides in San Francisco.
Synthesized by Vinony from 21 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Shanghai, China
Joan Chong Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese American actress, film director, screenwriter and film producer. She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor. She is also known for her roles in Twin Peaks, Red Rose White Rose, Saving Face and The Home…
Known for
- Montreal, My Beautiful — Feng Xia2026
- Remarkably Bright Creatures — Janice Kim2026
- No Other Love — Ms. Miao2026
- The Wedding Banquet — May Chen2025
- Oh. What. Fun. — Jeanne Wang-Wasserman2025
- Dìdi (弟弟) — Chungsing Wang2024
- Hachiko — Li Jiazhen2023
- Under the Light — He Xiuli2023
- A Murder at the End of the World — Lu Mei2023
- The Heart — Fang Zhuqing2023
via TMDB
Key facts
- Born
- 陳沖 (Chen Chong) , ( 1961-04-26 ) April 26, 1961 (age 65) , Shanghai , China
- Citizenship
- United States
- Occupations
- Actress, director
- Years active
- 1975–present
- Spouses
- Jim Lau ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1985 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1990 ) Peter Hui ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. January 18, 1992</span>"}]]}'>1992 )
- Traditional chinese
- 陳冲
- Simplified chinese
- 陈冲
- Hanyu pinyin
- Chén Chōng
- Jyutping
- Can4 Cung1
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- China
- Place of birth
- Shanghai
- Occupation
- film actor
- Languages spoken
- Chinese
- Native language
- English language
- Notable work
- Twin Peaks
- Image
- Joan Chen, 2012 (cropped)a.jpg
- Work location
- United States
- Residence
- San Francisco
Show 7 more facts
- Commons category
- Joan Chen
- date of birth
- 1961-04-26
- nominated for
- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star
- start of work period
- 1975-00-00
- related category
- Category:Films directed by Joan Chen
- writing language
- English language
- different from
- Sean Chen
Sources (11)
via Wikidata · CC0
~14 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Joan Chen (simplified Chinese; 陈冲; born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-born American actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Taipei Golden Horse Awards and an AACTA Award. She made her film debut in the Chinese film Youth (1977) before starring in the film Little Flower [zh] (1979). She came to the attention of American audiences for her portrayal of Wanrong in the Bernardo Bertolucci historical epic film The Last Emperor (1987), which won nine Academy Awards including Best Picture.
She is also known for her leading roles in Heaven & Earth (1993), Golden Gate (1994), Red Rose White Rose (1994), Saving Face (2004), Sunflower (2005), and The Home Song Stories (2007) with supporting roles in Lust, Caution (2007), Tigertail (2020), and Dìdi (2024). As a filmmaker she directed the feature films Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (1998), Autumn in New York (2000), English (2018) and Hero (2022).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Joan Chen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.