Fann Wong

Fann Woon Fong (born 27 January 1971), known professionally as Fann Wong, is a Singaporean actress, singer, businesswoman and model.

She has been referred to as one of MediaCorp's Ah Jie for being one of the most established television actresses in Singapore's Chinese-language entertainment industry.

She was educated at Temasek Secondary School, where she took her GCE 'O' Level examinations in 1987.

Fann was a child actor while in primary school and featured in several SBC children's programmes.

At the age of 16, she won a beauty contest organised by Her World, a Singapore fashion magazine.

She started a successful modelling career in Singapore, and spent the next two years modelling part-time while taking her GCE 'A' Level examinations at a private school.

She subsequently earned a diploma in fashion merchandising from LaSalle International Fashion School in Singapore.

Fann moved to Taiwan in 1993.

One of her earliest successes was in an Oil of Ulan (now Oil of Olay) commercial aired in Taiwan and Singapore.

The following year, a Singaporean television producer discovered her and cast her in Dreams Come True, a Singapore drama series.

Fann soon starred in two more Singapore television series, The Challenger and Chronicle of Life.

At the local Star Awards 1995, Fann became the first actress to snag three prominent awards in the same year: Best Actress, Best Newcomer and Top 5 Most Popular Female Artiste.

She was also the youngest actress to have earned an All-Time Favourite Artiste at the Star Awards after winning the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes award from 1995 to 2004 respectively with Xie Shaoguang.

After a year in the Singapore television industry, her role in Chronicle of Life won her Best Actress and Best Newcomer awards at Singapore's 1995 Star Awards.

In 1996, her role in The Unbroken Cycle won her first regional nomination at the Asian Television Awards.

She continued to star in a large array of drama serials, including A Romance in Shanghai (produced in Shanghai), Wild Orchids (filmed in Sydney) and Brave New World (filmed in Amsterdam and Belgium).

In late 1996, Fann released in Singapore her first Mandarin pop album Fanntasy, which contained a duet (theme song of her TV drama 'Brave New World') with Taiwanese singer Jeff Chang.

The album was retitled I Live Alone and repackaged with two additional songs for the Taiwanese market and won 4 IFPI platinum sales awards in Taiwan, marking the start of Fann's regional success.

In 1996, Fann starred in the 40-episode blockbuster drama Brave New World alongside Christopher Lee and Hong Kong actor Alex Man.

This was the first time ever that Fann would act together with Christopher Lee.

Fann also performed the theme song, "Don't let love become hard for us", as a duet with Taiwanese singer Jeff Chang.

In 1998, Fann was named the female lead, Xiaolongnü, in TCS remake of the hit wuxia drama The Return of the Condor Heroes where she once again starred alongside Christopher Lee.

The release of this drama, along with her second album, Shopping, further increased her exposure in Taiwan and China.

When Hong Kong director Derek Yee saw Fann's "Shopping" music video on Hong Kong's Channel V, he flew to Singapore to cast her as the lead actress in the Hong Kong art film The Truth About Jane and Sam.

In 1999, Fann released her third album, Missing You, recorded "Private Number" with British boyband 911 and performed Moments of Magic, Singapore's official millennium song.

The movie topped the Singapore box office for three weeks and her role as a gritty wild-child won her a Best New Performer nomination at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000.

In addition, her role as a self-centred stockbroker in Out to Win attracted a million viewers in Singapore during its finale.

It was during this period when Fann acquired many of her die-hard fans, led by the Fann-atic Fan Club (FFC).

These musical successes resulted in her being the first Singapore artiste to stage a solo paying concert ("My Story"—Fann Wong in Concert) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2000.

That same year, she released her fourth Mandarin album, No Problem.

During the next few years, Fann focused on her acting career.

She played a two-timing television reporter in the omnibus Hong Kong film When I Fall in Love... With Both, acted as a lovelorn insurance agent in the Singaporean romantic drama Looking For Stars, as well as played the title character in the Taiwanese period drama Madam White Snake.

She also began hosting travelogue shows, including Travel Hunt: Japan and Fann Adventure, which was filmed in South Africa and Malaysia.

In 2002, Fann became the first Singaporean actress to play a major role in a Hollywood production, as Chon Lin in Shanghai Knights.

After gaining regional exposure and popularity in Asia through film and television productions, she became the first Singaporean actress to break into Hollywood, playing Chon Lin in the 2003 film Shanghai Knights.

When the film was released in early 2003, Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post stated:

Fann is an enchanting new film presence.

She married actor Christopher Lee on 29 September 2009.

Born in Singapore to Hakka tailor parents, Fann Chin Khew and Wong Siew Toy, Fann Wong would later derived her English stage name from her parents' surnames.

Fann has three siblings — an older sister, as well as a younger brother and a younger sister named Fan Wen Qing (former child actress).