Sheren Tang

Sheren Tang Shui-man (born 2 March 1966) is a Hong Kong actress.

She is best known for her roles in the mega-hit Hong Kong TVB drama series War and Beauty, as well as La Femme Desperado, The Family Link, Rosy Business and No Regrets being the first Hong Kong actress to win the Best Actress Award in two consecutive years for the latter two.

Tang was born in 1966 when her mother was 17.

She was left with her paternal grandparents as a baby and her parents divorced when she was 5 years old.

She has one paternal half-sister.

Her ancestral hometown is Nanhai, Guangdong.

Tang attended Heep Yunn School from primary to high school.

In 1984, with a nomination from Andy Lau, Tang joined TVB's 13th training course, which was the first year TVB reduced the course from one year to half a year, splitting the course into two semesters.

Tang was in the second semester along with Kitty Lai, Aaron Kwok, Maggie Shiu, and Michael Tse.

Both her paternal grandparents passed within a couple years after she joined TVB training classes, with her grandfather passing away before her first drama had been broadcast.

She joined TVB in 1985, beginning her acting career as the female lead in the series Legend of the General Who Never Was (1985). Throughout the late 1980s, she rose to fame for her roles in many popular Hong Kong television series including wuxia dramas, New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre (1986) and Ode to Gallantry (1989).

After her graduation in 1985, having only done a few commercials, Tang was cast in her first role as female lead in The Legend of the General Who Never Was replacing original lead Maggie Cheung who was asked to take over Barbara Yung's remaining scenes in Battlefield, and King of Ideas (桥王之王) a.k.a. The Feud That Never Was (拆档拍档) soon after Yung's death.

Tang would go on to play first or second leading roles in the first few years of her career, sometimes touted as Barbara Yung successor due to Tang's comparable beauty, and look.

Tang was cast in comedy series Happy Spirit where she acted alongside Carol Cheng as her younger sister.

She starred as Chow chi-yeuk in New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre, the 1986 adaptation of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber novel.

She played Ching Yuet Yue in Police Cadet 1988, the second sequel to the widely popular Police Cadet series.

In 1989, she was featured in five series, three of which she starred alongside Roger Kwok; The Vixen’s Tale, I Do I Do, and The War Heroes.

That same year she was cast in Ode to Gallantry, a Wuxia comedy based on the famous novel, where she starred as the character Ding Dong, reuniting with Police Cadet and New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre costar Tony Leung.

In 1990, she was cast as Fong Hei Tung in the series Friends and Lovers alongside Teresa Mo.

Tang had let producers know that she was interested in working with Mo if given the opportunity prior to her casting and has stated that she is extremely grateful to have been cast in the series.

In 1991, she went to the United States on a student visa to study interior design while continuing to film for TVB during her study breaks.

During this time, she considered quitting the acting industry and moving to the United States permanently.

However, when she returned in 1994, she ultimately decided to stay in Hong Kong and continue acting, as there were more interesting roles for women being offered at the time.

Her first supporting role was in the 1994 series The Intangible Truth where she starred as the sister to Roger Kwok’s character.

The role was originally a guest role but subsequently became a significant character for the first half of the series.

That same year, Tang played Tong Man Yung, best friend to Amy Chan’s character in popular series at the time, Fate of the Clairvoyant and starred as Kam Yik Lin in the comedy Filthy Rich.

In 1995, Tang played Joyce Yan, a forensic pathologist in File of Justice IV, the fourth installment of the popular File of Justice series She also starred as ICAC officer Poon Wai Yan in the female-led drama Corruption Doesn't Pay, alongside Esther Kwan and Kiki Sheung.

She joined the television network ATV in 1996, filming several series including The Good Old Days (1996) and I Have A Date With Spring (1996).

In 1996, Tang signed a one-year contract with ATV, filming over 200 episodes in a span of one to two years.

She starred in the 1996 adaptation of I Have A Date With Spring as Yiu Siu Deep.

While the drama did not attract many viewers in Hong Kong, it was a huge success in Mainland China and the series has acquired a cult following.

The role is considered one of her earlier representative works in China and Tang has continued to appear on dozens of variety programs and award shows performing songs from the series.

She also reunited with costars Amy Chan, Kiki Sheung, and Maggie Shiu in one of the few popular ATV series The Good Old Days.

Tang returned to TVB in 2000 and gained massive popularity for her role in War and Beauty (2004).

She became the first actress to win TVB's My Favourite Powerhouse Actress Award two years in a row for this role and for The Threat of Love 2 (2003).

She rarely saw her parents when she was growing up and credited her conversion to Christianity in 2005 in mending the estranged relationship between them later in her adulthood.

She was later made president of the Hong Kong Artistes Christian Fellowship where many Hong Kong artistes including her co-stars are also members.

Tang continued to outdo herself with her roles in Rosy Business (2009) and No Regrets (2010), which won her multiple awards in various countries.

She has since appeared in Chinese series including New My Fair Princess (2011) and Star April (2017) before returning to Hong Kong television in 2018, filming a series for ViuTV released as Till Death Do Us Part (2019).

Tang joined TVB's 13th training class.