Majulah Singapura! We’re taking a look at a bunch of local celebrities who either live here or are based abroad who have made waves overseas for their talents. Thanks to these outward-venturing stars, our little red dot has become more recognisable on the world map — with the latest being Mark Lee, who has been nominated for the Best Actor award at the upcoming Golden Horse Awards.
51-year-old veteran actor, host and comedian Mark Lee has been nominated for Best Actor at the 57th Golden Horse Awards, for his role as a retrenched executive working as a drag queen in dramedy, Number 1.
The announcement was made during a live-streamed ceremony on Sep 30.
Other actors in the running are Liu Kuan-ting in My Missing Valentine, Austin Lin in I WeirDo, Mo Tzu-yi in Dear Tenant, and Lam Ka-tung in Hand Rolled Cigarette.
The awards ceremony will be held at the National Dr Sun Yet-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Nov 21.
All the best to Mark Lee!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by marklee 本土天王 李国煌 (@marklee4444) on
Our Ah Jie Fann Wong (and 2019 August issue cover girl!) was the first Singaporean actress to land a big break in Hollywood by playing Jackie Chan’s sister in the 2003 movie Shanghai Knights.
The role later won her a nomination at the MTV Movie Awards 2003 for Best Fight. The Star Award All-Time Favourite Artiste went on to win numerous international accolades including Best Actress at the West Hollywood International Film Festival 2008 and Best Asian Artist at Asian Song Festival 2013 with her other regional and international dramas and films.
Another Singaporean actor who has managed to break into the competitive Hollywood industry, you’ve probably watched many of the blockbusters he’s appeared in. His best-known role is probably when he played Lau in Christopher Nolan’s critically-acclaimed The Dark Knight, but he’s also landed roles in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2012, Independence Day: Resurgence, Skyscraper and Ghost In The Shell, where he starred alongside A-lister Scarlett Johansson.
He will next star in Mortal Kombat, an American martial arts movies series based on a video game of the same name, where he plays the character Shang Tsung. Mortal Kombat is slated to hit cinemas in 2021.
The Singaporean actor shot to fame in China when he was cast in the hit period drama Story of Yanxi Palace, where he played an imperial guard who falls in love with one of the palace maids. His performance earned him the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 14th Chinese American Film Festival 2018 in the US.
He also won the Golden Oak Award for Asia’s Most Promising Actor Award at the Asian-American Television and Film Festival in 2018, and ranked 35th in a list of China’s most influential artists in 2018.
Local musician Ling Kai made history as the only Singaporean and female singer-songwriter to enter the finals of Chinese reality TV singing competition Sing My Song in 2014. Fellow Singaporean Tanya Chua was her mentor on the show.
She went on to win Indie Artist Of The Year at Beijing’s YinYueTai 2nd Annual V Chart Awards in 2014, which is no small feat!
While the actor and host is of British-Malaysian heritage, the Singaporean PR has called our island-city home for the past eight years. The eloquent and charming actor and TV presenter made his Hollywood debut in the critically-acclaimed 2018 movie Crazy Rich Asians, which was partly filmed on our little red dot.
Henry went on to star in Hollywood thriller A Simple Favour alongside A-listers like Blake Lively (he played her husband) and Anna Kendrick, as well as romantic comedy Last Christmas opposite Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke. He will next appear in superhero film Snake Eyes, a reboot of the G.I. Joe film series, which will arrive in cinemas in Oct 2021.
There have also been rumours of him taking on the role of supervillain Namor in Marvel’s Black Panther 2!
View this post on Instagramfirst Met Gala. crazy crazy night ?? this time last year ?
A post shared by Henry Golding (@henrygolding) on
You may remember 28-year-old twin sisters Miko and Yumi Bai when they made headlines after dropping out of Yio Chu Kang Secondary School in 2007 to pursue a music career in Taiwan. Their move was not in vain, as the sisters found success with the release of their third album, Grown Up, which reportedly made up 33 per cent of album sales in the Chinese market in April 2010.
While their career hasn’t been without controversy (Yumi famously dated casino king Stanley Ho’s son Mario, and their personal lives became fodder for gossip sites), the duo made a stunning comeback last year on Chinese talent show The Coming One, proving that they still have the chops.
Local singer Nathan Hartono was the first Singaporean singer to be selected by pop superstar Jay Chou in the Sing! China 2016 competition and survived the eliminations right up to the grand final round. The 29-year-old later emerged first runner-up.
In 2018, he debuted in China with a version of his song “Electricity” in Mandarin. He has also just dropped his first-ever Mandarin EP, with chill tunes across various music genres from R&B to funk and acoustic.
Malaysia-born actor Christopher Lee has long been recognised as a Singapore-based actor. In recent years, the yummy daddy has been actively taking up drama roles in Taiwan, including the 2013 A Good Wife TV series.
His breakout performance later earned him the Best Leading Actor award at the 49th Golden Bell Awards — his first overseas win.
This year, he appeared in HBO Asia’s original series, Workers, as an iron worker named Ming Qi.
Renowned singer, composer and director of his own biopic Wonderboy (starring Benjamin Kheng and Julie Tan), Dick Lee first shot to fame with the release of his 1989 album titled The Mad Chinaman.
Throughout the years, his musical journey has seen him clinching several awards in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan including the 1999 Best Original Film Song in the Hong Kong Film Award for City of Glass starring Leon Lai and Shu Qi.
Many of us may recognise Kit Chan as a renowned singer (and the voice behind National Day song ‘Home‘) — her 1994 debut album Heartache was a hit in Taiwan — but the 48-year-old veteran is also an experienced actress.
The songstress has had numerous stage and musical performances in Hong Kong and Singapore, gathering fans in Asia.
For those of you who grew up in the 2000s, you’ll be familiar with Stefanie Sun’s famous tunes such as “Rainy Day”, “I Am Fine” and “Encounter”.
The 42-year-old singer-songwriter, who was discovered by composer and musician Lee Wei Song, debuted her first album (simply titled Yan Zi) in 2000.
Since then, her fame quickly escalated, gathering fans all over China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. She’s since sold over 30 million records! This year, in fact, marks the 20th anniversary of the songbird’s Mandopop career.
When Joanna Dong joined Singapore Idol in 2004, she was booted out and criticised for being too “aunty” in her dressing.
Fast forward to 2019, she was handpicked by Jay Chou for the second season of Sing! China and was crowned 2nd runner up.
The 38-year-old jazz singer is the next local contestant to make finals, following Nathan Hartono’s participation in the same competition — she later came in third in the finals.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Joanna Dong 董姿彥 (@j_o_a_n_n_a_d_o_n_g) on
Popular Chinese singer and songwriter JJ Lin broke into the music scene back in 2003. A year later, he walked away with the Best New Artist award at the 15th Golden Melody Awards.
Since then, he’s accumulated a long list of nominations and won countless music awards for his vocal skills, including Best Mandarin Male Singer at the 2014 and 2016 Golden Melody Awards.
In 2015, JJ appeared as an advisor on Chinese reality TV show The Voice of China season 4, alongside famous Taiwanese singer-slash-host Harlem Yu.
Known for her soulful ballads, Tanya Chua, 44, remains as one of Singapore’s most recognisable singers to date.
The singer-songwriter — who’s released 18 albums since her debut in 1997 — has bagged numerous singing awards in the region, including Best Mandarin Female Singer at the 2006 and 2012 Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan.
Text: Elizabeth Liew, Natalya Molok & Hayden Ng/HerWorld. Additional reporting: Michelle Lee
A version of this article was originally published on Aug 8, 2019.
