Katie Leung

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Katie Leung
梁佩詩
Katie leung 2020 1.jpg
Leung at the 2020
German Comic Con Home Edition
Born
Katie Liu Leung

(1987-08-08) 8 August 1987 (age 36)
Dundee, Scotland
NationalityScottish
EducationEdinburgh College of Art (BA)
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (BA)
OccupationActress
Years active2005–present
Katie Leung
Traditional Chinese梁佩詩
Simplified Chinese梁佩诗

Katie Liu Leung (born 8 August 1987; pronounced [lœ:ŋ][1]) is a Scottish actress. Initially famous for playing Cho Chang, the titular character's first love interest in the Harry Potter film series, she is also known for her roles as Caitlyn in the animated series Arcane and Ash in the sci-fi series The Peripheral. In 2012, Leung made her stage debut in the play Wild Swans, and has since appeared in many other stage productions.

Leung has an interest in the arts, having studied painting and design at the University of the Arts London, and has degrees in photography from Edinburgh College of Art and theatre from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Early life

Leung was born in Dundee, Scotland, although Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, is often misidentified as her birthplace because she spent most of her childhood there.[2] She attended secondary school at Hamilton College, South Lanarkshire.[3][4] She is of Cantonese descent; her father, Peter Leung, was a Hong Kong businessman and restaurateur who opened a company in Glasgow, and her mother, Kar Wai Li, was a Hong Kong banker. Leung's parents divorced when she was three, and she lived in Scotland with her father, stepmother, and siblings after her mother moved back to Hong Kong.[2][5]

Career

2005–2011: Harry Potter and other early roles

Leung at the Tokyo premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005

Leung's father saw an advertisement for a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire casting call, and suggested she should try out. She waited four hours in line for a five-minute audition, despite feeling she had little likelihood of obtaining the role.[6] Two weeks later, she was called back for a workshop and was cast as Cho Chang, beating over 3,000 other girls for the part.[7] In retrospect, she stated in an interview with the Daily Record that her Scottish accent probably gave her an advantage in the casting,[8] as the casting director asked the girls who attended the audition, "Is there anyone here from Scotland?", to which only Leung raised her hand.[9]

In a 2011 interview, Leung said her fondest memory of the Harry Potter experience was the first audition, because both her parents, who were separated at the time, went with her. "It was a really nice moment because my parents hadn't seen each other for a long, long time," Leung recalled.[10] In an effort to heavily promote Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros. sent Leung to China in the film's second week of release, in an atypical move toward a market that was not used to frequent celebrity visits at the time.[11]

She reprised her role in the subsequent films in the series, most notably Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in which her character had the distinction of being Harry Potter's first romance. As a result, Leung and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) shared an on-screen kiss that received much media coverage. While Leung was greeted warmly by most fans of the series, some fans, jealous of Cho's relationship with Harry in the film, created an "I Hate Katie" website in response.[12] Additionally, many racist messages posted on fan websites were upsetting to Leung at the time.[13] In March 2021, Leung opened up about the racist abuse she had received from fans while filming Harry Potter. Appearing on an episode of the Chinese Chippy Girl podcast, she revealed that she was told by her publicists to deny what was happening if anyone asked.[14]

Leung's voice was used in the video games Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Leung was named as Scotland's most stylish female and as the hottest Scotswoman in 2007 by The Scotsman.[15] She has also been featured in Teen Vogue and the Evening Standard.[16][17] In July 2007, she was cast by Gold Label Records, a subsidiary of EMI in Hong Kong, to be the female lead in the music video Love Coming Home (愛回家) by Leo Ku. Leung filmed the video in London while promoting the new Harry Potter film. Ku described Leung's acting as "professional" and "mature".[18]

In her first role outside of Harry Potter, Leung played Hsui Tai in the episode "Cat Among the Pigeons" of ITV1's Agatha Christie's Poirot, which premiered on 21 September 2008.[19]

2011–present: Continued stage and screen roles

Following the end of the Harry Potter films, Leung said she was uncertain if she wanted to continue a career in acting. However, after attending a drama course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, she was inspired.[20] In December 2011, she was awarded the role of Jung Chang as her debut stage role in Chang's autobiographical play Wild Swans.[21] In comparing film to live performances, Leung said, "The obvious challenge is of course getting it right the first time, which is weirdly exciting for me."[22] The play made its world premiere in Cambridge, Massachusetts in February 2012, before returning to Motherwell.[23]

In June 2012, it was confirmed that Leung would star in the Channel 4 four-part drama series Run as leading character Ying, an undocumented Chinese immigrant who sells pirate DVDs and stolen phones on the streets of Brixton in the hope of making a life for herself in the UK, but who first must pay her debts to the Snakeheads who smuggled her into Britain.[24]

In 2013, Leung starred alongside Vera Chok in The World of Extreme Happiness, a play about the world of migrant workers in China's rapidly emerging modern era. In the production, staged at The Shed at the National Theatre, she played the role of Sunny, a female migrant worker.[25] Leung next appeared in an episode of the BBC crime drama series Father Brown.

In April 2014, it was announced that Leung was to play the role of Mei, a first-born Chinese girl adopted by an American mother and British father, in the TV miniseries One Child. In the story, her character is asked to return to her birthplace, Guangzhou, when her birth mother desperately seeks her assistance in saving her son. The series was produced by BBC Drama production for BBC Two and was co-produced with Sundance TV. It was scheduled to begin production in May 2014 in London and Hong Kong, and aired in February 2016.[26] Leung received praise from Catherine Gee of The Daily Telegraph, who called her performance "beautifully understated".[27]

In late 2016, Leung appeared in the Tony Kushner play The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (iHo) at the Hampstead Theatre in London.[28] In 2017, she co-starred with Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan in The Foreigner, playing Fan, Chan's character's daughter. This was followed by a supporting role as Lau Chen in the ITV drama Strangers, also known by the title White Dragon.[29]

In June 2021, Leung narrated the short audio story Off Course for Bibliophone. The story was the winner of a charity writing competition which raised money for the Scottish Refugee Council.

Leung has subsequently appeared in recurring roles as DC Blair Ferguson in the Alibi series Annika, the voice of Caitlyn in the Netflix series Arcane, and Ash in the Amazon Prime Video series The Peripheral.[30][31][32]

She is also attached to a forthcoming Paramount+ series adaptation of Simon Beckett's novel The Chemistry of Death, with her role currently unspecified.[33]

Personal life

Leung at the German Comic Con Home Edition in 2020

Leung delayed plans to go to art college and university to film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. During this period, Leung had said she was undecided about pursuing an acting career after Harry Potter and wished to attend university to study art and design.[7] In 2007, she helped The Prince's Trust charity raise £100,000 by launching a children's art competition and also donated one of her own paintings which was auctioned for £960.[34]

Leung has also expressed a passion for photography.[35] In 2009, she donated a photo to Sightsavers International's I:Click 2009 competition, with benefits going to combat blindness in poor countries.[36][37]

While appearing in Wild Swans, Leung worked to complete her photography degree at Edinburgh College of Art.[10] Afterwards, she attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where she completed the BA in Acting course.[38]

On 19 August 2018, Leung participated in the wedding of another former Harry Potter cast member, Afshan Azad.[39]

In January 2022, Leung's essay "Getting into Character" was published in the book East Side Voices: Essays Celebrating East & Southeast Asian Identity in Britain.[40] In her essay, Leung wrote about how her ethnicity impacted her experiences growing up and her acting career.[41]

She speaks fluent Cantonese and some Mandarin.[42]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Cho Chang
2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2009 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
2017 T2 Trainspotting Nurse
The Foreigner Fan Quan
2018 Leading Lady Parts Assistant Short film
2021 Locked Down Natasha

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Agatha Christie's Poirot Hsui Tai Episode: "Cat Among the Pigeons"
2013 Run Ying Miniseries (4 episodes)
2014 Father Brown Jia-Li Gerard Episode: "The Prize of Colonel Gerard"
One Child Mei Ashley Miniseries (3 episodes)
2018 Strangers Lau Chen Miniseries (8 episodes)
2019 Chimerica Liuli Miniseries (4 episodes)
2019–2020 Moominvalley Too-Ticky (voice) Seasons 1–2
2020 The Nest Eleanor Miniseries (5 episodes)
Roadkill Margaret Moore Miniseries (3 episodes)
2021–present Annika Blair Ferguson
Arcane Caitlyn Kiramman (voice)
2022 The Peripheral Ash

Theatre credits

Year Title Role Venue
2012 Wild Swans Jung Chang The Young Vic Theatre, London
2013 The World of Extreme Happiness Sunny National Theatre, London
2015 You For Me For You Junhee Royal Court Theatre, London: Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
2016 The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (iHo) Sooze Hampstead Theatre, London
2017 Snow in Midsummer Dou Yi Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
2019 White Pearl Sunny Royal Court Theatre, London: Jerwood Theatre Downstairs

Awards

2006

  • Outstanding Newcomer Award, Asian Excellence Awards (Top 4)
  • Young Scots Award (nominee)

2007

  • Scotland's Most Stylish Female[43]
  • No. 80 on the Cosmogirl's Hot 100 List[44]

2008

2014

  • BAFTA Breakthrough Brits 2014[46]

References

  1. ^ "Katie Leung: Breakthrough Brit in 2014". BAFTA. 28 October 2014. Event occurs at 00:01. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b Swarbrick, Susan (12 February 2016). "Katie Leung on life after Harry Potter and battling racist stereotypes". The Herald (Glasgow).
  3. ^ LAU KIT WAI. Katie casts a spell. South China Morning Post. YOUNGPOST; Pg. 1. 11 December 2005.
  4. ^ Dougan, Andy (4 November 2005). "'Motherwell girl Katie steals Harry Potter 's heart; MOVIE SPECIAL Katie Leung on her dream role . . . and the big secret she had to keep for two months". Evening Times (Glasgow). NEWS. p. 14.
  5. ^ Sturgis, India (15 February 2016). "Harry Potter actress Katie Leung: I regularly experience racism". The Telegraph.
  6. ^ Synnot, Siobhan (21 June 2007). "KISS ME KATIE". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  7. ^ a b "Katie Leung 5/2007 Interview BBC.com". BBC. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  8. ^ "Exclusive: My Broad Accent Scot Me A Job As Harry Girl". The Daily Record. 14 November 2005. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  9. ^ "What Katie did next". The Scotsman. 26 June 2007. Archived from the original on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  10. ^ a b Herald Scotland. "Lights, camera ... magic". Herald and Times Group. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  11. ^ Pride, William M.; Hughes, Robert J.; Kapoor, Jack R. (2008). Business. Houghton Mifflin. p. 540. ISBN 978-0-618-75314-7.
  12. ^ "KATIE: I CRIED FOR HARRY'S ILL FANS". Scotland: Daily Record. 16 November 2005. Archived from the original on 2005. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  13. ^ United Press International (11 April 2005). "Racists slam 'Harry Potter' actress". UPI. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  14. ^ Moreau, Jordan (11 March 2021). "'Harry Potter' Actor Katie Leung Says She Was Told to Deny Receiving Racist Attacks From Fans". Variety. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  15. ^ Watson, Jeremy (18 November 2007). "Harry Potter actress flies from Hogwarts to top of eligibles list". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
  16. ^ "DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Katie Leung Evening Standard photoshoot, June 2007". SnitchSeeker.com. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  18. ^ 基仔張秋親熱大汗疊細汗 (in Chinese). Sina.com. 31 July 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.[dead link]
  19. ^ Hendry, Steve (2 December 2007). "What Katie Leung Did Again". Sunday Mail. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
  20. ^ "LEUNG NEARLY QUIT ACTING AFTER POTTER". Scotland: The Express. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  21. ^ "Harry Potter actress Katie Leung lands debut stage role". BBC News. 7 December 2011.
  22. ^ Adler, Amy (8 February 2012). "Katie Leung Goes Wild". TheaterMania.com, Inc. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  23. ^ Chen, Wei-Huan. "'Wild Swans' tries to fit China on stage". Dedham, Massachusetts: Dedham Transcript. Retrieved 12 February 2012.[dead link]
  24. ^ "Channel 4 Run Cast Announcement". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  25. ^ "The World of Extreme Happiness: A Story of China's Urban Migrants". The Culture Trip - China. 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  26. ^ Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (30 November 2014). "Opaque Justice in China: Katie Leung Stars in 'One Child' by Guy Hibbert". The New York Times.
  27. ^ Gee, Catherine (17 February 2016). "Gripping drama One Child exposes how fragile China is - review". The Daily Telegraph.
  28. ^ "Tamsin Greig stars in The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures". London Theatre 1. 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  29. ^ Hale, Mike (06 February 2019). "Review: Hong Kong Tourist-Noir in Amazon's 'White Dragon'". The New York Times.
  30. ^ Turner, Kayt (16 March 2021). "In Pictures: New series of popular drama, Annika, filming in Glasgow". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  31. ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (21 September 2021). "'Arcane': Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell & Kevin Alejandro Among Voice Cast For Netflix 'League Of Legends' Animated Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  32. ^ Petski, Denise (2 June 2021). "'The Peripheral': Louis Herthum, Chris Coy, Melinda Page Hamilton Among 5 Cast In Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy's Amazon Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  33. ^ Goldbart, Max (20 June 2022). "Paramount+ Unveils Seven-Strong International Slate Including French Fantasy Horror, 'CIRCEO' Massacre Doc & Germany's 'The Sheikh'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  34. ^ Edinburgh Evening News (4 December 2007). "Potter star Katie helps raise £100,000". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  35. ^ Cheesman, Chris (26 November 2009). "HARRY POTTER STAR REVEALS PHOTOGRAPHY 'PASSION'". Amateur Photographer. Archived from the original on 30 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  36. ^ "i:click". Sightsavers International. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  37. ^ Carswell, Andy (3 December 2009). "Amersham teen's photo to appear alongside work of Harry Potter actress". Bucks Free Press & Times Group. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  38. ^ Jury, Louise (20 April 2012). "Harry Potter star Katie Leung makes stage debut... before a spell at drama school". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  39. ^ Merrett, Robyn. "'Harry Potter' Stars Reunite for Hogwarts' 'Very Own Royal Wedding'". People. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  40. ^ Lee, Helena (24 January 2022). "Gemma Chan, Naomi Shimada, Katie Leung and more tell personal stories in new book East Side Voices". Harper's Bazaar UK. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  41. ^ Whiteside, Shirley. "East Side Voices: Essays Celebrating East & Southeast Asian Identity in Britain edited by Helena Lee - Book Review". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  42. ^ Shore, Robert (11 April 2012). "Katie Leung: I almost quit acting after Harry Potter". UK: Metro. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  43. ^ "Awards ceremony celebrates Glasgow's style". Glasgow City Marketing Bureau. Archived from the original on 20 December 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  44. ^ "Katie Leung in Cosmo Girl magazine". SnitchSeeker.com. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  45. ^ "2008 MTV Movie Awards Nominees: Best Kiss". MTV Networks. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  46. ^ [1] Katie Leung, BAFTA Breakthrough Brits 2014 Archived 1 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Katie Leung.

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