Ada Choi Siu-fan (Chinese: 蔡少芬; born 17 September 1973) is a Hong Kong actress best known for her work, as the "evil empress" in the Chinese television series Empresses in the Palace (甄嬛傳), and to a lesser extent, for her film work.

Ada Choi
Born (1973-09-17) 17 September 1973 (age 51)[1]
Spouse
(m. 2008)
Children3
AwardsTVB Anniversary AwardsBest Actress
1998 Secret of the Heart
My Favorite On-Screen Partners (Dramas)
1998 Healing Hands
2001 Healing Hands II
2004 To Catch the Uncatchable
My Favourite Television Character
2001 Armed Reaction III
2002 Where the Legend Begins
2004 To Catch the Uncatchable

Chinese name
Chinese蔡少芬
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinCài Shàofēn
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingCoi3 Siu2-fan1

Career

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Choi was born in 1973 in Hong Kong to a Chaozhou family. Her parents divorced when she was five years old. She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, Teochow and English. In 1989, at the persuasion of her family, Choi participated in a modeling contest held by TVB at age 15.[2] Two years later, she was a contestant in the 1991 Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant.[3] During the semi-finals she placed first with an overall score of 483. She eventually finished as the second runner-up during the finals.[4] As a result, she signed a contract with TVB and starting taking on acting jobs.[5] She won the TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actress for her performance in Secret of the Heart (1998). Along with Maggie Cheung Ho-yee, Kenix Kwok, Flora Chan and Jessica Hsuan, Choi is known as one of the Top 5 "Fa Dans" (term used for actresses with high popularity) of TVB from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s. In 2009, she starred in Rebellion as a triad gang leader who chain-smokes and curses, a different type of role for Ada. In recent years, she has participated in numerous variety and reality shows as a regular cast member including Up Idol (2015), Run for Time (2015), My Dearest Ladies (2019) and Viva La Romance (2020).

Personal life

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On 12 January 2008, Choi married Chinese actor Max Zhang[6][7] whom she had dated for more than four years. He was her co-star in a number of Zhouyi Media television productions including The Legend of Magic Mirror (2003) and Eight Charts (2005). They have two daughters, Zoe and Chloe, born in 2011 and 2013 respectively.[8][9] In 2019, they announced on social media that they were expecting their third child. [10] They welcomed their son, Joey Zhang Le'er aka Yudan in November 2019.

Filmography and awards

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Television

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Year Title Role
1992 Revelation of the Last Hero Ling Seung
1993 Racing Peak Chung Oi Ling
All About Tin Gu Suet
The Link Chai Suet Yi
The Buddhism Palm Strikes Back Tin Heung
The Movie About Stupid Mr. Lee Fat Jak Fong
Man of Wisdom Seung Seung
1994 Shade of Darkness Lo Siu Mei
1995 The Romance of the White Hair Maiden Lin Ngai-seung
Justice Pao Mang Yu Yik / Suen Siu Nga
The Fist of Law Fa Gu
1997 File of Justice V Lee Tung
1998 Healing Hands Jackie Tong Chi Lai
Secret of the Heart Diana Suen Wah
1999 A Matter of Business Wong Yuk Fan
At the Threshold of An Era Tin Ning
Unnatural Born Killer Tse Ngan Giu
2000 Healing Hands II Jackie Tong Chi Lai
At the Threshold of An Era II Tin Ning
2001 Armed Reaction III Wai Ying Chi
On the Track or Off Luk Wing Yee
2002 Where the Legend Begins Yan Fuk
2003 Fate Twisters Sheung Hei
The Legend of Magic Mirror (水月洞天) Dou Dou (豆豆)
The Legend of Magic Mirror II Dou Dou
2004 Armed Reaction IV Wai Ying Chi
To Catch the Uncatchable Vivian Lee Wai Wai
2005 Seven Swordsmen (七劍下天山) Flying Red Sash
Eight Charts (八阵图) Qian Xun
2007 Tian Xian Pei (天仙配) Fourth Fairy (Guest star)
2008 Lei Hen Jian (淚痕劍 Die Wu (蝶舞/琥珀)
2008-2009 The Gem of Life Hong Nga-Sze (Jessica)
2010 Fly with Me Leung Hau-chi (Yvonne) / Janet Bin
Who's the Hero (勝者為王) Tung Fa-shun (童花順)
2011 Xi Jin Du (西津渡) Shao Yue'e (邵月娥)
2012 The Legend of Zhen Huan Empress Xiaojingxian
In Love with Power (山河恋·美人无泪) Empress Xiaoduanwen
2013 Beauty at War Bouamukchaai Sheung-ling
2015 Run for Time Cast Member
2017 Oh My Grad
2018 Woman in Love

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1994 Hail the Judge Yu Yin
Fist of Legend Hua's girlfriend
1995 A Chinese Odyssey Part Two - Cinderella Princess Iron Fan
The Golden Girls Lulu Shum
1996 Love and Sex Among the Ruins Billie Nominated - Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Actress
Once Upon a Time in Triad Society 2 Deda Nominated - Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Supporting Actress
Bloody Friday Ada
Mystery Files Foo Man Dik
1997 Passionate Nights
Walk In May
Troublesome Night Ken's love interest
Made in Heaven Lily Wong
Ah Fai, the Dumb Jody
1998 T.H.E. Professionals
Casino
The Suspect Annie Chung
Your Place or Mine! Vivian Ng Nominated - Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards for Best Actress
Rape Trap Li Shan-Shan
1999 The Doctor in Spite of Himself Don
My Heart Will Go On
2000 Paramount Motel Li Yuk-hing
2004 The Miracle Box Dr. Joanna Tse
2009 Rebellion Cheung Wah Nominated - Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards for Best Actress
2010 Just Another Pandora's Box Princess Iron Fan Guest star
2013 My Lucky Star
2014 Just Another Margin
One Step Away
2016 S Storm Wong Man-ling
2018 Agent Mr Chan Guest star
2019 Assassins and the Missing Gold

[11] [12]

References

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  1. ^ "蔡少芬生日和张晋过二人世界 宣布"封肚"". 8World Entertainment Lifestyle.
  2. ^ "The Independent: Netizen paid SGD930 for an injection after seeing fake ad featuring Ada Choi". 5 June 2021.
  3. ^ "The Independent: Netizen paid SGD930 for an injection after seeing fake ad featuring Ada Choi". 5 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Ada Choi Says She Joined Showbiz So She Could Stop Doing Housework". Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Ada Choi Says She Joined Showbiz So She Could Stop Doing Housework". Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Ada Choi & Max Zhang Gets Married!". 19 January 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Ada Choi and Actor Zhang Jin Get Married". 12 January 2008. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  8. ^ 帶埋囡囡內地拍劇 蔡少芬微博放便便; accessed 25 July 2015.(in Chinese)
  9. ^ "Ada Choi: I'm not giving birth anymore" Archived March 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, jaynestars.com; accessed 25 July 2015.
  10. ^ "3rd Baby on the Way: Ada Choi Announces Pregnancy". JayneStars.com. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  11. ^ Ada Choi at douban.com
  12. ^ Ada Choi at chinesemov.com
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Awards and achievements
TVB Anniversary Awards
Preceded by
Esther Kwan
for Lady Flower Fist
Best Actress
1998
for Secret of the Heart
Succeeded by
Ming Pao Anniversary Awards
Preceded by
None
Outstanding Actress in Television
2001
for Armed Reaction III
Succeeded by
Flora Chan
for A Case of Misadventure
Preceded by Outstanding Actress in Television
2006
for Dance of Passion
Succeeded by
Miss Hong Kong
Preceded by
Noel Leung
梁小冰
Miss Hong Kong 2nd Runner-Up
1991
Succeeded by
Shirley Cheung
張雪玲