Augusta Xu-Holland (Chinese: 徐嘉雯; born 17 April 1991) is a New Zealand actress.

Augusta Xu-Holland
Augusta Xu-Holland
Born (1991-04-17) 17 April 1991 (age 33)
Auckland, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand
Occupation(s)Acting and Bioenergy
Years active2016-present
Known forThe Last Race, Borderland Love, The Eight Hundred
Chinese name
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXú Jiāwén

Early life and education

edit

Xu-Holland was born in Auckland to a Chinese father and New Zealand mother and grew up in Wellington and the Bay of Plenty. From 2009 to 2013, she attended Victoria University for a bachelor's degree in biology and Asian studies.[1] Upon graduation, she moved to China and worked in public relations and bioenergy at Kaidi New Energy Group, China's largest privately owned bioenergy company.[2][3][4]

Shortly after deciding to become an actress in 2015, Xu-Holland was cast in a leading role in The Last Race alongside award-winning actors Joseph Fiennes and Shawn Dou.[2]

Career

edit

China

edit

Xu-Holland started her acting career in China-Hollywood co-production The Last Race (2016) directed by Stephen Shin. The Last Race is an unofficial sequel to the Academy Award winning story of Chinese-born Scottish Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire (1981).[5] In The Last Race, Xu-Holland plays Catherine Standish, a fictional character whom Eric Liddell, played by Joseph Fiennes, gave up his chance of repatriation arranged between the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the Japanese government.[6] Liddell later died in the Weixian Internment Camp in Weifang, China.[7]

Xu-Holland is best recognized for her work in China, such as television series “Borderland Love” (2018) written by award-winning Chinese Gao Mantang and online film Special Mission (2018). In 2019, Xu-Holland stars in one of China's most highly anticipated films The Eight Hundred (2019) directed by Guan Hu, alongside Li Chen and Yao Chen.[8]

Global

edit

The US version of The Last Race was released under the title On Wings of Eagles in 2017.[9] Unspoken Code (2018) won Best Narrative Short at the California International Shorts Festival and Best Short Film at the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto. [10] Xu-Holland has never received formal acting training, and attributes her skills to the scale of opportunities whilst working in China.[9]

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year English Title Chinese Title Role Notes
2016 The Last Race 终极胜利 Catherine Standish Released in the US as On Wings of Eagles[8]
2018 Unspoken Code Rhonda Short film[10]
Special Mission 特种使命之绿色军团 Lina
2019 Meta Area 原脑:坏死区 Pudding
The Eight Hundred 八佰 Eva [11] Credited as Xu Jiawen
Werewolf 狼人杀 Luna Quadrilogy[11]

Television series

edit
Year English Title Chinese Title Role Notes
2018 Borderland Love 爱情的边疆 Wenwen Also under the English name Frontier of Love[9]
2022 Cupid's Kitchen Elise

References

edit
  1. ^ "Downloads". Otc.school.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Story of Scottish Missionary and Runner Eric Liddell Comes to Life Again After Success of 'Chariots of Fire'". Thebeijinger.com. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Kiwi making it big in Hollywood, via China | TVShows". Newshub. 22 September 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group". cn.undp.org. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  5. ^ "1982 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Oscars.org. 29 March 1982. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  6. ^ Simon Burnton. "50 stunning Olympic moments: No8 Eric Liddell's 400 metres win, 1924 | Sport". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  7. ^ Magnusson, Sally (1981). The Flying Scotsman, A Biography. New York, NY: Quartet Books Inc. p. 160-170
  8. ^ a b "The rise and rise of Asian-Kiwi stars". asiamediacentre.org.nz. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "Augusta Xu-Holland Between Art & Science". china-underground.com. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Unspoken code film screening". invernessarts.com. Retrieved 24 April 2019.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ a b 【独家】徐嘉雯:想演中国古装剧的新西兰女星. sbs.com. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
edit