Katie Leung
Scottish actress (born 1987) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Katie Leung (born 8 August 1987; pronounced [lœŋ˨˩][1]) is a Scottish actress. She first gained fame for playing Cho Chang, Harry Potter's first love interest in the Harry Potter film series, and subsequently for her roles as Caitlyn Kiramman in the Netflix animated series Arcane and Ash in the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Peripheral. Among British television audiences, Leung is known for her lead roles in the miniseries dramas One Child and Strangers and her supporting role in the police dramedy Annika.
Katie Leung | |||||||||||||
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| 梁佩詩 | |||||||||||||
Leung at the 2020 German Comic Con Home Edition | |||||||||||||
| Born | 8 August 1987 Dundee, Scotland | ||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||
| Occupation | Actress | ||||||||||||
| Years active | 2004–present | ||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 梁佩詩 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 梁佩诗 | ||||||||||||
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Early life
Leung was born in Dundee to Peter Leung, a Hong-Kong-born businessman and restaurateur who opened a company in Glasgow, and Kar Wai Li, a banker. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she continued living in Scotland with her father, stepmother, and siblings after her mother moved back to Hong Kong.[2][3] Her father's occupation led to Leung growing up in multiple towns, including Ayr, Hamilton, and Motherwell.[2] She attended secondary school at Hamilton College.[4][5]
Career
Summarize
Perspective
2004–2011: Harry Potter and other early roles
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] She has stated 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 recalled how 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."[10] In an effort to heavily promote Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros. sent Leung to China in the film's second week of release, in an atypical move towards a market that was not used to frequent celebrity visits at the time.[11]
Leung 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 co-star Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) shared an on-screen kiss that received much media coverage. While Leung was greeted warmly by most of the fandom, other fans created hate websites in response to her casting and posted many racist messages which were upsetting to her at the time.[12][13] In March 2021, Leung opened up further about the racist harassment she 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 any interviewer asked.[14]
Leung was named Scotland's most stylish female and the hottest Scotswoman in 2007 by Scotland on Sunday.[15] 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.[16]
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.[17]
2012–present: continued stage and screen roles
Following the end of Harry Potter, Leung was uncertain if she wanted to further pursue a career in acting but was inspired to continue after attending a drama course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.[18] In December 2011, she was awarded the role of Jung Chang as her stage debut role in Chang's autobiographical play Wild Swans.[19] 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."[20] The play made its world premiere in Cambridge, Massachusetts in February 2012, before returning to Motherwell and concluding with an April–May run at the Young Vic in London.[21][22]
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 living in Brixton.[23] 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.[24]
In April 2014, it was announced that Leung was to play the lead 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, a co-production of BBC Drama and Sundance TV, filmed in May 2014 in London and Hong Kong, aired on Sundance TV in December 2014, and was broadcast on BBC Two in February 2016.[25] Leung received praise from Catherine Gee of The Daily Telegraph, who called her performance "beautifully understated".[26]
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.[27] 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.[28]
Leung 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.[29][30][31]
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.[32] In her essay, Leung wrote about how her ethnicity impacted her experiences growing up and her acting career.[33]
In 2023, Leung starred in the first season of Paramount+'s series adaptation of Simon Beckett's novel The Chemistry of Death.[34] In 2024, she appeared in the BBC One miniseries Nightsleeper.[35]
In September 2024, Leung joined the regular cast of Bridgerton as Lady Araminta Gun for its forthcoming fourth season.[36][37][38][39]
Charity work
In 2007, Leung helped The Prince's Trust charity raise £100,000 by launching a children's art competition, donating one of her own paintings that was auctioned for £960.[40] In 2009, she donated a photo to Sightsavers International's I:Click 2009 competition, with benefits going to treat and prevent blindness for residents of impoverished countries.[41][42]
In 2018, Leung ran a 10K marathon for My Body Back, a charity that supports victims of sexual violence.[43]
Personal life
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]
Leung briefly studied painting at University of the Arts London before completing a photography degree at Edinburgh College of Art.[10][44] Following this, she attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where she completed the BA in Acting course.[45]
On 19 August 2018, Leung participated in the wedding of her Harry Potter castmate Afshan Azad.[46]
On 1 January 2023, for New Year's Day, Leung revealed on Instagram that her son had been born the previous Halloween.[47] Her pregnancy was worked into the second series of Annika, which she filmed prior to giving birth.[48]
Leung speaks fluent Cantonese and basic Mandarin.[49][50] She is a vegetarian.[51]
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 | ||
| 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 | Leading Lady Parts | Assistant | Short film |
| 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) | |
| 2021–2023 | Annika | Blair Ferguson | Main role |
| 2021–2024 | Arcane | Caitlyn Kiramman (voice) | Main role |
| 2022 | The Peripheral | Ash | Main role |
| 2023 | The Chemistry of Death | Maggie Cassidy | Season 1 (3 episodes) |
| The Wheel of Time | Yasicca | Season 2 (3 episodes) | |
| 2024 | Nightsleeper | Rachel Li | Miniseries (6 episodes) |
| 2026 | Bridgerton | Lady Araminta Gun | Season 4 |
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 |
| 2014 | The Hypochondriac | Béline | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow |
| 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 |
| 2024 | The Comeuppance | Kristina | Almeida Theatre, London |
Awards
| Year | Presenter | Category | Result | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Asian Excellence Awards | Outstanding Newcomer | Nominated | [52] |
| Young Scot Award | Achievement in Entertainment | Nominated | [53] | |
| 2007 | Scottish Style Awards | Most Stylish Female | Won | [54] |
| CosmoGirl | Hot 100 List | Won | [55] | |
| 2008 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Kiss (with Daniel Radcliffe) | Nominated | [56] |
| 2014 | BAFTA | Breakthrough Brit | Won | [57] |
References
External links
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