Michelle Ang

Michelle Ang (born 17 October 1983) is an actor, director and producer, working primarily in film and television. Raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, she has won various professional awards, including Best Actress at the New Zealand Film & Television Awards, while also having been nominated for an Emmy in the USA and a Logie in Australia.

Michelle Ang
Michelle Ang at Star Wars Celebration (London, 2023)
Born	(1983-10-17) 17 October 1983 (age 41) Christchurch, New Zealand
Alma mater	Victoria University of Wellington
Occupations	Actor producer director
Years active	1997–present
Children	1

On TV, her notable roles have included Omega in Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Lori Lee in long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours, and Alex in Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462.

On film, Ang has had leading and supporting roles in a range of dramas and comedies. As a supporting cast member in Hollywood productions, she has performed alongside actors such as Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Martin Lawrence, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gal Gadot and Aaron Paul. She has also worked for directors such as Steven Soderbergh, Jodie Foster and Jane Campion.

In recent years, Ang's work has widened into directing and producing. She is a member of the Directors and Editors Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand (DEGANZ).^[1] She nurtures young talent in her industry, as a guest mentor for the charitable filmmaking project Day One, based in Auckland. Ang also runs her own media production company called A Grain Of Rice.^[2]

Early life and education

Ang was born in Christchurch and is of Malaysian Chinese descent.^[3][4]

As a child, she was a dancer and performed with the Royal New Zealand Ballet in productions of The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet.^[5]

As a university student, she completed studies at Victoria University of Wellington for a double degree: a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration (B.C.A.) in Accounting with Commercial Law and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.^[6][7]

Career

Television

Ang got her start in television at a young age through the family series Young Entertainers. Here, she got to show her skills at singing and dancing, much like The Mickey Mouse Club show on US television. She played Tai-San in the New Zealand post-apocalyptic drama The Tribe as part of the core cast from 1999 to 2001, and featured in the final episodes of the 2002 series. Ang also guest starred in the final 2 episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess as Akemi.

She played Lori Lee in the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, in which she was a major character from 2002 to 2003. She left Neighbours to finish her university studies but returned briefly in 2004. Ang was nominated for a Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent for her role in Neighbours.^[8] She played the role of Tracy Hong in the first two seasons of the New Zealand TV series Outrageous Fortune in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, Ang appeared in the American television drama South of Nowhere.

In 2012, Ang featured in the MTV series Underemployed as an aspiring writer who has to settle for working at a donut shop.^[9]

In 2015, Ang starred in the web series Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462 as Alex, a passenger caught on a flight at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, and went on to appear in the main series Fear the Walking Dead.^[10] Ang received an Emmy nomination for her work on Flight 462.^[11] In 2020, she had a recurring role on The New Legends of Monkey.

In 2021, Ang starred in the Disney+ original animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch as Omega, a mysterious female clone of Jango Fett. She was invited to keep her native New Zealand accent for the role in homage to fellow New Zealander Temuera Morrison, who portrayed Jango Fett in the franchise.^[4]

In 2023, Ang starred as Melissa Wu in comedy series Homebound 3.0.^[12] Screened in New Zealand on Warner Bros. Discovery channel Three, the series is also available internationally via the BBC. In 2024, it was renewed for a second season, to be broadcast in 2025.

Film

Ang made her feature film debut in 2004's Futile Attraction. Ang had also appeared in a series of low-budget New Zealand short films including Forbidden Fury and Take 3. In 2006 she appeared in No.2, directed by Toa Fraser.

In 2011 Ang portrayed a nerdy Chinese New Zealander in the romantic comedy My Wedding and Other Secrets, her first lead role in a feature. It won her the Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film Award at the 2011 New Zealand Aotearoa Film & Television Awards.^[6]

Her other film credits include Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son and Triple 9.

Prior to her role in The Bad Batch, Ang had auditioned for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.^[4] As a child, she had also auditioned for the Cho Chang role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.^[13]

Personal life

Ang has a son.^[14]

Ang has named The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle as a book that influenced her.^[15]

Filmography

Film (as actor)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Forbidden Fury	Terry Spears	Short film
	Futile Attraction	Violet McKenzie
2006	Naming Number Two	Grace
2008	Take 3	Melanie Shum	Short film
2010	The Beaver	Japanese translator
2011	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	Mia	Feature film
	My Wedding and Other Secrets	Emily
	The Potential Wives of Norman Mao	Suzy Fong	Short film
2013	Echoes	Singer	Short film
2014	The Taking of Deborah Logan	Mia Medina
2015	Fallen Stars	Daisy[16]
2016	Triple 9	Detective Trina Ling	Feature film
2017	Simularity	Daisy	Short film
2018	For Izzy	Dede	Feature film
2019	High Flying Bird	Rachel	Feature film
2019	I Want To Marry A Creative Jewish Girl	Rosy	Short film
2023	The Paragon	Beth	Feature film
2024	Nai/Milk	Kim	Short film
2025	POP!		Short film
2025	Insula		Feature, in production

Television (as actor)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997–1998	Young Entertainers	Super Trooper	Regular cast
1999	William Shatner's A Twist in the Tale	Meesha	Season 1, Episode 14
1999–2002	The Tribe	Tai-San	Main role (seasons 1–3), 143 episodes
2001	Xena: Warrior Princess	Akemi	2 episodes
2002	Being Eve	Masako	Season 2, Episode 7
2002–2004	Neighbours	Lori Lee	88 episodes
2005	The Market	Victoria Chen	Recurring role
2005–2006	Outrageous Fortune	Tracy Hong	16 episodes
2007–2008	South of Nowhere	Lily Zee	4 episodes
2012–2013	Underemployed	Sophia Swanson	12 episodes
2013	Top of the Lake	Kimmie	2 episodes; Mini-series
	Grey's Anatomy	Cherise	Season 9, Episode 22
	Drop Dead Diva	Lanfen	Season 5, Episode 7
	Perception	Former National Guardwoman	Season 2, Episode 10
2014	Rizzoli & Isles	Lucy Chen	Season 5, Episode 11
2015	NCIS: Los Angeles	Taman Budiano	Season 6, Episode 19 "Blazing Glory"
2015–2016	Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462	Alex	Main role, web series, 16 episodes
2016	Fear the Walking Dead	Alex	Season 2, 2 episodes[17]
2017	Best Thing You'll Ever Do	Sena
2020	The New Legends of Monkey	General Khan	Season 2, 7 Episodes
	The Twilight Zone	Ling	Season 2, Episode 6
2021	Vegas	Miranda Lau	6 episodes
	My Life is Murder	Kathleen Boyce	Season 2, Episode 3
	Destination Love	Lisa	TV movie
2021–2023	Good Grief	Michelle	Seasons 1 & 2
2021–2024	Star Wars: The Bad Batch	Omega	Main role, Seasons 1-3, 47 episodes[18]
2023–present	Homebound 3.0	Melissa Wu	Lead role, Seasons 1 & 2, 16 episodes

Video Games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2023	Starfield	Sati Chandra	Voice

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2003	Logie Award	Most Popular New Female Talent[8]	Neighbours	Nominated
2011	New Zealand Film & Television Award	Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film	My Wedding and Other Secrets	Won
2016	Emmy Award	Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series[19]	Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462	Nominated
2024	Show Me Shorts Film Festival	Best Actor	Nai/Milk	Nominated
2024	Show Me Shorts Film Festival	Best Director	Nai/Milk	Nominated
2025	Barbados International Film Festival	Best Actor	POP!	Won