Standing tall at 5ft 7in, the aura Gemma Chan exudes is that of ethereal grace. She is stunning; but just as her beauty begins to sink in, those eyes convey intelligence and wisdom. It’s no surprise that she has been a trailblazer in her own right for responsible representation of Asians in Hollywood.
Born in London to an engineer father from Hong Kong, and a mother from Mainland China, who later moved to Scotland, Gemma was raised in Sevenoaks, a town in Western Kent, England. As a child, she showed great promise in music and was classically trained in the violin and piano, attaining the Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music while still at school.
She went on to read law and study jurisprudence at Worcester College, Oxford, and upon graduating was given the opportunity to train at a law firm. At this point, Gemma decided to shift tracks and act on her passion for acting. Her concerned father tried to dissuade her from abandoning a promising legal career for the uncertainty of the acting profession, but she was firm; she told him: “Sometimes you have to risk failing, to have the chance of being part of a change.”
Gemma enrolled in the Drama Centre London. To fund her studies and drama school training, she took up several modelling assignments, appearing in campaigns for Nivea, Selfridges & Co. and magazines like ‘Elle’, ‘The Sunday Times Style’ and ‘Cosmopolitan’. At the showcase of drama school, she was spotted by a film producer and subsequently signed to an acting agent.
Her first television role was that of Mia Bennett on BBC’s ‘Doctor Who – The Waters of Mars’; following which she appeared in several television series like ‘Secret Diary of a Call Girl’, ‘Sherlock’, ‘Fresh Meat’ and ‘The IT Crowd’. She was cast in the lead role of Anita/Mia on AMC/Channel 4’s ‘Humans’, a performance for which she has been nominated for several awards.
In 2018, Gemma dazzled on the silver screen as Astrid Leong-Teo in the hit rom-com ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. In a film that was lauded worldwide for featuring a predominantly Asian cast, Gemma stood out as the impeccably stylish, riveting and strong Astrid, a Singaporean socialite, heiress and the lead Nicholas Young’s cousin. She is slated to reprise her role in the sequel.
While Gemma went on to play Minn-Erva in MCU’s ‘Captain Marvel’ and Bess of Hardwick in ‘Mary Queen of Scots’, her passion for Asian representation in film has only grown. After the success of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, she began prepping to set up her own production company that will help lift lesser represented communities. “I’m very interested in developing stories and producing things that are not necessary for me to act in. And it’s about finding those stories that haven’t been told that have been lost to history”, said Gemma, about wanting to create a steady flow of opportunities for actors of Asian ethnicity.
Throughout her career, Gemma has been involved in human rights activism, never shying away from an opportunity to speak out against injustice. With her star shining bright, one can only expect great things from her in the future!