Top Talents showcases wide breath of Taiwanese acting talent

Taipei Film Festival has launched Top Talents to showcase Taiwanese actors on the international stage, in collaboration with Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA).

The first batch of nine established and rising names include Chen Yi-Wen, Esther Liu and Gingle Wang, and will be promoted by TAICCA at international film festivals and markets, starting with the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) in Busan and Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) in Singapore.

The participants were selected from a longlist of more than 100 award-winning actors who have been recognised at Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Horse Awards, Golden Bell Awards or Taipei Film Awards.

Taipei Film Festival director Li Ya-Mei, who is on the Top Talents selection committee, says that while the industry has focused on pitching, production and international distribution, it seems to have forgotten that actors are the best chance to attract attention.

“Audiences love watching Japanese and Korean productions, but didn’t most of them start with being attracted to the stars?” she says. “In the heydays of our film and TV industries, we exported so many productions to the world thanks to those big stars.”

To beef up their international portfolio, top Taiwanese photo­graphers, stylists and production teams have produced professional portraits and English-language promotional videos for the nine talents (click here to watch the videos).

Several of the Top Talents plan to attend Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), including Hsu Wei-Ning, Kai Ko, Esther Liu and Hsueh Shih-Ling (the latter’s performance in Taiwan Crime Stories is nominated for best supporting actor at the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards).

Chen was discovered aged 17 and landed a breakout role in 2002’s Blue Gate Crossing. He has since built a career that has taken him across Asia. His most recent works include ecology-themed reality show Extreme Forest and series Small & Mighty, both on Disney+, and feature film Treat Or Trick, on which he also served as music composer.

Back in 2015, Chen set up film company Wudi Pictures. “I have plans to go behind the scenes as a producer and expand to mixed-media product design and artwork,” he says. Chen will next star in anticipated ghost comedy Dead Talents Society, co-produced by Sony Pictures International Productions and Activator.

Seasoned actor Chen has shown his range over the years but it was his performance as a traditional family man in Chung Mong-Hong’s Oscar-shortlisted A Sun that secured him best actor at the 2019 Golden Horse Awards.

“I’ve worked with Chung several times, with him as director or producer,” says Chen, who recently shot Chung’s latest Ember alongside fellow Top Talent Hsu Wei-Ning. “After receiving a script, I will take on the role completely and focus on bringing the character to life.”

Chen started as a scriptwriter, AD and sometimes actor for director Edward Yang on films including A Brighter Summer Day and A Confucian Confusion. Chen’s directing credits include Jam (1998) and The Cabbie (2000).

US-born Fang was just 14-years-old when she was cast in American Girl as a teenager who grew up in Los Angeles and feels out of place after moving to Taiwan. Her nuanced performance won the best new performer prizes at the Golden Horse Awards 2021 and the Taipei Film Awards 2022.

Fang’s second film The Post-Truth World earned her a best supporting actress nomination at the Golden Horse Awards last year. Her latest works include drama series Cry Me Through Hell and Not A Murder Story. “I want to continue taking on many different roles to broaden my experience,” she says. “I plan to continue acting even in college and as I grow older.”

Hsu has cemented herself as a leading actress with performances in Netflix’s 2020 series The Victims’ Game, which has secured a second season, and 2021’s megahit film Man In Love, which saw her play opposite Roy Chiu, who became her real-life husband.

Hsu began her career as a model before moving into acting, and since the mid-2000s has appeared in dramas including The Way We Were and Wake Up. In 2016 she was named best actress at the Taipei Film Awards, which recognised her performances in three productions: The Tag-Along, White Lies, Black Lies and short film End Of A Century: Miea’s Story.

Next up is Mag Hsu’s Imperfect Us. “We are fortunate to have plenty of time to prepare,” the actress says of the series. “The director had many table-read sessions, individually and collectively, allowing us to feel the characters.”

Hsueh was known as MC40 from award-winning hip-hop band Da Mouth before embarking on a career in acting. At the Golden Bell Awards in 2021 he took both best actor in a TV series for Born Into Loving Hands and best supporting actor in a miniseries/TV film for HBO Asia’s Workers. He is a best supporting actor nominee for Taiwan Crime Stories at this year’s Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards in Busan.

Hsueh has also moved to the big screen with Workers The Movie and Eye Of The Storm, both released this year, and will next take the lead in Malice, a Taiwan-Indonesia-Czech Republic co-production. “From Taiwan to beyond, I look forward to collaborating with international partners and letting sparks fly when telling unique stories,” the actor says.

Ko became a household name with Giddens Ko’s 2011 pan-Asian hit You Are The Apple Of My Eye, for which he was named best new performer at the Golden Horse Awards. Other notable performances include The Road To Mandalay and Moneyboys, which premiered at Venice and Cannes respectively, and 2021’s Till We Meet Again, winning the best actor prize at the 2022 Taipei Film Awards.

Ko has made the jump to drama series, headlining the upcoming Let’s Talk About Chu and Net­flix’s Agent From Above, and moved behind the camera for his feature directing debut Bad Education, which snagged prizes at both Osaka Asian Film Festival and Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Good scripts are hard to come by,” he says. “I will still act if there’s a good script and I’ll direct if I want to tell a story myself.”

Rising star Liu takes the title role in Salli, which world premieres at Busan. On playing a chicken farmer in the film, she says: “I spent a lot of time observing the chickens’ unusual habits. I get along well with animals.”

Liu debuted as a singer in duo Sweety before turning to acting and hosting TV programmes. She has embraced challenging roles, handling the violent and passionate scenes that were part of 2020’s The Painting Of Evil, and played a bar hostess in Netflix series Light The Night and the upcoming film version Light The Night Before Sunset. In 2013 Liu won the Golden Bell award for best supporting actress in a TV series for Falling.

Tseng was the face of numerous TV commercials before winning best new talent at 2009’s Taipei Film Awards for Chung Mong-hong’s Parking, which premiered in Cannes 2008’s Un Certain Regard. In 2019 she was nominated for best actress in a TV series at the Golden Bell Awards for Net­flix’s A Taiwanese Tale Of Two Cities.

This year Tseng has appeared in a variety of titles, from features Workers The Movie, Big and The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon to series Best Interest (seasons two and three) and Not A Murder Story.

“I love surprises and challenges,” she says. “I always welcome unexpected roles, which will open up my imagination.”

Wang is one of Taiwan’s most recognisable stars, gaining popularity through 2019’s horror hit Detention, for which she was named best actress at the Taipei Film Awards. That momentum has grown through high-profile roles in Chung Mong-Hong’s The Falls, Giddens Ko’s Till We Meet Again and Netflix’s More Than Blue: The Series.

Wang’s star continues to rise with supernatural megahit Marry My Dead Body, Net­flix’s Wave Makers and The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon. Scheduled for 2024, Dead Talents Society reunites her with Detention director John Hsu. “I can’t talk about it yet, but it’s such a unique character with a very unusual look,” she teases.