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Biography
Choi was born in Vancouver, Canada. She moved with her family to Hong Kong a few years later. She is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin. Charlene Choi was educated at a number of institutions. After graduating from Rosaryhill School, where many other pop stars had attended, she started working full-time as a model in Hong Kong. She was scouted by Emperor Entertainment Group, and was then linked with Gillian Chung to form the C-pop duo Twins.

Career
Solo acting career
Aside from her musical career, Choi has become a successful actress in the Hong Kong film industry, co-starred alongside famous names such as Andy Lau, Eason Chan, Jay Chou, Mike He, Wu Chun and Nicholas Tse. She wrote an article describing her acting career:

“Earlier before, I have shared with everyone some of my acting experiences. This time, I want to talk about movies. As an artist, whenever I’m working, I have to show the best side and give the best performance to everyone. I have to show the most fit side of me and hence, I’m often in “battling mood”. When free, I like to watch slow-pace movies. The too exciting movies I can’t stand. I’m the type who can be easily thrown into the world of the movie. Those type of fast-pace movies will end up making me tense and nervous so comedy, romance or humanity issue discussion movies are all more suitable for me.”

Choi’s first acting gig was a starring role in the 2000 TV Series Youth Y2K. Then, Choi made her first film debut in 2001 in the affecting and emotional film Funeral March (filmed prior to Twins’ debut) which drew rave reviews from critics and earned Choi a Best New Artist nomination at the 21st Annual Hong Kong Film Awards. Choi’s next big acting break was in 2003 with her earnest and pretence-free portrayal of a young girl who battles through all odds in hopes of becoming a singer in the hit movie Diva – Ah Hey.

Since then, Choi has taken Jim Chim Sui-Man as a mentor, and has been in the comedic movie Simply Actors as a kind and comedic porn star. Her breakthrough role in the psychological thriller movie Diary, by the Pang Brothers has earned her many movie award nominations and she received the Best Actress award at the 11th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PIFAN Korean Movie Award).

Choi’s solid acting has been once again duly identified by an abundance of film critics with her portrayl of Dani Dan in the box-office hit Simply Actors. Only months later, she left the 2007 Golden Bauhinia Film Awards hand in hand with the awards for Best Actress and Favorite Actress for her portrayal of Dani Dan in Simply Actors. Choi also appeared alongside the young Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou in the much anticipated movie Kung Fu Dunk.

She has appeared in the highly anticipated movie “The Butterfly Lovers”, based on a popular Chinese tale. Appearing alongside Wu Chun and Hu Ge, “The Butterfly Lovers” hit theatres October 9, 2008. Throughout the filming of the movie, rumors of an off-set romance between Charlene Choi and Wu Chun (the leading actress and actor) developed. Though they have denied such rumors, Wu Chun has stated that the pair has reached an agreement with Jingle Ma (“The Butterfly Lovers” director) to collaborate once again in the future.

In December 2008, she began filming her first Taiwanese series, Calling Big Star (Hu Jaio Da Ming Xing), produced by popular producer Angie Chai and directed by Director Lin. She will appear alongside Taiwan heartthrob Mike He. It is reported to begin airing April 2010.

Finally in December 2009 after over 1 year of post-production, positive response at the Shanghai International Film Festival, The Storm Warriors was released with Choi taking on the main female lead role as Second Dream and starring alongside actors Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng, Simon Yam and Nicholas Tse. Though it was only released on December 10, 2009, The Storm Warriors was listed as #5 in the list of Top 10 HK Movies based on Box Office results.

Solo singing career
Choi’s first solo song was released in Twins’ 2003 Touch of Love album, entitled Next Station Tin Hau which received a nomination for Best Song at the 23rd Annual Hong Kong Film Awards and won Top 10 Songs at the Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony. Choi’s second solo song was released in Twins’ 2006 Mandarin album Around the World with 80 Dollars, entitled Watching Movie Alone. Choi’s third solo song was released in Twins’ 2006 Cantonese album Ho Hoo Tan, entitled You are Not a Good Lover. This served to be Choi’s first recorded personal composition and Twins’ recorded version won Hit Song at the Metro Showbiz Hit Awards and Top 10 Songs at the Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony.

Choi’s remaining 2 solo songs prior to Gillian Chung’s photo scandal that placed Twins on hiatus were released in Twins’ 2008 Mandarin album Tong Hua Yan Yu and were respectively entitled Little Sister and 60 Percent. Both solo songs were extremely personal, in particular Little Sister which recounts Choi’s relationship with her mother throughout the years despite her parents’ divorce at a younge age and won Choi several music awards at the Metro Showbiz Hit Awards TVB8 Music Awards.

Choi’s first solo single was released in 2008 with the award-winning Make a Wish which sold 5000 copies within a span of 30 minutes with all proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation. Meanwhile, her two hit songs, “Little Sister” and “Make a Wish” topped #1 in music charts and remained in the top 10 for 4 music charts over 11 weeks. With Twins placed on hiatus, Choi went on to be awarded with a variety of solo singer awards in 2008: Favorite Idol and Most Voted Singer at the [[Metro Showbiz Hit Awards, Most Popular Female Singer at the Vanguard Music Awards and Most Popular HK Female Artist at the Sprite Music Awards.

Towards the end of 2008, Choi further expanded her career, entering new fields of the entertainment industry. As an entertainer, not only is she an actress and singer, but she is now a theater star. In the musical, Knight Star, she stars as the female lead Rose. Acting as her lover, she has finally reunited with Jimmy Lin after 7 years. Lin first collaborated with Choi in her first series The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra when she first entered the industry. Other stars in the musical include Julian Cheung, and Alice Liu. The musical served as a promotional event for the Chivas company to expand in China with their “Live with Chivalry” campaign.

Choi’s first musical collaboration as a solo singer with another artist was in the form of the hit duet Little Dimples with JJ Lin released in late September 2008. The fresh and sweet collaboration between the two talented singers were given an excellent reception with Little Dimples receiving 6 awards in a matter of the 3 remaining months of 2008.

Charlene Choi released her debut solo album Two Without One on April 9, 2009. In less than one week, the album sold an astounding 10 000 copies in Hong Kong and the album has been certified “Gold” in the Hong Kong region. In less than a month, the album sold a total of 30 000 copies in Hong Kong and the album has been certified “Platinum” in the Hong Kong region. Due to the high sales and popular demand, a second version of the album is slated to be released on May 6 as a limited edition with 5 000 copies available.

Following the success of Two Without One, Choi released her next EP entitled Another Me on October 15, 2009. Consisting of 5 tracks and 3 music videos, the overall theme of the EP is an evolving process as an individual: being a survivor and rising above an unfaithful partner (Track 1: Survivor – composed by Adrian Chow), coming to the realisation that parting from a relationship, you can only let someone go if you truly loved them (Track 2: Able to Let Go – Choi’s self composition), moving on from the past and wishing an old lover happiness regardless of previous unhappy circumstances (Track 3: Waiting for One Embrace), achieving happiness and peace with oneself and others (Track 4: Blissful Air – Written for Choi by Eric Kwok) and surrounding oneself with friends, family and loved ones (Track 5: Classmates – Composed for Choi by RubberBand). The release of Another Me marked new territory for Choi with a black-and-white cover and a largescale photo exhibition open to the public. Similarly to Two Without One, Another Me has been certified “Platinum,” selling 30 000 copies in the Hong Kong region in addition to high sales in other areas of Asia and oversees. 3 additional versions were issued: Special Version (including a 2GB USB flash drive with 10 wallpapers and lyrics), Deluxe Version (with a 64-page photo album – limited to 1 500 copies), Limited Edition (in parter with Towngas, includes collectible bracelet or accessory).

Marriage
Charlene Choi began dating Hong Kong singer Ronald Cheng in 2004, after both of them starred as lovers in the film Hidden Heroes. They never formally admitted that they were dating nor did they ever denied it. In March 2010, at a press conference for her movie, Choi announced that she and Cheng had broken up. A few days after that, the press revealed that Choi and Cheng had actually gotten secretly married in Los Angeles, United States in 2006. They kept their marriage as a secret for four years. The report was in March of 2010, a friend of Charlene’s betrayed her by notifying the media about the marriage certificate. Charlene said through this incident she now knows who her true friends are, and she clarified for both Ronald and her that they never meant their private life to be a public matter but because of all the speculations and rumors, they came forth to stop further rumors. In May 2010 the divorce was officially finalized. Enjoying her single life, Charlene said she will leave future love to fate.

Charity
As a donor to the Make a Wish Foundation since 2001 and a Make a Wish ambassador in 2008, Choi released the hit single and award-winning Make a Wish which sold 5000 copies within a span of 30 minutes with all proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation, in addition to selling clothing from her own “SAL” clothing line to fans to raise more money for the Make a Wish Foundation.

She wrote an autobiographical book about her teenage years as a child of divorced parents. Although Choi remains close with both her parents, she lived with her father following her parents’ divorce. However, following her decision to become an actress/singer, the time she spent at home and with her parents rapidly diminished. As a result, the means of communicating with her father became all the more special. In her book Single Family’s Love, many little notes exchanged between her and her father over the years can be seen. Through the autobiography, readers are encouraged to find happiness in single parent families. The money raised from the 5000 Limited 1st Edition copies sold were all donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. Choi thanked her friends and fans for the good sales of her autobiography. Entertainment friends such as Jay Chou (who wrote her book’s introduction), bandmate Gillian Chung (who also put her thoughts into Choi’s introduction), Niki Chow, Mani, and Wu Chun were big supporters as well, buying copies for friends and family. As of now, a new edition of her book is being printed and it will be distributed overseas.

Choi in the beginning of February 2009, became ambassador for the 30 Hours Famine charity. She went to Nepal for a week to help local children’s and family out. She helped bring supplies to schools and local peoples taught Choi the local gardening techniques. In April 2009, Choi performed at the 30-Hour Famine Concert, opening the concert and performing an assortment of new Chinese and English songs, as well as old Twins songs for nearly an hour.

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