Katie Liu Leung (born 8 August 1987) is an actress fae Scotland[1]. She's weel-kent fir playin Cho Chang, Harry Potter's first luve-interest in the Harry Potter pictur series. In 2012 she haed her stage debut as Jung Chang in the play Wild Swans. She's intae pentin an photographie, an did Airt an Design at the University o the Airts London.

Katie Leung
Katie Leung in 2020 at the German Comic Con Hame Edeetion
BornKatie Liu Leung
8 August 1987
Mitherwall, Scotland
NaitionalityScottish
ThriftActress
Years active2004-present
Kent forCho Chang in Harry Potter film series

Early Years

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Leung wis born in Mitherwall, Nor Lanrickshire. She wis at Hamilton College high schuil in Sooth Lanrickshire. Her fowks are fae Hong Kong but got divorced wen she wis 3. Her da stertit a business in Glesga an her maw wis a banker.

Career

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2005-2007: Harry Potter

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Leung's da seen an advert fir a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire casting caw, an telt her she should gie it a go. She thoucht she hud nae chance, but waitit 4 oor onywey. The audition wis anly 5 meenit lang. She wis cawed back fir a wirkshop 2 week efter, an they gied her the role o Cho Chang. 3000 ither lassies had tried oot fir the pert anaw. In a Daily Record interview later she telt thaim she thoucht she'd hud an advantage ower the ither lassies, coz the castin director hud asked "is onywan here fae Scotland?" (pit ower fae Inglis) an she wis the ainly wan tae pit up her haund. She said in 2011 that o the hale Harry Potter experience, her favrit pairt wis the furst audition, sin her fowks cam alang the gither despite bein separatit: "It wis a real braw maument sin ma fowks hudnae seen wan anither fir a lang, lang while" (pit ower fae Inglis).

Warner Bros sent her ower tae China tae heeze up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

She wis in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix an aw, an hud an onscreen kiss wi Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) that got a fair amoont ae press. She wis playin Harrys furst luve-interest. Maist fans were fine wi this, but some stertit an "A hate Katie" wabsteid an some fowk postit racist messages oan fan wabsteids that fair upset her at the time.

Leung's vyce wis uised in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix an the Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince gemmes.

2007-present

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In Julie 2007, Leung wis cast by Gold Label Records, a dochter firm o EMI fae Hong Kong, tae be the lead wummin in Leo Ku's "My Home, My Love" (Cheenese: 愛回家; Jyutping: "Oi3 Wui4 Gaa1"); literally "Luve, Retour Hame") muisic video. It wis filmed in London while Leung wis heezin up the new Harry Potter film. Ku said her actin wis "professional" an "mature".

Leung wis Hsui Tai in an episode o ITV1's Agatha Christie's Poirot cried "Cat Among the Pigeons," that hud its telly debut on ITV on 21 September 2008.

Leung wis gied the title o Scotlands maist stylie lassie, an the title o the brawist Scotswummin in 2007 fae The Scotsman. She's been writ aboot in Teen Vogue an Evening Standard an aw.

Efter the Harry Potter films, Leung wisnae shair gin she wantit tae stey in the actin business, but did a coorse in drama at the Royal Conservatoire o Scotland onywey an wis inspirt.

In December 2011 she wis gien the role o Jung Chang in Jung Chang's autobiographical play Wild Swans. It hud its warld premiere in Cambridge, Massachusetts in Februar 2012. Whan compairin pictur an live performances, she said: "The obvious challenge is o coorse daen it richt first go, an that wis unco excitin fir me" (pit ower fae Inglis).

It wis confirmt in Juin 2012 that Leung wis tae be in the Channel 4 fower-pairt drama series cried Run as main chairacter Ying. Ying wis an illegal ingang fae China that selt pirated DVDs an nicked mobiles in Brixton, London, in order tae gie hersel a life in England. Houiver, she hud tae pey back her dets tae the Snakehead gang that hud smuggled her intae the kintra.

In 2013, Leung wis in The World of Extreme Happiness in The Shed at the National Theatre. Her chairacter wis cried Sunny, an she played alangside Vera Chok wha wis the chairacter Xiao Li, a migrant wirker. The show wis aboot the warld o migrant wirkers thats formin in modren China.

Leung wis in the BBC's Father Brown crime drama series.

In Apryle 2014 it wis annunced that Leung wid be Mei, a Chinese wean wha wis adoptit by an American mither an a British faither, in the TV miniseries One Child. In it, her chairacter gets cawed back tae Guangzhou, whaur Mei wis born, whan her birth mither needs help tae save her son. The series wis co-produced by BBC Drama an Sundance TV fir BBC Two. Production stertit in Mey 2014 in London an Hong Kong, and the show cam oot in Februar 2016. Catherine Gee fae The Daily Telegraph said her performance wis "beautifully understated."

At the end o 2016, Leung wis in the Tony Kushner play The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capatalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (iHo) that wis at the Hampstead Theatre, London.

In 2017 Leung co-starred wi Jackie Chan an Pierce Brosnan in The Foreigner as Fan, Chan's chairacter's dochter.

Personal Life

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Leung pit off goin tae airt college an university tae film Harry Potter an the Order o the Phoenix. She later said she hudnae been shuir aboot steyin in actin efter Harry Potter, and wantit tae study airt an design.

In 2007 she gaed a haund tae the The Prince's Trust chairitie o Scotland tae raise £100,000 by lenchin a bairn's airt competeetion, an donatit wan o her ain pentins that selt fir £960.

Leung is intae photographie, an in 2009 she wis wan o twa celebrities wha gaed a photae tae Sightsavers International's I:Click 2009 competeetion. Sightsavers International is a chairitie that ettles tae help blind fowk in puir kintras.

Leung wis ettlin tae dae her photographie degree whan she wis in Wild Swans. Efter the play endit, she said she wid gang tae the Royal Conservatoire o Scotland, Glesga.

Leung haes fluent Cantonese an some Mandarin an aw.

She went tae the waddin o Afshan Azad, a Harry Potter castmate, in August 2018.

Filmographie

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Cho Chang Film
2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Cho Chang Film an video gemm
2009 Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince Cho Chang Film an video gemm
2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 Cho Chang Film
2017 T2 Trainspotting Nurse Film
2017 The Foreigner Fan Film

Telly

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Year Title Role Notes
2008 Agatha Christie's Poirot Hsui Tai Series 11, Episode 2: "Cat Among the Pigeons."
2013 Run Ying TV miniseries (4 Episodes)
2014 Father Brown Jia-Li Gerard TV production (Series 2, Episode 8: "The Prize of Colonel Gerard")
2014 One Child Mei Ashley TV miniseries (3 Episodes)
2018 Strangers Lau Chen TV series
2019 Chimerica Liuli TV miniseries (4 Episodes)
2019 Moominvalley Too-Ticky Animated series; Vyce
2020 The Nest Eleanor TV miniseries (5 Episodes)
2020 Roadkill Margaret Moore TV miniseries (3 Episodes)

Stage

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Wild Swans Jung Chang
2013 The World of Extreme Happiness Sunny National Theatre, London
2015 You For Me For You Junhee Royal Court Theatre: 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 Ti Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon
2019 White Pearl Sunny Royal Court Theatre, London

Awards

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  • Outstandin Newcomer Award, Asian Excellence Awards (Top 4)
  • Nominee fir Young Scots Award
  • Scotland's Maist Stylie Lassie
  • No. 80 in Cosmogirl's Hot 100 List
  • Nominee (alang wi Daniel Radcliffe) fir Best Kiss 2008 at the MTV Movie Awards US
  • BAFTA Breakthrough Brits 2014

References

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  1. "Katie Leung". AskMen. Archived frae the original on 21 Mairch 2016.