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Who is Katie Leung?
British actress of Chinese descent Katie Leung was born in Dundee, Scotland on 8 August 1987, making Leo her zodiac sign. She’s appeared in ,29 movies and TV series, and is perhaps still known best for portraying Cho Chang in her debut film role, in the 2005 adventure family fantasy movie “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”, which starred Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, and was directed by Mike Newell. It follows Harry Potter who’s about to compete in a tournament between three schools of magic; the movie won 13 of its 57 award nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Art Direction.
She reprised her role in three sequels: the 2007 “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, the 2009 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, and the 2010 “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”.
Education and early life
Katie was raised in Dundee alongside her sister Nichole and brothers Jonathan and Darren, by their father Peter Leung who was a Hong Kong restaurateur and businessman, and mother Kar Wai Li who was a banker; Peter and Kar divorced when Katie was three, and she stayed with her mother in Scotland as her father moved back to Hong Kong.
Katie studied at the private Christian high school Hamilton College, and it was during her four years there that she became interested in acting, as well as in dancing and singing.
She matriculated in 2005, and in the following year enrolled at Edinburgh College of Art, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in photography in 2010; Katie then also attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in acting in 2014.
Roles in TV series
Katie’s debut TV series role was playing Hsui Tai in the 2008 episode “Cat Among the Pigeons” of the hit crime mystery “Poirot”, which starred Hugh Fraser and David Suchet, and follows the work of famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot; the series aired from 1989 through 2013 and won six of its 23 award nominations.
The year 2013 saw Katie play Ying in two episodes of the crime mini-series “Run”, and the following year saw her play Jia-Li Gerard in the episode “The Prize of Colonel Gerard” of the crime mystery “Father Brown” and Mei Ashley in three episodes of the drama mini-series “One Child”. In 2018, she played Lau Chen in all eight episodes of the popular crime thriller “White Dragon”, which starred Anthony Chau-Sang Wong and John Simm, and follows professor Jonah Mulray whose wife’s just been killed in a car crash; the series was nominated for a 2019 Australian Production Design Guild Award for Best Design for a Short Film or Music Clip.
Some of Katie’s following roles were in the 2019 drama “Chimerica”, the 2019 animated family drama “Moominvalley” (voice role) and the 2020 thriller mini-series “The Nest”.
Also in 2020, she starred as Margaret Moore in three episodes of the thriller mini-series “Roadkill”, co-starring Helen McCrory and Hugh Laurie, following the life of politician Peter Laurence; the mini-series won one of its two award nominations.
Some of Katie’s most recent TV series roles have been in six episodes of the 2021 crime mystery “Annika”, eight episodes of the 2022 science fiction mystery “The Peripheral”, and four episodes of the 2023 crime thriller “Chemistry of Death”.
Roles in movies
In 2017, Katie played Nurse in the popular crime comedy “T2 Trainspotting”, which is the sequel to the evergreen 1996 movie “Trainspotting”, and the same year saw her portray the lead character Fan in the popular action thriller “The Foreigner”, which also starred Jackie Chan and Rufus Jones, and was directed by Martin Campbell. It follows a businessman whose daughter’s been killed by a terrorist – the film was nominated for only a single award.
In 2018 Katie was cast to appear in the short comedy “Leading Lady Parts”, the short fantasy “The Feast”, and then the 2020 short animated drama “The Promise” (voice role).
Her only other film role has been playing Natasha in the 2021 romantic crime comedy “Locked Down”, which starred Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and was directed by Doug Liman; it follows a couple as they’re planning to rob a jewelry store.
Other credits
Katie made a guest appearance in the talk-show “HBO First Look” in 2007, and the talk-show “Lorraine” in 2018.
Some of her appearances in TV specials have been in the 2012 “Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 8: Growing Up”, the 2015 “The British Academy Scotland Awards”, and the 2022 “Harry Potter: Clothes Make the Wizard”.
Awards and nominations
Katie was nominated for a 2008 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, for her and Daniel Radcliffe’s kiss in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”.
Love life and relationships
There are two men whom Katie’s been with, that we know about. Back in 2008, she spent a couple of months dating Hong Kong singer Leo Ku.
For more than a decade now, she’s been in a relationship with American businessman of Chinese descent Eric Caira. It’s been reported that the two met on the internet while playing the video game “Call of Duty”, and that they chatted for over three months prior to going out on their first date. Katie revealed on 1 January 2023 that she’d given birth to her and Eric’s son Wolf on 31 October 2022.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Katie’s a huge lover of animals, which is perhaps why she’s vegetarian; she’s featured her pet dog in some of her Instagram pictures.
She’s fluent in basic Mandarin and Cantonese.
Katie attended the wedding of Afshan Noor Azad-Kazi on 19 August 2018; the two met on the set of the movie “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”.
More than 3,000 girls had applied for the role of Cho Chang in the film franchise “Harry Potter”.
Joaquin Phoenix is her favorite actor, while some of Katie’s favorite movies include “Walk the Line”, “Two Lovers” and “Gladiator”; her favorite British comedians are Sacha Baron Cohen and Nick Frost, and her favorite director Edgar Wright.
Katie’s physically quite active and does yoga nearly every day.
Over 360,000 people are following her on Instagram today, and she’s posted more than 450 pictures and videos, most of which are about the movies and TV series in which she’s appeared.
Appearance and wealth
Katie’s age is 35. She has black hair and brown eyes, is 5ft 4ins (1.64m) tall and weighs around 115lbs (53kgs).
Katie’s net worth’s been estimated at over $5 million, as of July 2023.
