Taiwanese-American actress (b. 1979)
Camille Chen (born September 1, 1979) is a Taiwanese-born American actress.
Early life, education, and career
Born in Taiwan but raised in the U.S.,[2] Chen attended the University of Texas at Austin and then began her career in show business, doing voiceover work for the English version of anime television series such as Lost Universe and the Devil.
Chen's first feature film roles were uncredited appearances as Miss New Hampshire in the 2000 film, Miss Congeniality, and as a cheerleader in the 2002 film, The New Guy.
Later career
From 2006 to 2007, Chen had a regular recurring role as Samantha Li on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.[3] She guest-starred on the 2009 episode of Law & Order, "Just a Girl in the World" as Emma Kim, first thought to be the target of a serial killer, but later discovered to be the murderer herself.[4] On stage, Chen portrayed "Christmas Eve" in a 2012 Los Angeles production of Avenue Q.[5]
In 2016, Chen starred in Poor Todd, an independent pilot selected by the New York Television Festival for its Independent Pilot Competition.[6] In 2017, she had a prominent guest-starring role in an episode of the TV series Teachers, playing Mrs. Chan, "a priggish mother of two and president of the parent group Two Million Moms".[7]
In a 2017 interview by The Guardian, she addressed barriers facing Asian actors:
Camille Chen... said she had been getting auditions for a wide range of parts and that her ethnicity had become an advantage as more industry leaders recognized the importance of diversity.
But despite the significant progress – when she started her career 13 years ago, she felt she had no choice but to go up for the masseuses and prostitutes – Chen acknowledged that she never got to audition for principal characters in films. "I wish they would open their minds to having Asian Americans lead."[8][9]
Chen's performance as a "tactless doctor"[10] in a bit part in the 2018 film Game Night was reviewed in The Village Voice as "a deadpan gift",[11] in a scene described by The Hollywood Reporter as "one of Game Night's funnier scenes",[10] and by The New Yorker as making "memorable impressions".[12] Also in 2018, she guest-starred in multiple episodes of Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. as robbery-homicide department secretary Grace Kim.[13] She had a starring role in the independent pilot "I Was a Teenage Pillow Queen", premiered in September 2018 at the Tribeca TV Festival,[14] and in November 2018, she guest-starred in two episodes of Single Parents.[15] In January 2019, Chen guest-starred on an episode of God Friended Me.[16]
She has also appeared in about two dozen advertising campaigns, including some prominent commercial roles.[17]
In 2020, Chen appeared as a guest on the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip marathon fundraiser episode of The George Lucas Talk Show.[18][better source needed] In 2021, she guest starred on the series finale of Rebel.[19] In 2023, she appeared in the film, Renfield, as the FBI agent sister of Awkwafina's New Orleans police officer.[20]
