Biography
Date of Birth
8 December 1987, Motherwell, Scotland, UK
Height
5' 4½" (1.64 m)
Mini Biography
Katie Leung began her career when she was cast as Cho Chang in the Warner Brothers feature film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a role she subsequently reprised for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Parts I & II). Alongside her acting career, Katie has trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She made her professional theatre debut in the role of Er-Hong in Sacha Wares' production of Wild Swans which premiered in Boston before transferring to the Young Vic Theatre London in April 2012. She subsequently performed at the National Theatre as the lead role of Sunny in Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's play The World of Extreme Happiness. Katie has recently appeared at the Royal Court Theatre as the lead role in Mia Chung's play You For Me For You and in Tony Kushner's play The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures at the Hampstead Theatre, directed by Michael Boyd. Most recently she led the cast of Snow in Midsummer at the Royal Shakespeare Company. In October 2014, Katie was announced as one of BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits, a scheme established in 2013 to recognise and support young emerging British talent. On television she has starred as one of the series leads in Run, Channel 4's acclaimed drama following the lives of four people in South London. Her further television credits include ITV1's Poirot and BBC's Father Brown. Katie also starred as the central lead role of Mei in One Child, written by Guy Hibbert and directed by John Alexander, which broadcast on BBC2 in February 2016. She was recently seen in Martin Campbell's feature The Foreigner, alongside Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan and is currently filming the new ITV series White Dragon (2018) as one of the lead characters, Lau Chen.
Trivia
Beat out over 3,000 girls to make her debut as "Cho Chang" in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).
Parents are Kar Wai Li & Peter Leung (divorced)
Attended Hamilton College, a prestigious private school in Hamilton, Scotland. Since finishing school in May 2005, Katie wants to either study art at university or embark on an acting career.
Author J.K. Rowling insisted that the actress to play "Cho" had to be a complete unknown.
According to her father, she had never been in a school play and went for the audition "on a whim"..
Can speak Cantonese and some Mandarin.
Has two brothers (one named Jonathan) and a younger sister (Violet)
Values her brother, Jonathan's, opinions most
Her favorite Chinese actors are Aaron Kwok and Stephen Chow.
Favorite actor is Joaquin Phoenix.
Hong Kong - promoting Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). [November 2005]
Finland - promoting Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). [July 2007]
Her favourite British comedies include Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007). Her favourite film director is Edgar Wright and her favourite British comedians are Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Sacha Baron Cohen.
She can speak fluent English and Cantonese and a little bit of Mandarin.
Trademarks:
Scottish accent
Quotes
[on acting] "I wouldn't want to be in a film because I'm Asian. I want to get respect as an actress."
[on hate sites regarding her and her role in Harry Potter] "This kind of stuff is inevitable because Dan has so many female fans - millions of them - so I'm nor surprised some of them don't like me. But I don't think it's all based on jealousy. I'm not going to satisfy everyone's preconceptions of Cho."
[on playing Cho] "If this turns out to be my only film then I think it would be pretty cool to be known as Harry Potter's first crush."
I always had a problem with shyness at school and would never stick my hand up in class if I was stuck at something. I didn't want to be the center of attention, all those eyes looking at me would have made me really nervous. I guess some actresses use that adrenalin to push themselves.
