Chung Hsin-ling

Chung was born on 12 August 1972.^[1] Her father is a bank manager and her mother is a housewife,^[2] and she grew up with two older brothers.^[3] She became obese in second grade and remained the heaviest in high school.^[2] During a school Christmas talent show, she was selected to perform in A Christmas Carol, where a teacher recognized her acting potential and encouraged her to study acting.^[2] Following this advice, she applied to the National Institute of Arts (now Taipei National University of Arts) and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in drama, specializing in stage performance.^[2][4] However, she did not pursue acting after graduation due to concerns about her appearance and a reluctance to be typecast as a supporting actress, so she chose to work as an executive producer for five years.^[2]

Chung began her acting career in 1999 at the age of 27, after discovering her passion on a trip to Canada, starting on stage with minor non-speaking roles.^[2][4] She subsequently joined the Pingfong Acting Troupe [zh] at the invitation of Hugh Lee and began hosting children's programs, including Dr. Cool with Timothy Chao [zh] in 2001, which earned her the award for Best Host in a Children and Youth Show in the 36th Golden Bell Awards.^[5] She was nominated for the same award twice more in the 37th and 38th Golden Bell Awards for hosting Magazine Teenager and The Hokkien Quacks.^[6][7]

Chung landed her first main onscreen role as Mei Mei in the 2003 romance series Love Wasabi, earning a nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film in the 38th Golden Bell Awards.^[8] She appeared in minor roles in the 2005 television series The Prince Who Turns into a Frog and Wayward Kenting, and began to gain public recognition for her supporting roles in the 2008 romance series Fated to Love You and Invincible Shan Bao Mei.^[8][9] From 2010 to 2011, she starred in supporting roles in the television series Strands of Love [zh], Ring Ring Bell [zh], and Love You.^[10][11][9]

Chung landed her breakout role as Chen Yu-hsia in the 2014 period drama Sun After The Rain [zh],^[8] for which she won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series in the 49th Golden Bell Awards.^[12] She then took on a main role in the 2015 romance series Leo [zh] and appeared in the films Gatao [zh] and Our Times the same year.^[13][14] In 2017, she received another main role in the drama series She's Family [zh] and portrayed Kuo Yen's mother in the 2018 anthology drama series On Children, earning her Best Leading Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film in the 54th Golden Bell Awards.^[15] Originally cast in a lead role in the 2018 drama film Dear Ex, she passed the role to fellow actress Yang Li-yin, who was facing financial difficulties at the time, and instead made a voice cameo.^[16] She also hosted the children's variety program Mobilize [zh] and was nominated for Best Host in a Children and Youth Show twice in the 55th and 56th Golden Bell Awards.^[17][18]

Starting in 2020, Chung secured a main role as Su Lin Cai-hsiang in the drama series U Motherbaker [zh],^[9] for which she won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series again in the 56th Golden Bell Awards.^[19] She later reprised her role in the spin-off film U Motherbaker - The Movie in 2023 and the sequel series in 2024.^[20][21] She also starred in the 2021 romance film Man in Love,^[22] for which she received nominations for Best Supporting Actress in the 23rd Taipei Film Awards and Best Supporting Actress in the 58th Golden Horse Awards.^[23][24] Chung is set to appear in a main role in the 2024 Netflix drama series Born for the Spotlight.^[25]

Chung is married to Peking opera actor Chen Ching-ho on 21 December 2010.^[26][27] They have two daughters.^[28]