Celina Jade

Celina Jade
An interview with Lauren Engel for C-Heads Magazine. Photography by Lauren Engel
Born	Celina Horan (1985-06-10) June 10, 1985 Hong Kong
Occupation	Actress, singer, model
Years active	2008–present

Celina Horan (born June 10, 1985), professionally known as Celina Jade, is a Chinese American actress, model, singer/songwriter and martial artist most known for her work as Shado in the CW series “Arrow”.^[1][2]

Personal life

Jade was born in Hong Kong to American Kung Fu star Roy Horan and Chinese mother Christina Hui.^[1][2] She was educated in a local Chinese school from kindergarten till high school and is fluent in written & spoken Cantonese, Mandarin & English. She learned archery, shooting & Tae Kwan Do from her father growing up. At 14, she left Hong Kong for New Jersey^[3] but returned shortly after to her hometown where she switched from a local Chinese school to Island School (English Schools Foundation). It was her education at Island School that helped pave her way to London where she later attended university at the London School of Economics. She graduated top of her class with First Class Honours in BSc Management.^[4][5] Outside of being an actress, Jade is a vegetarian, a daily meditator & a healthy eating advocate for battling climate change. Inspired by a serious burn accident in 2012,^[6] Jade began her journey as a vegetarian and in 2016, worked hand-in-hand with her fiancé Christian Gerard Mongendre in opening a 2 floor plant-based restaurant in Hong Kong called HOME - Eat to Live under ZS Hospitality Group to promote sustainable living & healthier lifestyles.^[7]

Acting career

Jade's acting career started in Hong Kong & China in 2007. She was cast as the leading lady in her first film, Legendary Assassin alongside Wu Jing. She also starred in Chinese Films Love Connected, and All's Well Ends Well; appearing on TV shows like Dolce Vita, Jade Solid Gold; with regular appearances across TV channels in China including TVB, CCTV and Hunan TV. In 2012, she landed her first role in a US film by Universal Pictures, The Man with the Iron Fists, as directed by the RZA starring Russell Crowe & Lucy Liu. During the same year, she lent her voice as the character, Not Ping, in the Square Enix game Sleeping Dogs. She also began filming her first web series, Wish Upon a Star, as lead actress alongside Asian actor Peter Ho. Later in 2012, Jade was cast to play the recurring role of Shado (Oliver Queen's martial arts teacher & girlfriend) in The CW series Arrow,^[8][9] a TV Show based on the DC Comics Green Arrow. She appeared in eighteen episodes over the first two seasons, before reappearing as Shado's twin sister Mei for two episodes of season three and 1 episode in season 4. In 2015, Jade starred opposite Asian action star Tony Jaa, Dolph Lundgren and Ron Perlman in “Skin Trade” as the leading lady. Shortly after, she was cast to play the character April in Indie film "April Flowers".^[10] In 2016, Jade rejoins Wu Jing to play the lead actress in the sequel of Chinese Franchise Wolf Warrior alongside China's Zhang Han & Frank Grillo (Captain America). Distributors have guaranteed a minimum box office of $120 million (RMB800 million) from mainland Chinese theaters, when it releases in August next year.^[11]

Singing career

At age 14, Jade won an Asia-wide singing competition, which led to a record deal with Japanese producer, Tetsuya Komuro. Together, they released two EPs, Good News Bad News and 'Kwong Ying Zi Gan'. In July, 2000, she performed alongside Namie Amuro in front of President Bill Clinton & other world leaders at the G8 Summit in Okinawa, Japan. At age 15, she had her first No. 1 hit with the song, "Kwong Ying Zi Gan" in Taiwan. She has since then been featured in multiple ad campaigns for Marks & Spencers, Cathay Pacific, Motorola and Ponds globally.^[4]

Jade signed with music mogul Paco Wong under Gold Typhoon (EMI) in 2007. She also sang the theme song for Legendary Assassin, "Ceng Jing Xin Teng", which was performed live on TV and radio stations across China. In 2009, she left GoldTyphoon (EMI) and signed with Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group (the force behind Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Dido). In 2011, Jade wrote & sang the Mandarin single "Xun Zhao (The Find)" for the web series Wish Upon A Star & sang the theme song "Shi Zhong" with The Wheels. In late 2012, Jade independently released her first self-written album across the internet, Celina.^[12] In 2013, Jade was cast as the leading lady in the musical Good Morning Hong Kong which played at the Lyric Theatre in the Academy of Performing Arts.^[13] In 2014, Jade recorded a duet "迷彩 Fighting For" which hit No.1 on the TVB8 Chart and won the TVB8 Best Song Awards. The "Fighting For" Music Movie was selected by the Hanoi International Film Festival 2014 to premiere in Asia, and was the only Hong Kong short film to be in competition with 30 other shorts.

Charity Work

In 2014 & 2015, Jade supports Maggie's Cancer Caring Center in Hong Kong and offers her singing performances to raise money at the Fayre of St John's yearly event.^[14] Other charities & causes supported by Jade throughout the years include Filmaid ^[15] using the power of film and media to transcend language and literacy, Room To Read^[16] focusing on girls' education and children's literacy in Asia and Africa, Bloomberg Charity Day,^[17] the Elephant Society ^[18] working to stop the illegal trade in wildlife and animal parts, Foodlink Hong Kong^[19] mitigating hunger, fighting poverty and fostering nutritional wellness in HK, AMFAR^[20] supporting HIV/AIDS research, Asia Society^[21] forging closer ties between Asia and the West through arts, education, policy and business outreach.

Filmography

Celina Jade on set of Wolf Warrior 2 with Wu Jing

References

External links

• Official website
• Celina Jade at the Internet Movie Database