Olivia Cheng is a Canadian actress, broadcast journalist, and former
correspondent for Entertainment Tonight Canada.Cheng was born in
Edmonton, Alberta to Cantonese-speaking immigrant parents,[1] who were
part of a co-founding group of Chinese parents that created the
Edmonton Mandarin Bilingual program within the city's public school
system. Her father worked in software and her mother was a health
aide.[1]Cheng enrolled in her first acting class at age six, and at
age 19 she booked her first commercial. She attended NAIT's Radio and
Television Arts program the following year. After finishing school,
she became a videographer for Global TV Lethbridge, before moving back
to Edmonton to work as a broadcast and print journalist. She went on
to freelance as a correspondent for ET Canada.AMC was launching its
original content division and came to Alberta with a Walter
Hill-helmed mini-series executive produced by Robert Duvall. They were
looking for five Chinese actresses, but were willing to look at
non-professionals as well. Duvall saw Cheng's audition and asked to
bring her back. She was then cast in Broken Trail, which was nominated
for 16 Primetime Emmy Awards and would go on to win four, including
the Emmy for Outstanding Mini Series.[2] Since then, Cheng has
appeared on Supernatural and Eureka, and the episode "The New World"
on the television show The 4400. Cheng appears as Linda Park in the TV
series Arrow. However, the character was recast with Malese Jow taking
the role in 2015. In 2007, Cheng played Iris Chang in Iris Chang: The
Rape of Nanking, based on Chang's best-selling 1997 book The Rape of
Nanking.[3]
correspondent for Entertainment Tonight Canada.Cheng was born in
Edmonton, Alberta to Cantonese-speaking immigrant parents,[1] who were
part of a co-founding group of Chinese parents that created the
Edmonton Mandarin Bilingual program within the city's public school
system. Her father worked in software and her mother was a health
aide.[1]Cheng enrolled in her first acting class at age six, and at
age 19 she booked her first commercial. She attended NAIT's Radio and
Television Arts program the following year. After finishing school,
she became a videographer for Global TV Lethbridge, before moving back
to Edmonton to work as a broadcast and print journalist. She went on
to freelance as a correspondent for ET Canada.AMC was launching its
original content division and came to Alberta with a Walter
Hill-helmed mini-series executive produced by Robert Duvall. They were
looking for five Chinese actresses, but were willing to look at
non-professionals as well. Duvall saw Cheng's audition and asked to
bring her back. She was then cast in Broken Trail, which was nominated
for 16 Primetime Emmy Awards and would go on to win four, including
the Emmy for Outstanding Mini Series.[2] Since then, Cheng has
appeared on Supernatural and Eureka, and the episode "The New World"
on the television show The 4400. Cheng appears as Linda Park in the TV
series Arrow. However, the character was recast with Malese Jow taking
the role in 2015. In 2007, Cheng played Iris Chang in Iris Chang: The
Rape of Nanking, based on Chang's best-selling 1997 book The Rape of
Nanking.[3]
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