Karena Lam Kar-yan
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Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
Karena was working at her Vancouver family restaurant when she was discovered by a talent scout from Taiwan in 1993, at age fifteen. The scout persuaded her to fly to Taiwan that Christmas, alone, for a singing audition in the hope of securing a professional contract. The audition was a success and she released two albums, her debut album in 1995 and her second album later in 1999. However both were met with modest success. Her film debut in 2002 changed all this and propelled her to real stardom. Karena starred in three successful Hong Kong films in the same year, winning the awards of Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer for her role in July Rhapsody directed by Ann Hui (at the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards) and for Inner Senses by Lo Chi Leung (at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards), gaining her recognition as a talented young actress and marking the start of her film career. In recent months she has been taking on much more challenging roles, as witnessed in the 2005 horror film Home Sweet Home, where she plays an insane and horribly deformed "phantom" monster who kidnaps a boy from his genetic mother to claim as its own, and was nominated for major awards again.
Known for
Credits
Dragon Blade (2015)
Actor
Super Model (2004)
as Inspector Karena Zhang
Our Child (2026)
as Madam "Sarah"
The White Storm 2: Drug Lords (2019)
as Chow Man-fung
Customs Frontline (2024)
as Athena Siu
Beyond the Sin (2025)
as Bo Kwan
Happy Funeral (2008)
as Karena
Silk (2006)
as Wei
Inner Senses (2002)
as Cheung Yan
Daughter's Daughter (2024)
as Emma
Man on the Edge (2022)
as Mrs Lam
Heroic Duo (2003)
as Brenda
Keeper of Darkness (2015)
as Fatt's Mother
Legally Declared Dead (2019)
as Shum Chi Ling
Heaven in the Dark (2016)
as Michelle
Integrity (2019)
as Kong Suet Yee
The Liquidator (2017)
as Wei Wei
1971 (—)
Actor
July Rhapsody (2002)
as Woo Choy-lam
Six Strong Guys (2004)
as 丁丁
Tales from the Occult: Body and Soul (2023)
Actor
Tales of Taipei (2024)
as Yu (segment "Breeder")
American Girl (2021)
as Lily Wang
Home Sweet Home (2005)
as Yim Hung
Lover's Discourse (2010)
as Nancy
The Floating Landscape (2003)
as Maan
Koma (2004)
as Suen Ling
Worth the Wait (2025)
as Teresa
Tiramisu (2002)
as Jane Chan
Fit Lover (2008)
as Nie Bing
Don Quixote (2010)
as Sang Cuihua
Mob Sister (2005)
as Nova
Claustrophobia (2008)
as Pearl
Truth or Dare : 6th Floor Rear Flat (2003)
as Karena
Kidnap (2007)
as Lam Hiu Yeung
Candy Rain (2008)
as Ricky
Anna & Anna (2007)
as Anna / Siyu
Let the Wind Carry Me (2009)
as Self
Zinnia Flower (2015)
as Ming
Red Line (2023)
as Wang Le's wife
It Had To Be You (2005)
as Jill
Bad Acting (2020)
Actor
Moon Wall (2004)
Actor