
Karena Lam Kar-Yan
Photoplayd Industry Rating
Not enough rated films yet to compute a weighted score.
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

Silk (2006)
as Wei

The White Storm 2: Drug Lords (2019)
as Chow Man-fung

Man on the Edge (2022)
as Mrs Lam

Inner Senses (2002)
as Cheung Yan

Customs Frontline (2024)
as Athena Siu

Keeper of Darkness (2015)
as Fatt's Mother

Truth or Dare : 6th Floor Rear Flat (2003)
as Karena

Tales from the Occult: Body and Soul (2023)
Actor

Daughter's Daughter (2024)
as Emma

July Rhapsody (2002)
as Woo Choy-lam

Tales of Taipei (2024)
as Yu (segment "Breeder")

American Girl (2021)
as Lily Wang

Heroic Duo (2003)
as Brenda

Integrity (2019)
as Kong Suet Yee

Beyond the Sin (2025)
as Bo Kwan

Heaven in the Dark (2016)
as Michelle

Home Sweet Home (2005)
as Yim Hung

Super Model (2004)
as Inspector Karena Zhang

Koma (2004)
as Suen Ling

Claustrophobia (2008)
as Pearl

Fit Lover (2008)
as Nie Bing

Don Quixote (2010)
as Sang Cuihua

The Liquidator (2017)
as Wei Wei

Red Line (2023)
as Wang Le's wife

Mob Sister (2005)
as Nova

Tiramisu (2002)
as Jane Chan

The Floating Landscape (2003)
as Maan

Candy Rain (2008)
as Ricky

Happy Funeral (2008)
as Karena

Lover's Discourse (2010)
as Nancy

Kidnap (2007)
as Lam Hiu Yeung

Worth the Wait (2025)
as Teresa

Six Strong Guys (2004)
as 丁丁

Let the Wind Carry Me (2009)
as Self

Anna & Anna (2007)
as Anna / Siyu

It Had To Be You (2005)
as Jill

Legally Declared Dead (2019)
as Shum Chi Ling

Bad Acting (2020)
Actor

Zinnia Flower (2015)
as Ming
Moon Wall (2004)
Actor





