30 Unbelievable Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Gemma Chan

3 April 2019, 3:20 pm EDT By Ruby Karnick

Gemma Chan, who first garnered recognition for her roles in "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," is famous for portraying Minn-Erva in the Marvel Studios film "Captain Marvel," in the year 2019. Here are some interesting facts about the British actress:

She has appeared on stage in the British premiere of Bertolt Brecht's final play "Turandot" in Hampstead Theatre, London in October 2008.
Chan was one of the three models to reach the final of the first season of Sky One's “Project Catwalk,” which was the UK version of Miramax's Project Runway.
She witnessed a murder of a homeless gentleman, and stayed with him while medics and police were called, but he soon expired, outside the Putney Bridge Tube station in West London in October 2012. She gave evidence in the trial of the defendant in September 2013.
She is classically trained on the violin and piano, attaining the Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music on the violin, while she was still at school.
She worked as a fashion model to fund her drama school training, appearing in campaigns for Nokia and Selfridges & Co and several other magazines including Elle, Cosmopolitan and the Sunday Times Style.
She was featured in the inaugural season of the AMC/Channel 4 drama “Humans” as the main protagonist - Mia/Anita in the year 2015, while simultaneously starring in the French drama “Families,” as Chen-Lin.
She was featured in the autumn 2009 special of the BBC's "Doctor Who: The Waters of Wars" as geologist Mia Bennett, along with David Tennant and Lindsay Duncan.
She became a series regular in "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," as Charlotte in the fourth and final series, which aired on ITV2 in the United Kingdom and Showtime in the United States in the year 2011.
Gemma Chan was born on November 29, 1982 at Guy's Hospital in London, England, United Kingdom. She was raised near Sevenoaks, a town in west Kent and went to the Newstead Wood School for Girls.
Following her graduation from Worcester College, Oxford, she gained a position in a law firm, but she chose a career in acting. She went to study acting at the Drama Centre London.

Her acting debut was with the independent horror serial "When Evil Calls," as Molly Nelson, while her first film debut was in the psychological thriller "Exam," in which she played the role of a Chinese Girl.
Her father was an engineer, who grew up in Hong Kong while her mother is from mainland China. Her mother grew up in Greenock, Scotland.
Her mother reportedly left the country before the Cultural Revolution, passing through Hong Kong before settling in Greenock, Scotland.
She was first spotted at her showcase, during her study at the Drama Centre London, by British film producer Damian Jones and was signed to acting agent Nicki van Gelder.
She was also featured in "Fresh Meat," "Sherlock" aired in BBC One, and "The IT Crowd" Season 4 aired in Channel 4.
In the year 2012, Chan was cast as a regular in the role of Kiera, in the series two of Sky Living's supernatural drama "Bedlam."
She also became a regular as Kathy, in the "True Love," a five-part semi-improvised television series produced by Working Title for BBC One.
She took on the role as Hattie James in the BBC One crime drama "Shetland," alongside Douglas Henshall and Steven Robertson, in the year 2013.
She reportedly provided the voice for the character of Dewdrop in BBC One's animated miniseries "Watership Down," in July 2016.
In the year 2010, she appeared as Shin Shin in the World War II drama film "Shanghai," and took on the role of Kim-Lin in the 2011 comedy-drama "Submarine."

She is an active supporter of human rights and has made a film for Amnesty International to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
She co-starred as Astrid Leong-Teo in the 2018 film "Crazy Rich Asians," which is based on the novel of the same name. She first heard about the novel from her sister through a text and read the entire book on holiday. She claims to have immediately fallen in love with Astrid.
Chan performed in the UK premiere of "Yellow Face" by American playwright David Henry Hwang at The Park Theatre, London, in June 2013. The play was revived in 2014 at the Royal National Theatre retaining the original London cast.
After seeing her performance in "Yellow Face," director Timberlake Wertenbaker chose her to play the war goddess Athena in "Our Ajax" at the Southwark Playhouse, London in November 2013.
She appeared as a guest on the "Cultural Exchange" feature of the BBC Radio 4 series "Front Row," on August 6, 2013. During the show, she nominated the film "The Princess Bride" as an art work she loves.
She was featured as Amy Chang in the thriller film "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," alongside Chris Pine, Kenneth Branagh, and Keira Knightley in the year 2014.
In November 2012, Chan performed in "The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie," a new play by Anders Lustgarten at the Finborough Theatre.
She took on the role as Jennifer Cheung in the TV series "Death in Paradise," as Erica in the TV series "Dates," in the year 2013, and as Miss Pemberton in the 2015 TV series "Brotherhood."
She first started dating her co-star Jack Whitehall from the "Fresh Meat," an English comedian in the year 2011, though the relationship ended after six years.
The couple claimed their busy work schedules as the main reason for the break-up, and have reportedly remained as very good friends even after their split in the year 2017.