Karena Lam Kar-Yan
Born: 1978-08-17 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Known For: Acting
Biography
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.
Filmography
2025
- Beyond the Sin as Bo Kwan
- Worth the Wait as Teresa
2024
- Customs Frontline as Athena Siu
- Tales of Taipei as Yu (segment "Breeder")
- Daughter's Daughter as Emma
2023
- Red Line as Wang Le's wife
- Tales from the Occult: Body and Soul
2022
- Man on the Edge as Mrs Lam
2021
- American Girl as Lily Wang
2020
2019
- The White Storm 2: Drug Lords as Chow Man-fung
- Legally Declared Dead as Shum Chi Ling
- Integrity as Kong Suet Yee
2017
- The Liquidator as Wei Wei
2016
- Heaven in the Dark as Michelle
2015
- Dragon Blade
- Keeper of Darkness as Fatt's Mother
- Zinnia Flower as Ming
2014
2010
- Lover's Discourse as Nancy
- Don Quixote as Sang Cuihua
2009
- Let the Wind Carry Me as Self
2008
- Fit Lover as Nie Bing
- Candy Rain as Ricky
- Happy Funeral as Karena
- Claustrophobia as Pearl
2007
- Kidnap as Lam Hiu Yeung
- Anna & Anna as Anna / Siyu
2006
- Silk as Wei
- On the Road (Sr. 1)
2005
- Home Sweet Home as Yim Hung
- Mob Sister as Nova
- It Had To Be You as Jill
2004
- Moon Wall
- Super Model as Inspector Karena Zhang
- Koma as Suen Ling
- Six Strong Guys as 丁丁
2003
- The Floating Landscape as Maan
- Heroic Duo as Brenda
- Truth or Dare : 6th Floor Rear Flat as Karena
2002
- July Rhapsody as Woo Choy-lam
- Inner Senses as Cheung Yan
- Tiramisu as Jane Chan
1962
- Golden Horse Awards as Self