Jesseca Liu

Jesseca Liu Zi Xuan, stage-name Liu Zi Xuan 刘子绚, before Liu Zi Xuan actually is Liu Zhi Xuan 刘芷绚, real-name is Lao Chew Yen 刘秋雁, (born 13 February 1979), is a Malaysian and Singapore-based singer and actress. Previously, she was a contracted artiste under MediaCorp, now belonging to HIM International Music.

Early life

Jesseca Liu was born in Langkawi, Malaysia. She began modelling after graduating from Saito Academy in 2001. Languages often spoken by Liu are Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Malay. First known as Lao Chew Yen, she finished second for a Malaysian beauty contest in 2001. Liu began acting in Malaysia with a few Chinese drama productions at Singapore.

Career

Liu was spotted by a producer in MediaCorp in 2004 who offered her the meaty role of He Yi Xuan in the sports themed drama, The Champion, starring opposite Qi Yu Wu and Taiwanese actors Toro and Yan Xing Shu. She then began a career as a full-time actress in Singapore.

She snagged a role in the 100-episode drama series Portrait of Home in 2005. She played a Vietnamese bride Ruan Mianmian, and starred opposite veteran thespians Adrian Pang and Louise Lee. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Most Popular Newcomer Award categories for the Star Awards 2005 ceremony with her role as Ruan Mianmian in Portrait of Home. She bagged the Most Popular Newcomer Award that year.

Her first lead role was Ding Yirou in Rhapsody in Blue in 2006. She was given opportunities to play lead roles thereafter. She filmed a movie by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures back in 2007 and it was scheduled to be screened in the second quarter of 2008. However, the screening of the movie was put to a halt due to copyright problems. Liu released a book diary, Jesseca's Diary (Chinese : 绚日记) in December 2007.

In March 2011, she starred in the Channel U blockbuster of the year Secrets For Sale, alongside Christopher Lee and Lin Meijiao. She played Jiaqi, a private investigator. The 13-episode serial was produced by Wawa productions and gained much favourable response from the viewers.

In October 2011, she went on to play the role of a medical doctor Yang Minfei in the medical-themed series The Oath, which is one of the highest rated series of the year. The drama also starred Christopher Lee, Ann Kok and Ix Shen.

Departure from MediaCorp

Liu's contract with Mediacorp expired in May 2010. She then went on to sign a contract with HIM International Music (Singapore) in the same year. Her first production under her new company was Channel U's 2010 feature film, Lost and Found 《小孩·狗》 with Taiwan's popular child star Xiao Xiao Bin and Taiwanese idol James Wen Sheng Hao. The film garnered the highest viewership amongst the other two feature films aired, starring Mediacorp actresses Joanne Peh and Felicia Chin respectively.

She then filmed Mediacorp Channel U's 2011 blockbuster drama, Secrets For Sale 《拍·卖》 as the lead actress alongside Mediacorp actors Christopher Lee and Thomas Ong. The drama was well-accepted by the audience in Singapore.

Together with Olivia Ong, she sang the theme song for The Silver Tribute Charity Night which was aired "live" on MediaCorp Channel 8 on 5 June 2011. This marked her first appearance on a live programme since Star Awards 2010.

Works

TV dramas

Telemovie

• Lost and Found 《小孩·狗》 as Li Zi Xuan 李子萱 (2011)

Film

• Untold Beauty 《還原》
• Greedy Ghost 《贪心鬼见鬼》
• Bring Back The Dead 《招魂》

Publications/Books

• Jesseca's Diary 《绚日记》

Accolades

External links

• Jesseca Liu at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile on xinmsn