Faye Wong's daughter Leah picks up acting award

Leah Dou received the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Beijing International Film Festival for her big-screen debut in The Eleventh Chapter.
Leah Dou received the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Beijing International Film Festival for her big-screen debut in The Eleventh Chapter. PHOTO: XINHUA

BEIJING • The apple never falls far from the tree indeed.

Chinese musician Leah Dou, the daughter of pop diva Faye Wong and Chinese rocker Dou Wei, has won an award after acting in her first movie. She made her big-screen debut in The Eleventh Chapter, a film directed by actor-director Chen Jianbin.

The 22-year-old singer-songwriter received the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Beijing International Film Festival (BIFF), which ended last Saturday. She was previously nominated for Best Original Film Song for the movie Soul Mate (2016) at the Golden Horse Awards in 2016.

The Eleventh Chapter tells the story of Ma Fuli, a man trying to clear his name after a theatre stages a play based on a murder 30 years ago, while at the same time handling the tense relationship between his wife and stepdaughter.

Chen stars as the character Ma, while Chinese A-lister Zhou Xun plays his wife and Leah his stepdaughter. The movie also won Best Screenplay at the BIFF.

This is the second movie directed by Chen, after he made his directorial debut for A Fool in 2014. He won Best Actor and Best New Director for the movie at the Golden Horse Awards in 2014.

Chen is known for playing Chinese warlord Cao Cao in the 2010 drama serial Three Kingdoms.

Leah's mother Wong was famous for acting in the movies Chungking Express (1994) and Chinese Odyssey 2002.

The 49-year-old Mandopop star received Best Actress nominations for Chungking Express at the Golden Horse Awards in 1994 and Hong Kong Film Awards in 1995. She also received a Best Actress nomination for Chinese Odyssey 2002 at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2003.

She is divorced from ex-husbands Dou and Li Yapeng, and has reportedly resumed her relationship with Hong Kong actor Nicholas Tse.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 23, 2019, with the headline Faye Wong's daughter Leah picks up acting award. Subscribe