Photo: MTV UK / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Hong Chau is my favorite kind of actor: the one critics call a scene-stealer until the industry finally admits she is the foundation. Born in Thailand and trained at Boston University, she brings a watchmaker's precision to supporting roles — Downsizing, Watchmen, The Whale — that makes every lead around her sharper. Her Oscar-nominated work in The Whale is a masterclass in playing exasperated love, fierce and wounded at once. She chooses projects like a critic and performs like a craftsman, and I suspect history will rank her among the defining character actors of her generation.
Overview
Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She is most known for her performance in the 2022 film The Whale, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and other supporting-actress awards. Her breakthrough role was in the 2017 film Downsizing, for which she was nominated for several supporting-actress awards.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Hong Chau
- Name (Japanese)
- ホン・チャウ
- Reading
- ほん・ちゃう
- Born
- June 25, 1979 (age 46)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Goat
- Origin
- Thailand
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film actor / television actor / actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Boston University
Awards & achievements
- Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Downsizing | — | |
| Notable work | Watchmen | — |
6. Links
Film actor — see all → · Television actor — see all → · More people from Thailand →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.