Frédéric Chau (born 6 June 1977) is a French actor.
Life and career
Frédéric Chau was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to parents of the Chinese minority in Cambodia. In 1977, while his mother was pregnant with him, his parents left Phnom Penh for Vietnam in order to escape the Khmer Rouge who were massacring civilians. He was only six months old when his family emigrated to France. They settled in the district of Marx-Dormoy in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, then moved very quickly to the Paris suburbs in Villetaneuse, Seine-Saint-Denis.
After being spotted by a fashion photographer, he briefly worked as a model for the People International advertising agency. Passionate about travel, he was recruited in 1998 by Air France as a steward, while he took comedy classes.
In 2005, Frédéric Chau went on stage and made a name for himself by performing different skits and performing in several stand-up scenes, notably at the Ménilmontant theater. In 2006, wearing his white shirt, his tie and his impeccable suit jacket, he was the only Asian at the Jamel Comedy Club and he enjoyed it: "Not easy to be an Asian comedian if you do not do karate, spring rolls, or you know nothing about computers!"
In 2010 he had a small role in the French/Hollywood production From Paris With Love (2010), starring John Rhys Meyers and John Travolta, as a Chinese maître'd employed by the French-Asian Triads.
In 2014, he played in Serial (Bad) Weddings with Christian Clavier and Chantal Lauby by Philippe de Chauveron. The same year, he played a secondary role in Lucy, Luc Besson's blockbuster, which earned him the title of "Most successful French actor in 2014" by Première magazine, which noted that the accumulation of these two successes allowed him to total nearly 17.5 million ticket sales over the year.
In September 2015, he published an autobiography, Je viens de si loin (I come from so far in English), with Philippe Rey Editions. He reveals much about himself on his journey, the exile of his parents, the life of an immigrant in this country and in this city, and his experiences with assimilation/integration.
In 2019, he starred in a lead role in a film called Made in China (2019).
Filmography
Feature films
Year Title Role Director Notes2008 Crise dans le secteur bancaire Martin Marc Schaus Short film Osc DisT Fabius Dubois Short film2009 5 films contre l'homophobie : Fusion Man Marc Xavier Gens & Marius Vale Short film Eden Is West The Asian Costa-Gavras District 13: Ultimatum Tran Patrick Alessandrin Neuilly Yo Mama! Chow-Yung-Fi Gabriel Laferrière Beverly Hills Chihuahua El Diablo Raja Gosnell French voice2010 Rien à perdre Jean-Henri Meunier Short film Coursier Rico Hervé Renoh From Paris with Love Chinese Maitre d' Pierre Morel Les Princes de la nuit Patrick Levy Bacon on the Side Lucien Anne De Petrini2011 Halal police d'État Mathieu Cohen Rachid Dhibou Mince alors! Baptiste Charlotte De Turckheim2013 Rock Paper Scissors (Roche papier ciseaux) Muffin Yan Turgeon Lanouette Paris à tout prix Mister Chan Reem Kherici2014 Serial (Bad) Weddings Chao Ling Philippe de Chauveron Dealer Linux Jean Luc Herbulot Lucy The Steward Luc Besson 2015 Feuilles de printemps Gregoire Nguyen Stéphane Ly-Cuong Short film 2016 Uchronia The Global Minister of Homelessness and you and me Christophe Gofette 2017 Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Sergeant Neza Luc Besson French voice2018 Serial (Bad) Weddings 2 Chao Ling Philippe de Chauveron Made in China François Julien Abraham 2019 The Translators Chen Yao Régis Roinsard
Television
Year Title Role Director Notes2008 La Taupe François Shaozu Vincenzo Marano TV movie Inside Jamel Comedy Club Himself Jamel Debbouze TV series2009 La Belle Vie Tin Kok Virginie Wagon TV movie La Taupe 2 François Shaozu Vincenzo Marano TV movie Les Incroyables Aventures de Fusion Man Marc Xavier Gens TV movie2013 Les Limiers Dr. Nguyen Alain DesRochers TV series - Episode 12015 Nos chers voisins Martin, Karine's ex Guest2017 Kim Kong Choi Han Sung Stephen Cafiero TV series
Music video
Year Music Singer2002 1er Gaou Magic System2010 Splinters of Soul Chloé Micout2013 D'un ave Maria Pascal Obispo
Publication Je viens de si loin, éditions Philippe Rey, 2015.
References
External links
Frédéric Chau Official Web site