Lynn Chen () is a Taiwanese-American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Vivian Shing in the film Saving Face, a role for which she won the "Outstanding Newcomer Award" at the 2006 Asian Excellence Awards. She also narrates audiobooks, including the audiobook edition of Kevin Kwan's novel Crazy Rich Asians. She writes the popular food blog The Actor's Diet. Chen was named a 2013 "New Change Agent" by Marie Claire.New Change Agents Lisa Lee Lyn Chen , Marie Claire. March 25, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
Early life Chen was born in Queens, New York and raised in Cresskill, New Jersey.Chang, Althea D. "Asian American and Female in American Television and Films: Lynn Chen from All My Children", AsianLife Magazine. Retrieved September 30, 2007. "As a young student in Cresskill, NJ, she was defined by her acting, so she eventually wanted to try something new." Her mother is an opera singer and father was the founding president of The Kunqu Society, Inc.Honoring Fu-Yen and Lynn Chen, AAJA V3Con, http://v3con.com/2012/08/15/honoring-fu-yen-and-lynn-chen/ She has one brother; he is also in the music field. Her parents came to America from Taiwan in the late 1960s. Chen attended Wesleyan University, where she studied Women's Studies and Music.
Career Chen has appeared in Alice Wu's film Saving Face as Vivian Shing opposite Michelle Krusiec (playing Wilhemina Pang, Shing's love interest) and Joan Chen. For her role in that film, she won the "Outstanding Newcomer Award" at the 2006 Asian Excellence Awards.
Television In 2014, Chen appeared on the episode "Proof of Concept" of Mike Judge's HBO show, Silicon Valley as Grace Melcher. Before Saving Face, Chen appeared on TV shows such as All My Children (as reoccurring character Regina), Law & Order (as Jenny Wu), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (as Helen Chen), and a 2002 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Jon Stewart as a Vietnamese Girl. She has also appeared on the TV Shows Law & Order: Trial by Jury (as Lin – Kressel's Assistant), Numb3rs (as Bree Eng), NCIS: Los Angeles (as Nurse Lisa), and the pilot for the show The Singles Table (as Lexi Park).TV Guide, Lynn Chen, Lynn Chen Interview, http://usasians-articles.tripod.com/articles-lynn-chen4.html In 2015 she played a nurse in the pilot episode of The Walking Dead spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead.
Feature films Chen has also appeared in feature films such as Neil LaBute's Lakeview Terrace (2008) opposite Samuel L. Jackson (as Eden), David Langlitz's Mentor (2006) opposite Rutger Hauer (as Susan), Quentin Lee's The People I've Slept With (2009) (as Juliet, the sister of Karin Anna Cheung's character), Richard Wong's Yes, We're Open (2012) (as Sylvia, the wife of Parry Shen's character), Dave Boyle's White on Rice (2009) (as Ramona), Dave Boyle's Surrogate Valentine (2011) and Daylight Savings (2012) (as Rachel), Tom Huang's Why Am I Doing This? (2009) (as Katie), Kedar Korde's Xs & Oxs (2007) (as Gwen), Jennifer Sharp's I'm Through with White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks (2007) (as Candace), and Mark Levin's Little Manhattan (2005).Lynn Chen, Notes on the Road, http://notesontheroad.com/lynn-chen.html AboutMe, LynnChen, http://about.me/lynnchenLynn Chen, TaiwaneseAmerican.org, 100 Passionate People, http://taiwaneseamerican.org/100people/lynn-chen/ She wrote and directed the 2020 film I Will Make You Mine, which was the third in the Surrogate Valentine trilogy and was a selection of the 2020 South By Southwest Film Festival.
Audiobook narration Chen works as an audiobook narrator. She recorded the Random House Audio edition of Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel Crazy Rich Asians, a reading in which, according to Kirkus Reviews, she varies her pitch for male and female characters and makes the book's broad cast distinctive. She is also among the narrators of the audiobook of Te-Ping Chen's 2021 story collection Land of Big Numbers.
Web series and online content She currently appears on a web series entitled Nice Girls Crew directed by Tanuj Chopra (Sundance Film Festival Humanitas Prize Winner Punching at the Sun) and written by Chopra and Christine Kwon.CAAM, Nice Girls Crew, The web series also stars her Saving Face co-star Michelle Krusiec as well as Sheetal Sheth.CAAM, Nice Girls Crew Season 1, http://caamedia.org/blog/2012/11/05/nice-girls-crew-season-1-on-youtube/ She also appears on an episode of Andrea Lwin's web series, Slanted (as Samantha). Chen has also written and produced a short film entitled Via Text (2011), which was directed by her husband Abe Forman-Greenwald.Lynn Chen in 'Via Text', Angry Asian Man, http://blog.angryasianman.com/2011/10/lynn-chen-in-via-text.htmlVia Text, Cast/Crew,
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes2002FortuneJenShort2002Up to the RoofDJ Night 1Short2004Saving FaceVivian Shing2005Fly Me HomeShort2005Little ManhattanGirl on the Street2006MentorSusan2006Desperate HousewifeGynecologistShort2007I'm Through with White GirlsCandace2007X's & O'sGwen2008Lakeview TerraceEden2009Why Am I Doing This?Katie2009White on RiceRamona2011Surrogate ValentineRachel2011Via TextShort2012Daylight SavingsRachel2012Yes, We're OpenSylvia2012Juliet2013Abby White, Interracial Relationship CounselorLindaShort2014Teacher in a BoxMs. MalloyShort2014SuturesAudreyShort2015Dying to KillTracy2016Parachute GirlsEllieShort2016Chee and TLindo Chong2016Baby and Me YogaDanaShort2017Rice on WhiteLindaPost-production2017Growing ApartLoaShort, completed2019Go Back to ChinaCarol Li2020I Will Make You MineRachelAlso writer and director2021Pooling to ParadiseJenny 2021 See You Then Naomi Liu
Television
Year Title Role Notes2001Law & OrderJenny Wu"Teenage Wasteland"2001Law & Order: Special Victims UnitHelen Chen"Inheritance"2002Saturday Night LiveVietnamese Girl"Jon Stewart/India.Arie"2003All My ChildrenReginaRecurring role2005Law & Order: Trial by JuryLin"The Abominable Showman"2005Numb3rsBree Eng"Soft Target"2007Lexi Park"Pilot", "The Housewarming Party"2010NCIS: Los AngelesNurse Lisa"Anonymous"2012SlantedSamantha"Paying Your Dues"2012–13Nice Girls CrewSophieWeb series2014Silicon ValleyGrace Melcher"Proof of Concept"2015Fear the Walking DeadNurse"Pilot"2015Peggy Lee"1.1"2016Parker and the CrewParker's momTV film2016CaringVickyTV series2019ShamelessMimiRecurring role, 2 episodes2021LaunchpadAnn"The Little Prince(ss)"2021–22Grey's AnatomyDr. Michelle LinRecurring role; 5 episodes2024High PotentialNina"Hangover"
Video games Year Title Role Notes2015Call of Duty: Black Ops IIIGoh Xiulan
Audiobooks Year Title Author Notes2013Crazy Rich AsiansKevin KwanRandom House Audio2021Land of Big NumbersTe-Ping ChenOne of several narrators
References
External links
Lynn Chen's food blog Lynn Chen- Eat, Act, Love Lynn Chen & Lisa Lee: Thick Dumpling Skin