Karena Lam Kar-Yan
Biography
Karena was working at her Vancouver family restaurant when she was discovered by a talent scout from Taiwan in 1993, at age fifteen. The scout persuaded her to fly to Taiwan that Christmas, alone, for a singing audition in the hope of securing a professional contract. The audition was a success and she released two albums, her debut album in 1995 and her second album later in 1999. However both were met with modest success. Her film debut in 2002 changed all this and propelled her to real stardom. Karena starred in three successful Hong Kong films in the same year, winning the awards of Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer for her role in July Rhapsody directed by Ann Hui (at the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards) and for Inner Senses by Lo Chi Leung (at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards), gaining her recognition as a talented young actress and marking the start of her film career. In recent months she has been taking on much more challenging roles, as witnessed in the 2005 horror film Home Sweet Home, where she plays an insane and horribly deformed "phantom" monster who kidnaps a boy from his genetic mother to claim as its own, and was nominated for major awards again.
Known For
Keep Running
Golden Horse Awards
The Season
Dragon Blade
The White Storm 2: Drug Lords
On the Road (Sr. 1)
Man on the Edge
Silk
All Movies (41)
- Worth the Wait2025 · as Teresa
- Beyond the Sin2025 · as Bo Kwan
- Daughter's Daughter2024 · as Emma
- Tales of Taipei2024 · as Yu (segment "Breeder")
- Customs Frontline2024 · as Athena Siu
- Tales from the Occult: Body and Soul2023
- Red Line2023 · as Wang Le's wife
- Man on the Edge2022 · as Mrs Lam
- American Girl2021 · as Lily Wang
- Bad Acting2020
- Legally Declared Dead2019 · as Shum Chi Ling
- The White Storm 2: Drug Lords2019 · as Chow Man-fung
- Integrity2019 · as Kong Suet Yee
- The Liquidator2017 · as Wei Wei
- Heaven in the Dark2016 · as Michelle
- Keeper of Darkness2015 · as Fatt's Mother
- Zinnia Flower2015 · as Ming
- Dragon Blade2015
- Lover's Discourse2010 · as Nancy
- Don Quixote2010 · as Sang Cuihua
- Let the Wind Carry Me2009 · as Self
- Fit Lover2008 · as Nie Bing
- Claustrophobia2008 · as Pearl
- Candy Rain2008 · as Ricky
- Happy Funeral2008 · as Karena
- Anna & Anna2007 · as Anna / Siyu
- Kidnap2007 · as Lam Hiu Yeung
- Silk2006 · as Wei
- Home Sweet Home2005 · as Yim Hung
- Mob Sister2005 · as Nova
- It Had To Be You2005 · as Jill
- Six Strong Guys2004 · as 丁丁
- Super Model2004 · as Inspector Karena Zhang
- Koma2004 · as Suen Ling
- Moon Wall2004
- The Floating Landscape2003 · as Maan
- Heroic Duo2003 · as Brenda
- Truth or Dare : 6th Floor Rear Flat2003 · as Karena
- Tiramisu2002 · as Jane Chan
- Inner Senses2002 · as Cheung Yan
- July Rhapsody2002 · as Woo Choy-lam
All TV Shows (4)
- The Season2026 · as Fiona Hext
- Keep Running2014
- On the Road (Sr. 1)2006
- Golden Horse Awards1962 · as Self