Hong Chau

Born: 1979-06-25, Thailand

Biography

Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She has received several award nominations for her film roles as Ngoc Lan Tran in Downsizing (2017) and as Liz, a nurse, in The Whale (2022), including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter. Chau was born to Vietnamese parents who lived in a refugee camp in Thailand after fleeing Vietnam in the late 1970s. A Vietnamese Catholic church in New Orleans sponsored Chau and her family to move to the United States. She grew up in New Orleans and majored in film studies at Boston University College of Communication before pursuing an acting career. She appeared in the TV series Treme (2010–2013) and the film Inherent Vice (2014). She went on to have supporting roles in the HBO limited series Watchmen (2019) and the Prime Video series Homecoming (2018–2020). Chau has also played leading roles in the 2019 films Driveways and American Woman and further supporting roles in the 2022 film The Menu and the 2023 Netflix series The Night Agent.

Filmography

• American Dad! (2005)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)
• How I Met Your Mother (2005)
• The Night Agent (2023)
• BoJack Horseman (2014)
• The Sheep Detectives (2026)
• Good Luck Charlie (2010)
• “Wuthering Heights” (2026)
• The Sarah Silverman Program (2007)
• Big Little Lies (2017)
• The Menu (2022)
• Treme (2010)
• The Whale (2022)
• Kinds of Kindness (2024)
• Homecoming (2018)
• $#*! My Dad Says (2010)
• Asteroid City (2023)
• Inherent Vice (2014)
• The Instigators (2024)
• Downsizing (2017)
• Artemis Fowl (2020)
• Showing Up (2023)
• Duck Butter (2018)
• Driveways (2020)
• Market Hours (2014)