Background
She was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
林嘉欣
She was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Lam 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. The role earned her numerous nominations for major awards.
In 2015, she won the Best Actress Award at the Golden Horse Awards for her role in Zinnia flower (百日告別), making her the first person ever to have won all of the following three Golden Horse awards: Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer. 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.