Early life and education Lai was born on 5 December 1979 in
Yonghe, Taipei County. She is the younger of two daughters. Her father operates a
Chinese medicinal herb shop, and her older sister is a teacher. Lai is left-handed, and is able to produce handwritten
mirror text, in addition to normal writing with her right hand. As a result, she often has difficulty distinguishing left from right. Lai graduated from
Taipei Municipal Datong High School, where she was the president of her school's pop dance club. Lai completed her
bachelor's degree in Information Communications at
Shih Hsin University. In 2008, she enrolled as a
part-time learner in
Ming Chuan University. She graduated in 2011 with a Master of Arts in
design management. Lai is also licensed barista, having attained her barista certificate in 2016.
Career Career beginnings In 1999, Lai made her first television appearance on the Taiwanese variety show
Guess in the segment "Do not judge a book by its cover", where she was a contestant along with
Hebe Tien of girl group
S.H.E, amongst others. She was later scouted by a modelling agency, where she started her career modelling for magazine pictorials, television advertisements, music video productions and
fashion shows. In 2002, Lai was scouted by notable television producer
Angie Chai after appearing in
Vic Chou's music video. In December 2004, Lai released her first studio album,
Love, which featured soundtracks from the television series'
Mars and
Starry Night, in which Lai also starred in.
Transition into leading roles In 2010, Lai appeared alongside
Baron Chen,
Lego Lee and
Chie Tanaka in the drama
Because of You. Upon graduating with a Master of Arts in January 2011, Lai was cast in the
police crime drama Next Heroes. Filming began in the same month, and only commenced its broadcast run in October of the same year. Concurrently in 2011, Lai played the role of Su Hai-er in the period drama
The Invaluable Treasure 1949. The role earned her a
Best Actress nomination at the
46th Golden Bell Awards. In 2012, Lai was cast in the
SETTV romantic comedy
Miss Rose in which she played the titular character opposite
Roy Chiu.
Rising popularity In 2014, Lai was cast in the role of A Bu-si, a lesbian barista in the highly anticipated movie adaptation of
Café. Waiting. Love, penned by well-known Taiwanese novelist
Giddens Ko. Lai started taking barista lessons and shed her long hair in preparation for the role, even going to the extent of not attending any public event to maintain the secrecy of her participation in the movie before her casting was announced to the public. Lai was also cast as an
ultramarathon coach in
Jay Chou's first movie as an executive producer,
10,000 Miles, starring opposite
Sean Huang and
Darren Wang. To prepare for the role of an ultramarathon coach, Lai underwent training for three months under ultramarathon runner and executive producer,
Kevin Lin. The movie was released in December 2016 to poor critical reception. In September 2015, Lai received her fourth nomination for the
Golden Bell Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for her role in the film
The End of Love. The same month, Lai commenced filming for the romantic comedy
Bromance, in which she played the role Pi Ya-nuo, a girl who has to pretend to be a boy until her 26th birthday to be safeguarded a smooth-sailing life. The drama ended its broadcast run to massive domestic and international success, and Lai received tremendous support for her portrayal in the drama. In 2016, Lai joined the cast of the musical
More Than Words, which celebrated the life and works of musical artist
Chang Yu-sheng. In 2018, after a short hiatus from acting, Lai returned to the small screen in the television series
Meet Me @ 1006 in a guest appearance. Lai was then cast alongside
Sammi Cheng,
Kenny Bee and
Richie Jen in the movie
Fagara, the silver screen adaptation of
Amy Cheung's novel
Wo De Ai Ru Ci Ma La. The role earned her a Best Actress nomination for the
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award. Lai also starred in the
blockchain corporate warfare movie
The Last Thieves opposite
Yen Tsao,
Joanne Tseng, and
Eric Tsang, which was released in fall 2019. == Filmography ==