Buffy Chen

Buffy Chen Yan-fei (; born 9 August 2000) is a Taiwanese actress. Debuting as Yao Bei-bei in the drama film The Silent Forest while still in university, Chen won Best New Performer in the 57th Golden Horse Awards and Best New Talent in the 23rd Taipei Film Awards with the role. Since then, Chen has starred in various productions, including the drama film Little Big Women (2020), the mystery thriller series The Pond (2021), and the fantasy series Twisted Strings (2022). She won Rising Star of the Year in the 5th Asia Contents Awards for her portrayal of Zoe Chao in the Netflix political thriller series Wave Makers (2023).

Early life and education Chen was born on 9 August 2000, and grew up with an elder sister. Her mother worked as a special education needs teacher at a junior high school. Chen started learning modern dance at a young age, and aspired to become a dance teacher. She joined her elementary school's dance team and performed on stage, an experience she found enjoyable. but suspended her studies during her freshman year in 2020 after winning an acting role in the drama film The Silent Forest that coincided with exam period.

Career

In 2020, Chen auditioned and won her breakout role as Bei-bei, a deaf teenage girl who was sexually assaulted by her classmates, in the featured film The Silent Forest. In preparation for her role, Chen spent three months learning sign language. Her performance, which conveyed tension and a sense of tragedy without dialogue, garnered positive acclaim, and she won Best New Performer in the 57th Golden Horse Awards and Best New Talent in the 23rd Taipei Film Awards with the role. She joined the shoot of Little Big Women five days after filming wrapped up for The Silent Forest. In 2021, Chen landed her first major television role as A Ni, the female protagonist and a deviant schoolgirl who unexpectedly triggered a series of time-traveling incidents in a car accident, in the mystery thriller series . She also appeared in a recurring role as a pregnant schoolgirl forced to abort her child at her mother's request in the sci-fi series , and had a minor role as 's character's daughter in the crime thriller series . Chen also starred as the lead actress in the opening short film Be My Quarantine at the 2021 Kaohsiung Film Festival, and in the music video of Oaeen's "Honey Ginseng" alongside Miao Ke-li.

In 2022, Chen took on a recurring role as Wen, a mute girl confined by Lee Kang-sheng's character in a dungeon since a young age in the fantasy series . She received nominations for both Best New Actress and Best Supporting Actress in the 4th Asia Contents Awards with the role. Chen was cast in another lead role as Zoe Chao, the innocent daughter of a presidential candidate who gets dragged into a political scandal, in the 2023 Netflix political thriller series Wave Makers, starring alongside Hsieh Ying-xuan, Jag Huang, Gingle Wang, and Leon Dai. Her performance was well received, for which she won the Rising Star of the Year and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 5th Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards. She also appeared alongside her The Silent Forest co-star Troy Liu in the second season of the Netflix crime series The Victims' Game as Hsiao Chia-ying, a runaway girl who steals a bus with her friends to escape her parents' control, and her performance received critical acclaim. The same year, Chen appeared as the lead actress in the drama film The Uniform, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes/2020 The Silent Forest Yao Bei-bei (姚貝貝) 2024 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days Hsiao-ting (小婷)

Television Year Title Role Notes/ 2016 Huan Huan (歡歡) Guest role 2026 The Lives We Lease He Hsing-chi (何幸琪) Main role Haunted House Secrets Bi Mo-yu (畢墨雨) Main role Million-Follower Detective Chen You-jie (陳宥潔) Main role Agent from Above Yeh "Leafy" Chih-ling (葉芝苓 / 葉子) Main role Chao Chia-chi (趙佳琦) Main role

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result 2020 57th Golden Horse Awards Best New Performer The Silent Forest 2021 2nd Taiwan Film Critics Society Awards Best Actress 12th Youth Film Manual Annual Ceremony Yearly New Performer Yearly Actress 15th Asian Film Awards Best Newcomer 23rd Taipei Film Awards Best New Talent 20224th Asia Contents Awards Best Supporting Actress Rising Star of the Year