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I was born in Tahiti, but I try not to go back there often. I want to save an awesome Tahiti trip for my honeymoon.
It’s a French colony. My New Year’s resolution this year was to learn to speak French more fluently, but it never happened. Maybe I should save this resolution for next year. I do carry a textbook for French with me all the time.
My father was a jeweler. He and my mother moved around Hong Kong a lot, so I had to change schools very often at a young age. 
I never got enough time at one school to build solid friendships with anyone.
It didn’t really bother me that much, though, because I loved being around my family.
Until I turned 17, and started knowing what hanging out with friends was all about.
I went to high school in Birmingham. I used to live in an apartment right above a takeaway restaurant.
My mother agreed with my idea to study abroad immediately. So when I say the whole thing was kind of crazy, I’m referring to my mom. I don’t know what she was thinking when she said yes.
I was obsessed with “Take That” at that time. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to go to England. Thinking back, that was kind of stupid.
The English weather annoyed me. It’s always cold and dark in Birmingham. I didn’t like it at all.
Upon my return to Hong Kong after high school, a model scout discovered me. At first I wasn’t devoted to modeling. I had never thought about doing it professionally.
One time I signed up for a commercial job interview as a favor to my friend, but surprisingly got the job at the end. My friend called to apologize that they could only pay me $30,000 for this.
Thirty thousand?! I literally had to take a moment to curb my excitement before saying yes over the phone. And that commercial became a hit.
To be honest, I was pretty immature when I was younger compared to my peers—never really thought about my future or career, and was led by fate. I was never a planner until recently.
Then I got a record deal after a random singing audition that I didn’t prepare for properly. One year after my singing career kicked off, I was offered a role by TVB in their TV series.
I’ve always been a shy and nervous person. But I feel natural when I’m standing in front of a camera at a shooting set. Acting is very interesting and comfortable for me.
But something frustrating about acting is that everyone wants something different from you. You can do the exact same thing, and one director would love it, and another would totally hate it. You never know.
In my new film, “Merry-Go-Round,” I play two roles, one of which is a wild Chinese-American drug-addict. It’s challenging for me 
to relate to this character, as I hate drugs.
I’m a huge fan of mainland directors Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yimou. Feng sat right in front of me at an awards show, but I was too nervous to actually speak to him.
Generally I am quite comfortable with showbiz. But all the attention from the press and public sometimes gets really irritating.
If I were not a performer, I would be a mother or a make-up artist.


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Hong Kong's model-singer-actress, Ella Koon

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Ella Koon is famous for her stunning looks, lovely singing voice and forthright personality. The beauty sits down with Penny Zhou and talks about youth, family and showbiz.
