Buffy Chen

Buffy Chen Yan-fei, known professionally as Buffy Chen, emerged as one of Taiwan's most compelling young talents after her breakthrough in the 2020 drama film The Silent Forest. Born on 9 August 2000 in Taiwan, she grew up with an elder sister and a mother who taught special‑education needs at a junior high school, an environment that encouraged both academic rigor and artistic exploration. From an early age, Chen studied modern dance, joining her elementary school's dance team and performing on stage, experiences that sparked an enduring love for performance. During junior high, she began attending cram school before opting for Hwa Kang Arts School, where a minor acting role in a drama series during her third year ignited her passion for acting, a flame that was further fanned by drama classes at the same institution. After graduating from the performing‑arts program she entered Chinese Culture University to study advertising design, but she suspended her studies in her freshman year when she won the role of Yao Bei Bei, a deaf teenage girl, in The Silent Forest, a part that required three months of intensive sign‑language training. Her haunting, dialogue‑free performance earned her the Best New Performer award at the 57th Golden Horse Awards and Best New Talent at the 23rd Taipei Film Awards, establishing her as a rising star. Following this success, she appeared in Little Big Women the same year, portraying Clementine, a rebellious daughter navigating familial expectations, and quickly expanded her portfolio with television roles in The Pond, 2049‑The Hedgehog Effect, and Danger Zone. In 2022, she delivered a nuanced portrayal of Wen, a mute girl in the fantasy series Twisted Strings, garnering nominations for both Best New Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the 4th Asia Contents Awards. Her role as Zoe Chao in the 2023 Netflix political thriller Wave Makers cemented her reputation, earning her the Rising Star of the Year award at the 5th Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards. By 2024, Chen continued to diversify her repertoire with supporting roles in the romance film 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days, a recurring part in the second season of Netflix's The Victims' Game, and a leading role in The Uniform that premiered at the Busan International Film Festival. She remains based in Taipei, poised for future projects such as the Netflix fantasy series Agent from Above and the mystery thriller Million‑follower Detective, confirming her status as a versatile and continually evolving actress in the Asian entertainment landscape.