Birthday

0001-01-01

Place of Birth

Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Biography

Sunny Chen (she/they) is a Canadian actor, singer-songwriter, and filmmaker. At 6 years old, Sunny immigrated from Nanjing, China, to Canada's beautiful west coast, where they fell in love with the blue sky and sea (Sad China: Ocean Girl (2018)). She finished high school in Langley, BC, on lands belonging to Katzie, Kwantlen, Matsqui, and Semiahmoo Nations, and discovered their unique self in the arts. As a teen, Sunny traveled throughout North America to perform at music festivals with their school choirs and concert band. Equipped with a student loan and her savings from working part-time (3 years at Langley Pizza Hut), Sunny moved to unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh lands AKA Vancouver at 17 years old, and completed her BA in psychology and English literature at the University of British Columbia. In 2019, Sunny won the leading role of "Ho Shee" in Karin Lee's period drama Ts'ekoo Cha Ke: The Girl with Big Feet (2021), playing a Chinese Canadian immigrant settler in the late 1800s. For this complex role, Sunny prepared all of her dialogue in two new languages: Toisan (a Chinese dialect originating from southern Guangdong province) and Chinook (an Indigenous Pacific Northwest trade language). She worked on the CW's Supergirl (2015), Lifetime's A Sweet Christmas Romance (2019), and ABC's A Million Little Things (2018). Sunny portrayed "Lisa" in Cheer Squad Secrets (2020). Sunny's debut studio album ilyimy is slated for release in fall 2021 on all streaming platforms under alias "Sad China". An emerging filmmaker, Sunny writes, produces, and/or directs Open Ethnicity (2021) and music videos. They enjoy dancing, cuddling cute animals, brewing kombucha, and watching Netflix. Sunny looks forward to every storytelling opportunity, and advocates for equity and diverse representation in media.