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Ann Kok

Ann Kok
Born (1973-01-11) 11 January 1973 (age 51)
NationalitySingaporean
Other namesGuo Shuxian
EducationMayflower Secondary School
Occupations
  • Actress
  • businesswoman
  • singer
Years active1993-present
Musical career
GenresMandopop
InstrumentVocals
Labels
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese郭舒賢
Simplified Chinese郭舒贤
Hanyu PinyinGuō Shūxián
JyutpingGwok3 Syu1 Jin4
Hokkien POJKoeh Su-hiân
Tâi-lôKueh Su-hiân

Ann Kok (born 11 January 1973) is a Singaporean businesswoman, singer and an actress who film on an ad-hoc basis.

During the 1990s, Kok was ranked the "Third Ah Jie" by the local media, which defined her as the third most prominent actress in Singapore's Chinese-language entertainment industry of that time, after Zoe Tay and Fann Wong.

Early life

Kok is the youngest child of a family of six children. She has two sisters and three brothers.

Career

Rise to prominence

Kok started her acting career in 1993 after emerging as a finalist in the local talent-search competition Star Search, where she won a contract to work on Chinese-language TV channel SBC 8 (now MediaCorp Channel 8).

During the 1990s, Kok played lead roles in numerous television series, and her popularity soared during that period. She was ranked the "Third Ah Jie" by the local media, which defined her as the third most prominent actress in Singapore's Chinese-language entertainment industry of that time, after Zoe Tay and Fann Wong.[1] From 1995 to 1999, Kok won five consecutive Star Awards for Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes.

During that period, Kok also released three solo albums.[2]

In 2000 at the height of her popularity, Kok ventured overseas to expand her acting career.

Return to Singapore

Kok's venture overseas proved unsuccessful, and she returned to Singapore to join the now-defunct MediaWorks in 2003 and later MediaCorp in 2005. Upon her return to Singapore, Kok was often relegated to supporting roles.

Kok made her comeback when she earned rave reviews for her performance as Jiang Ruqing in Love Concierge. That role scored her a nomination for the Star Awards for Best Actress in the Star Awards 2006, her first acting nomination in her 13-year-long career.

Since then, Kok has established herself as an acclaimed actress. In 2009, she played the lead role Alice Zeng, a materialistic and show-off housewife, in the highly acclaimed drama series Housewives' Holiday, which won her praise and positive reviews from audiences.[3][4] For her performance, Kok was nominated for the Best Actress Award again in the Star Awards 2010 and was the hot favourite, but missed the award.[5] That same year, Kok made her stage debut singing live at The Peranakan Ball for The Little Nyonya musical.

In 2011, Kok made another appearance in Kampong Ties, which was filmed in Sungai Lembing, Malaysia, for a period of 4 months. In the same year, Kok also appeared in The Oath and Bountiful Blessings, starring alongside established actors such as Christopher Lee, Tay Ping Hui and Hong Kong actress Jessica Hsuan.

In 2011, Kok won her sixth Star Awards for Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes at the Star Awards 2013, her first popularity award since 1999.

In 2012, Kok became the first actress in Asia to snag two nominations in the same category since the inception of the Asian Television Awards (ATA) in 1994. Kok was nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for her performances in Kampong Ties and Show Hand for ATA 2012. Results would be announced in December 2012.[6][7]

In 2013, Kok won Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes in Star Awards 2013. She also walked away with "BottomSlim Sexiest Legs" Award for Star Awards 2012 Walk of Fame. At the Star Awards 2013, Kok was nominated in Favourite Female Character, Favourite On-screen Couple (Drama), BottomSlim Sexiest Legs Award, Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes.

In March 2014, Kok left Mediacorp. As she chose not to renew her contract, she was deemed ineligible to participate in Star Awards in that year. Her last television series before her contract ended was In the Name of Love. In the same year, she appeared on the big screen with her debut appearance in local film, The Filial Party.

In 2015, after almost a year's break from acting, she acted as Deng Xue Li in Crescendo, produced by Wawa Pictures.

In April 2016, she played the lead role in Toggle.sg original 4-episode psychological thriller mini-series Trapped Minds.[8] In the same year, she did a musical as Hua Mulan's elder sister, Hua Mulish. The original comedy with a twist Mulan The Musical took place in Resorts World Sentosa from 16 December 2016 to 5 February 2017, with the famous troop from Taiwan.[9] They broke record by performing 36 shows in 2 months in Singapore.

Ventures

Kok partnered with actress Jesseca Liu to open a retail shop selling bags and accessories in Joo Chiat. The shop, named BFF Zakka, closed in 2014 when the rental contract was due.[10]

In 2017, Kok opened a castella cake shop, named Harmony Bakery, at KSL City mall in Johor Bahru. It shuttered in 2019.[11]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref
1994 Men on the Edge (帮会1889) Telemovie
1996 Heart of the Family (家有一宝) Telemovie

Television series

Year Title Role Notes Ref
1994 The Young Ones (壯志奥阳)
The Valiant One (昆伦奴) Zhang Ying
1995 Coffee or Tea (是非屋)
Heartbeat (医胆仁心)
Heavenly Ghost (天师钟道) Liu Yeqin
The Morning Express (阳光列车)
The Morning Express II (阳光列车)
1996 Legend of the White Hair Brides Nalan Minghui
The Legends of Jigong Yue Yinping / Li Xiaomei
The Night is Young (美丽夜女郎)
1997 Curtain Call (大鑼大鼓)
Courting Trouble (婚姻法庭)
The Guest People Juxiang
1998 Facing the Music Yu Kaidi
Dreams (七个不道德的梦)
Riding the Storm (陌生人)
1999 Wok of Life Saiman / Yue'e
2000 The Tax Files (流金锐月) Yuki
Dare to Strike (扫冰者)
2002 No.8 Bus (八号巴士)
Venus (维纳斯)
Venture Against Time (子是故人來) Young Shi Caiyu
Just in Time for the Wedding (一切从结婚开始)
2003 OK No Problem (OK沒问题)
2004 Money No Problem (恭喜发财)
Be Somebody (海军)
Changing Lanes (易心人)
Zero
2005 A New Life Guo Jialing
Love Concierge (爱的掌門人) Jiang Ruqing
2006 Family Matters
2007 The Peak Xiuping
Kinship Zheng Yinsha
2008 La Femme Lin Xiuhui
My Destiny (幸福满贯)
2009 Housewives' Holiday Alice Zeng Huixian
My School Daze Kang Qiaozhen
Daddy at Home Yang Xinbei
2010 Happy Family Dong Shuixing
The Illusionist (魔幻世界) Shayne Yang
Precious Babes Lin Huixian
The Family Court Zheng Danni
2011 Bountiful Blessings Liang Pinhong
Kampong Ties Feng Yueman
The Oath Ye Zhiyi
2012 Show Hand (注定) Xu Shumin
It Takes Two Vivian
2014 Soup of Life Lin Fang
In the Name of Love Song Chuyun
2015 Angry Feat (不爽投诉站) Wang Meiqi
Crescendo Shirley Deng Xueli
2016 Trapped Minds (心魔) Yan Yuru
2018 Missing Anne
Doppelganger Wang Jingyi
Till We Meet Again - Prequel (千年来说对不起-前传) Nine-Tailed Fox
Till We Meet Again (千年来说对不起)
Magic Chef (料理人生) Yan Mei
2019 Hello From The Other Side (阴错阳差) Sai Jiao
2022 Healing Heroes (医生不是神) Hong Shufen

Discography

Studio albums

Year Title Notes Ref
1997 记得我的样子
1998 爱情点心
2000 享受现在

Theatre

Year Title Notes
2009 The Peranakan Ball (娘惹之恋)
December 2016- February 2017 Mulan The Musical (木蘭少女) Hua Mulian
花木蓮

Awards and nominations

Asian Television Awards
Year Category Nominated work Result
2012 Best Actress in a Supporting Role Kampong Ties
(as Feng Yueman)
Nominated
Show Hand Nominated
Star Awards
Year Ceremony Category Nominated work Result Ref
1995 Star Awards 1995 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 5
1996 Star Awards 1996 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 5
1997 Star Awards 1997 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
1998 Star Awards 1998 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
1999 Star Awards 1999 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
2006 Star Awards 2006 Best Actress Love Concierge
(as Jiang Ruqing)
Nominated
2010 Star Awards 2010 Best Actress Housewives' Holiday
(as Zeng Huixian Alice)
Nominated
Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 20
2011 Star Awards 2011 Best Supporting Actress The Family Court
(as Zheng Danni)
Nominated
Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
2012 Star Awards 2012 Best Actress Bountiful Blessings
(as Liang Pinhong)
Nominated
Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
2013 Star Awards 2013 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
Favourite Female Character Nominated
Bottom Slim Sexiest Legs Award Won
2021 Star Awards 2021 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
2023 Star Awards 2023 Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes Top 10
2024 Star Awards 2024 All-Time Favourite Artiste Won [12]

References

  1. ^ "Did You Know That Ann Kok Was Once Referred To As The "Third Ah Jie"?". Her World. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. ^ "当过"三片歌手" 郭舒贤: 知足感恩". omy.sg. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  3. ^ "From sex siren to aunty". AsiaOne Diva. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  4. ^ "郭舒贤演阿嫂 可望咸鱼翻身". Lian He Wan Bao. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  5. ^ "Best Actress Category Prediction". xinmsn.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  6. ^ "Nomination List for Asian Television Awards 2012". Asian Television Awards. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  7. ^ "亚洲电视大奖 郭舒贤一人获两女主角提名". omy.sg. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Trapped Minds 心魔". toggle.sg. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  9. ^ "台南人劇團". Tainanjen Ensemble. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Ann Kok Opens A Castella Cake Shop — in Johor Bahru". 8days. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Did you know that Ann Kok was once referred to as the "third ah jie"?". Her World Singapore. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Jesseca Liu, Ann Kok win All-Time Favourite Artiste awards | Star Awards 2024". klse.i3investor.com.