Chinese Name: 陸小芬
Birth Name: Chang Shu-fen (張淑芬)
Born: October 9, 1956
Place of Birth: New Taipei City (Northern Taiwan)
Did You Know?
After a hiatus of over 20 years from the film industry, in 2023, Lu Hsiao-fen won the Best Actress award at the 25th Taipei Film Awards for her role as Ah Rui in the film “Day Off.”
Lu Hsiao-fen was born into a mining family in Jiufen (九份), Ruifang District (瑞芳區), New Taipei City. In 1977, after graduating from a music program, she began her singing career. In 1978, she signed a contract with Taiwan Television and performed in various music halls.
In 1980, Lu Hsiao-fen’s first film was “On the Society File of Shanghai (上海社會檔案)” directed by Wang Chu-chin (王菊金), in which she played a young girl persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. The bold scene in the film where the female protagonist slashes her chest with a short knife, revealing her bare chest and blood flowing, sparked a high level of discussion in society at the time, and catapulted Lu to leading lady status. She went on to star in films such as “The Lady Avenger (瘋狂女煞星),” “Exposed to Danger (冷眼殺機),” and “The Pink Thief (艶賊),” and her image as a fierce and beautiful “revengeful female killer” was deeply ingrained in people’s minds.
It wasn’t until 1983, when Lu starred in “A Flower in the Raining Night (看海的日子),” a film directed by Wang Toon (王童) and adapted from a novel by Huang Chun-ming (黃春明), that her image as a glamorous actress was overturned. In the film, she played Pai Mei, a woman sold to a brothel by her foster father, who as a sex worker longed to become a mother. Her nuanced performance earned Lu Hsiao-fen the Best Actress award at the 20th Golden Horse Awards. She subsequently starred in a series of New Wave films, including “An Oxcart Dowry (嫁妝一牛車)” directed by Chang Mei-chun (張美君) and “The Woman and the Sea (望海的母親)” directed by Tsai Yang-ming (蔡揚名).
In 1987, Lu was part of the film “Osmanthus Alley (桂花巷)” directed by Chen Kun-hou (陳坤厚), adapted from a novel of the same name by Hsiao Li-hung (蕭麗紅). Lu Hsiao-fen played the role of Kao Ti-hung, a widow facing a difficult fate. Her superb acting skills showcased the inner suffering of the female protagonist, and Lu won the Best Actress award at the 33rd Asia-Pacific Film Festival for this film. The following year, she starred in the film “Spring Swallow (晚春情事)” directed by Chen Yao-chi (陳耀圻), playing a peasant woman who married into a wealthy family in the 1910s, but was discriminated against by the upper class due to her humble background. This film earned Lu her second Best Actress award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
In 1990, Lu Hsiao-fen significantly reduced her acting work and went to the United States to study drama, earning an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University. In 2001, Lu starred in the prime-time TV drama “Golden Branches and Jade Leaves (金枝玉葉)” on FTV. She took on the TV drama role for her father. Her father had jokingly suggested that she act in a TV drama so he could watch her on TV every day.
In 2023, Lu starred in the film “Day Off (本日公休),” written and directed by Fu Tien-yu (傅天余), playing the role of Ah Rui, a middle-aged woman who runs a traditional Taiwanese family barber shop. This was her return to the big screen after a hiatus of over 20 years. This film earned Lu the Best Actress award at the Osaka Film Festival and the Best Actress award at the Taipei Film Awards.
In an interview, when asked what kind of magic the film “Day Off” had that made Lu Hsiao-fen, who hadn’t found a good script for over 20 years, return to the film industry to play Ah Rui, a woman who has spent her life in a family barber shop, she said that she was deeply attracted by the story. Although the image of Ah Rui is a hair-cutting aunt, she is not a very sad character, but has a warm temperament.
Lu revealed that when the director was looking for this role, she couldn’t find a suitable actress for three years. She thought that she might have been chosen because her age was appropriate and she had a bit of a sunny temperament. She said that when playing the role of Ah Rui, she needed to break away from her past overt acting style, without exaggerated expressions and movements, and without gorgeous costumes, what was needed was a more restrained inner performance.
The director of “Day Off,” Fu Tien-yu, described Lu Hsiao-fen as “one of the most important actresses in the history of Taiwanese cinema.” During the New Wave period of Taiwanese cinema in the 1980s, Lu Hsiao-fen was not only a familiar face to households, but also a versatile and accomplished actress.