‧ Chinese Name: 柯佳嬿
‧ Date of Birth: January 10, 1985
‧ Place of Birth: Taipei, Taiwan
‧ Did You Know?
Alice Ko won the award for Best Leading Actress in a TV Series at the 55th Golden Bell Awards for her performance in "Someday or One Day," the second time she won the award since getting the nod for "Marry Me, or Not?" in 2016. She was spotted by a talent scout when she was 20 years old, entering the acting industry without any formal training. Today, she has become a household name in Taiwanese cinema.
Alice Ko is known as "Gwei Lun-mei Junior" for her youthful, clean image. In 2005, she was discovered by a talent scout at a Taipei Metro station and chosen to appear in Jay Chou’s music video for "Maple" as the female lead. She also went on to be part of a number of print and TV commercials. In 2006, she made her acting debut with the movie "Do Over."
Before that, she worked as a kindergarten teacher, but the reason Ko chose to enter the acting industry was not just a personal interest, but also the impact of her father's death, which made her reconsider how she could best provide for her family.
In 2007, she made a cameo appearance in the movie "God Man Dog," followed by the TV series "Police Et Vous" in 2008 and a starring role in the youth-oriented film "Miao Miao." In 2009, she appeared in the TV series "My Queen" and "Game Winning Hit," as well as the feature film "Monga," with the latter earning her a nomination for Best Actress at the 12th Taipei Film Festival.
In 2011, she starred in the movie "Night Market Hero," followed by the TV series "Office Girls," which saw her start to capture more attention among the general public. In 2012, she starred in the film "Bear It" and the TV series "Gung Hay Fat Choy," and has since continued her diverse career with performances in an array of films and television shows.
In 2015, Golden Horse award-winning director Wang Tong offered Ko a role in the film "Where the Wind Settles." That same year, she starred in the TV series "Marry Me, or Not?" in the lead role of Vivienne Tsai, winning the Best Actress award at the 51st Golden Bell Awards in the Television Series category the following year.
This was followed by nominations for Best Actress at the 21st and 22nd Asian Television Awards for her roles in the 2016 TV series "La Grande Chaumiere Violette" and 2017 TV movie "Welcome to the Happy Days."
In 2017, she commissioned director Gavin Lin to help with representation and established her own studio. This challenge also gave Ko the chance to figure out a working rhythm that was comfortable for her and learn to face conflicts with an attitude of calm, ease, and positivity. That year, she tied the knot with actor Hsieh Kun-da, to whom she remains married.
In 2020 she returned to television with the series "Someday or One Day," playing an introverted high-schooler, Chen Yun-ru, and a confident and attractive working woman, Huang Yu-xuan; exhibiting outstanding acting skills in her portrayals of these two vastly different characters, Ko walked away from the 55th Golden Bell Awards with the medal for Best Leading Actress in a TV Series.
Alice Ko has said that many of her roles have had some elements of her own personality, such as Lin Yi-nan in "Night Market Hero" and her confronting unfairness and the youthful innocence of the title character in "Miao Miao." But the one Ko felt the most kinship with was Vivienne Tsai of "Marry Me, or Not?," saying in her 2016 Golden Bell Awards acceptance speech that Tsai's "superficial stubbornness was a protective sheen masking inner vulnerability," hinting at the inner self that lies behind the brilliance she herself shows on screen.
In addition, the role of Chen Yun-ru in the TV series "Someday or One Day" led Ko to recall her childhood experience of being bullied. She has confessed in many interviews that her treatment at the hands of her peers had a tremendous impact on her in her teenage years, making her a gloomier person who found it difficult to socialize with others. After becoming an actor, even though she often appears in front of the public and interacts with people, she still has to find ways to adapt and deal with her nerves.
Her 15-plus years as an actress have helped Ko broaden her horizons, and she believes that the characters she plays are unusual because the audience can project themselves through her, and in the same way, she can keep exploring her own inner world through her various roles. Thanks to this, she has been able to find a long-desired sense of freedom. Through all her experience and her stellar performances, Alice Ko has become a diva of silver and small screens for a new generation.