Tracy Chou Tsai-shih (Chinese: 周采詩; born 10 January 1983) is a Taiwanese actress. Beginning her modeling career in 2004, Chou made her acting debut in 2006 with the PTS television series Merry Me. She subsequently landed starring roles in several television dramas, including Hot Shot (2008), Bitter Sweet (2015), The Love Song (2016), and The World Between Us (2019). In 2022, she received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film in the 57th Golden Bell Awards for her triple roles in the HBO Asia series Twisted Strings.
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Early life and education
Chou was born on 10 January 1983. Her mother is a high school teacher, and her family resided in Taichung. She studied Japanese at Fu Jen Catholic University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts. While in university, she was discovered by a talent scout and invited to film an advertisement with Jordan Chan. She began working as a model and filming advertisements starting from 2004. After signing with a talent agency, she pursued an acting career, a decision she described as "being just for fun".
Career
Chou made her acting debut in the PTS television series Merry Me, and starred in two other series, Daughter of the Sun and Wings of Angel, the following year. She also appeared in Lee Kang-sheng's romance film Help Me Eros in the same year. She gained public recognition for her role in the 2008 sports drama Hot Shot alongside Jerry Yan, followed by a lead role in Giddens Ko's segment of the 2009 romance anthology film L-O-V-E. Her performance in Hot Shot faced criticism, leading her to consider quitting showbiz at that time. In 2009, she was sued by her talent agency Rock Records for breaching her contract by accepting job offers outside the agency (including appearing in the music video of Yoga Lin's "Fairy Tale") and for refusing to film in China. She paused her career during the lawsuit and returned to showbiz in 2010 after winning the case. She landed two main roles in Calling for Love and Channel-X in that year, followed by The Pop Can Boy in 2011. In 2012, Chou secured a main role as Seiko Itō, the Chinese-Japanese lover of Kai Hsiu's character, in the romance series Alice in Wonder City, a role she performed primarily in Japanese, a language in which she was fluent due to her university education. She also began to star in feature films after leaving her talent agency, including in the sports drama film Viva Baseball that year and in Henry Chan's 2013 romantic comedy 100 Days alongside Johnny Lu and Akira Chen. In 2014, she played the sister of Lee Wei's character, who appeared only in flashback scenes, in the drama series Lovestore at the Corner.
