Interview: The Original Taipei First Girls High School Goddess Began Acting at Four to Repay Her Father’s Debts

Chen Chiu-yen began performing at four, made her film debut at nine and eventually became one of the leading stars of Taiwanese-language cinema. Behind that success, however, she says childhood became a way to help her father manage his debts.

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My father was never destined to make money.

Her father, Tien Ching, left a tea business to form the Bell Drama Troupe because of his passion for theater. Chen grew up around the Beitou studios, once known as Taiwan’s Hollywood. As a child performer appearing under the name “Little Yen,” she could earn a chicken leg for a stage appearance.

At nine, she acted in “Rainy Night Flower,” the troupe’s first Taiwanese-language modern film. Tien played the male lead, and the film became a major hit. But he sold the rights and failed to make money from it. Chen recalls that she attended Taipei’s Ming Chuan Elementary School for six years but completed less than one year because she spent nearly all her time acting.

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I had no childhood. At Ming Chuan Elementary School, I did not attend even one full year out of six. I was acting almost all year round.

Her mother eventually urged Tien to stop relying on his daughter’s labor, and Chen temporarily left show business to study. She passed the entrance exam for Taipei First Girls High School, earning a reputation as the school’s pioneering “goddess.” After graduation, she returned to acting because the family still needed her income. “The money I earned from filming was taken by my parents. I never asked for money from the time I was little. I was helping support the family,” she said.

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The money I earned from filming was taken by my parents. I never asked for money from the time I was little. I was helping support the family.

Chen later moved beyond child roles with “A Meeting with You,” in which she played both a wronged mother and her intelligent daughter. At 19, she was named one of the 10 leading stars of Taiwanese-language films. Her popularity expanded to television, especially through the series “The Seven Swords of Xiluo.” Years later, she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress for “Ah Fei,” a role she began filming when her daughter was one month old. She says that if a Chen Chiu-yen film festival were held, “Ah Fei” would be her choice for the opening film.

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If there were a Chen Chiu-yen film festival today, I would choose Ah Fei as the opening film.