Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is a Vietnamese-American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film Downsizing, in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting-actress awards. Variety wrote in 2022 that Chau had "been prolific in recent years" and that she had "an acclaimed turn" in the TV series Watchmen (2019) and Homecoming (2018–2020). Before Downsizing, she appeared in the television series Treme (2010–2013) and the film Inherent Vice (2014). In 2018, she had guest star roles in several TV series. In 2019, she played a supporting role in the limited series Watchmen, and had leading roles in the films American Woman and Driveways. In 2020, she had a starring role in the second season of the TV series Homecoming, having had a supporting role in its first season in 2018. In 2022, she appeared in supporting roles in the films Showing Up, The Menu, and The Whale with the latter earning her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Chau was born to Vietnamese parents who lived in a refugee camp in Thailand after fleeing Vietnam in the late 1970s. A Vietnamese Catholic church in New Orleans, Louisiana sponsored Chau and her family to move to the United States. She grew up in New Orleans and studied film at Boston University before pursuing an acting career.
The Instigators
(Dr. Donna Rivera)
Asteroid City
(Polly)
Inherent Vice
(Jade)
Kinds of Kindness
(Sarah / Sharon / Aka)
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie
Downsizing
(Ngoc Lan Tran)
Duck Butter
(Glow)
Artemis Fowl
(Opal Koboi (uncredited))
Driveways
(Kathy)
American Woman
(Jenny)
Market Hours
(Angela)
The Whale
(Liz)
Showing Up
(Jo)
The Menu
(Elsa)
Watchmen
(Lady Trieu)
A to Z
(Lora)
Late Night with Seth Meyers
(Self)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
(Julie Blanch)
The Night Agent
(Diane Farr)
The Late Late Show with James Corden
(Self - Guest)
$#*! My Dad Says
(DJ)
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
(Self)
Homecoming
(Audrey Temple)
NCIS
(FBI Lab Tech Molly Choi)
BoJack Horseman
(Pickles Aplenty (voice))
How I Met Your Mother
(Cook Pu)
American Dad!
(Korean Spy (voice))
Poker Face
(Marge)
Forever
(Sarah)
Good Luck Charlie
(Theresa)
The Sarah Silverman Program.
(Asian Masseuse)
Big Little Lies
(Jackie)