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As Barbie Hsu Passes Away, Here's a Look Back on Her Acting Career

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<div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-1" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/BbhDu2nFxDQ/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=971&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A4092229.1000000015%2C%22ls%22%3A5176.700000001118%2C%22le%22%3A5543.60000000149%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="746" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-1" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>Taiwanese actress and singer <strong>Barbie Hsu</strong>—<strong></strong>who portrayed the legendary and beloved <strong>Shan Cai i</strong>n the hit 2001 Taiwanese TV drama series <strong><em>Meteor Garden</em></strong>—died at 48. Her sister, Dee Hsu, confirmed the unfortunate news through her agent. She reportedly passed away due to pneumonia caused by influenza complications.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Here’s a look back at Barbie Hsu’s career:</strong></div><p>Barbie Hsu started her career in the industry as a singer. In 1994, she and her sister, Dee, debuted as a pop duo, S.O.S., which later became a mandopop band, ASOS. Their first album was <em>Zhanling Nianqing </em>and their last album was<em> Biantai Shaonu</em>.</p><p>Barbie Hsu also explored her talent in hosting. Still with her sister, Dee, she hosted the TV variety show, <em>Guess;</em> the Taiwanese entertainment news and variety show <em>100% Entertainment</em>,<em></em> and <em>Gourmet Secrets of the Stars</em>.</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="925" height="525" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nf-6WonT_dU?si=Pls_nbccJjj4tOHg" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-5" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUfehPJBuBF/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=971&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A5%2C%22os%22%3A5793595.6000000015%2C%22ls%22%3A5176.700000001118%2C%22le%22%3A5543.60000000149%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="880" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-5" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>She rose to fame with her leading role as Shan Cai in the 2001 Taiwanese drama series <em>Meteor Garden</em> alongside the “F4” (Jerry Yan as Daoming Si, Vic Chou as Huaze Lei, Vanness Wu as Meizuo, and Ken Chu as Ximen). Shan Cai is a poor but brave girl who stands up for what she thinks is right, capturing Daoming Su’s attention and love. With this portrayal, Barbie Hsu was nominated at the 36th Golden Bell Award for Best Leading Actress in a TV Series. With the fame of the series, a sequel of <em>Meteor Garden </em>was produced the following year with the same lead actors and Barbie reprising her role as Shan Cai.</p><div><strong>Related: </strong><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people/2025/2/3/ken-chu-posts-a-throwback-meteor-garden-photo-to-remember-barbie-hsu-1857" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Ken Chu Posts a Throwback &quot;Meteor Garden&quot; Photo to Remember Barbie Hsu</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738560417611MV5BYzQ0YTI3ZDUtYTJiMC00NjIwLTk1NmMtM2MwMGY0OWI5OGZkXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Meteor Garden</span></span></span></div><div> </div><p>After the success of <em>Meteor Garde</em>n, Barbie starred in a Chinese period drama series, <em>Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story</em>. She portrayed the role of Nie Xiao Quian, a woman who was taken by the Moon Kingdom when she was a child and later transformed into a fox spirit.</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738560314352MV5BZThlNjExZGUtNzdlMS00MDZhLWJmMzAtMTQxYmQ2OThjMTQ4XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story</span></span></span><em></em><em></em><strong><em></em></strong><em></em><strong><em></em></strong></div><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><p style="text-align:left">In 2004, together with Blue Lan, she starred in the Taiwanese romance TV series <em>Say Yes Enterprise</em>. The show was nominated for the Most Popular Television Series on the 39th Golden Bell Awards and the Best Television Series on the 40th.</p><p style="text-align:left">Barbie reunited with her <em>Meteor Garden</em> co-star Vic Chou in another Taiwanese TV series, <em>Mars</em>. In this series, Barbie played the role of Han Qi Luo, an introverted woman protected by Vic Chou from being sexually harassed. The two characters became friends and eventually fell in love.</p><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738560555768MV5BZjNhNjkzZGQtOTdjNS00MTFlLWJlNjgtNDVlZjk0OWE2MDY0XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Mars</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>She had her film debut through <em>The Ghost Inside</em>, a 2005 Chinese horror film that was said to be the most expensive horror film ever made during that time. The movie was about an apartment that was haunted by a mother who committed murder-suicide.</p><p>She was also a part of another horror film, <em>Silk</em>, a Taiwanese horror film that was submitted and played at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. It is about a team of ghost hunters enjoying themselves through paranormal activities.</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738560659818The_Ghost_Inside.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">The Ghost Inside</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>She returned to acting in a series via <em>Corner With Love</em> with Show Lo. Here, she played Xinlei, an intelligent, confident, and beautiful young woman born and raised with wealth. It is a meet-cute, rich-girl, poor-boy romance series broadcast internationally. For her portrayal here, she was nominated for Best Actress at the 14th Shanghai Television Festival.</p><p>Barbie enjoyed success, jumping from one project to another. She got a role in <em>My So Called Love</em> and the film, <em>Connected</em>. <em>Connected </em>was her first Hong Kong film and was in the action genre. It was also a remake of the 2004 American film, <em>Cellular</em>. For <em>Connected, </em>s<em></em><em></em>he was nominated for Best Actress at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards.</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738560850289L_p1012259954.webp" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Connected</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>She also ventured into comedy with <em>On His Majesty’s Secret Service</em> in 2009 where she starred opposite Louis Koo, her co-star in<em> Connected</em>. The following year, she was on a roll and starred in movies<em> Summer’s Desire</em>, <em>Hot Summer Days</em>, <em>Future X-Cops</em>, <em>Reign of Assassins</em>, and <em>Adventures of the King</em>.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-3" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiacDgsvFsi/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=971&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A3%2C%22os%22%3A5287344.6000000015%2C%22ls%22%3A5176.700000001118%2C%22le%22%3A5543.60000000149%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-3" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>But shortly before her marriage to Chinese entrepreneur Wang Xiaofei in March 2011, she worked on her last two projects, <em>Croczilla</em> and <em>Motorways. </em>In 2012, her last active year in the entertainment scene, she won her first Best Actress award for the movie <em>Croczilla</em> at the 4th Macau International Movie Festival. </p><p><em></em>She and Wang Xiaofei divorced in 2021; they had two children. Following their divorce, Barbie and her ex-boyfriend Koo Jun Yup (DJ Koo) got back together and tied the knot in February 2022.</p><div><strong>Related: </strong><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/fashion/2025/2/3/barbie-hsu-fashion-moments-1654" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Barbie Hsu’s Wonderful Fashion Moments to Remember Her By—From Shan Cai And More</strong></a></div>

<p>We honor the memory of legendary actress Barbie Hsu, who's well-loved for her role as Shan Cai in "Meteor Garden."</p>

We honor the memory of legendary actress Barbie Hsu, who's well-loved for her role as Shan Cai in "Meteor Garden."

A Look Back on Taiwanese Actress Barbie Hsu's Career

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A Look Back on Taiwanese Actress Barbie Hsu's Career

Tricia Matias

Published February 03, 2025 01:30 PM PHT

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Updated February 03, 2025 09:35 PM PHT

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