10 things to know about Michelle Chong (she's more than just a comedian)

Michelle Chong is undoubtedly one of the biggest comedic names in Singapore. Since starting her showbiz career in the late 1990s, Michelle has played many memorable roles such as Lulu and Barbarella in the satire comedy The Noose to Ah Lian and OL Shirley Goh of late that have tickled us over and over again.

However, labelling Michelle as just a comedian is reductive of the work and accolades she has achieved. She’s also an actress, a director who has achieved multi-million dollar box office dollars, an artiste manager, and even a business partner who opened a restaurant with fellow celebrity friends. Here are 10 facts that you might not know about Michelle Chong, who turned 44 on April 22.

1. She's an award-winning actress

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With a career spanning over two decades, Michelle has garnered quite a number of accolades under her belt. She clinched the Star Awards Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste twice in 2005 and 2011 as well as the Best Comedy Actor/Actress at the 2012 Asian Television Awards for her characters in The Noose.

2. She's a comedic chameleon

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Speaking of The Noose, Michelle is a celebrated comedian known for her versatility in taking on different personas and making them hilarious.

The recognisable personas that Michelle has played include Lulu, Barbarella and Leticia Bongnino in The Noose and more recently as Ah Lian, Emily, Venus Seow and OL Shirley Goh.

3. She's an award-winning director too

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In 2011, Michelle started Huat Films and went behind the camera as a director. She went on to direct multiple films such as Already Famous (2011), 3 Peas In A Pod (2013) and Lulu The Movie (2016). Already Famous was selected as Singapore’s entry and almost made the cut for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 85th Academy Awards (Oscars) in 2013 while Michelle took home the Best Director accolade awarded by Canada International Film Festival in 2017 for Lulu The Movie.

4. Her works have raked in millions of dollars

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Besides being recognised for your craft, it is the cherry on the cake if you’re able to make money with your art as well. And Michelle seems to have gotten both down pat. Already Famous grossed over $1.04 million and Lulu The Movie was an even bigger box-office success, bringing in over $2 million.

5. She manages other artistes too

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After Michelle left Mediacorp to start Huat Films, she also started Left Profile in 2012. The exclusive boutique artiste management agency, as described on its website, currently manages Michelle as well as hosts Pornsak and Lee Teng. The agency also produces video content and does media relations.

6. She has a successful YouTube channel

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If you love Michelle’s brand of humour, tune into her YouTube channel where you can view more skits and videos that revolve around her various comedic personas. In an interview with The Straits Times,

Michelle had remarked that she was late to the social media game, which is a surprise seeing that her YouTube channel has amassed over 13 million views and over 73 thousand subscribers since its inception in 2013.

7. She loves her parents

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In a 2016 interview with 8 Days, Michelle alluded that her parents are well, like most parents who are always going to worry and fuss over their child.

While we aren’t sure who her favourite parent is, Michelle is especially proud of her dad’s cooking prowess going so far as creating a whole host of YouTube videos centred around his cooking skills. In fact, her father, Papa Chong as he is known, went on to be a regular fixture and fronted many other videos.

8. She has struggled with depression

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Despite her happy-go-lucky demeanour, Michelle has been combating depression since she was first diagnosed at the age of 17. In an interview with 8 Days, she shared that her success didn’t help lift the cloud of gloom, neither did acting and hosting. Eventually, she found what worked for her: scriptwriting, directing and movie-making as forms of creative outlets.

9. She has worked with notable celebrities

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Throughout her career, Michelle has worked with many celebrities who we are familiar with. She had worked alongside the late Alien Huang for Already Famous and later starred in a commercial for Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black opposite actress Uzo Aduba.

Most recently, Michelle was named the local brand ambassador for Lazada where you can catch her plastered alongside Korean heartthrob Lee Min-ho.

10. She opened a restaurant

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We’ve already established that Michelle is a #girlboss but did you know that she formerly opened a restaurant in Esplanade called Mischief that served up American food and booze? It was an endeavour she had undertaken with fellow actress Cynthia Koh and DJ Glenn Ong in 2015.

Michelle later shared in the above Instagram post that the business has since been sold in 2017.

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This article was first published in Her World Online.