Taiwanese former actress Joey Wong admits to having depression after leaving showbiz

Joey Wong addressed her sudden retirement from showbiz in 2004 during a traditional Chinese medicine forum at the University of California, Silicon Valley, on Jan 4.

The 58-year-old Taiwanese former actress-singer shared that when she debuted in showbiz at a young age, she wasn't doing something she was passionate about.

She said: "But you see, there are a lot of times when people have to do things they are not willing to, which turned out to be a good opportunity."

Joey debuted in the entertainment industry in 1983 in the Taiwanese film It Will Be Cold by the Lakeside This Year. Her breakthrough came in Hong Kong film A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), where she played the beautiful ghost Nip Siu Sin, which established her as a film icon across East Asia. Over the years, she played many iconic roles in films, often as supernatural beings.

She left the industry in 2004 after filming Shanghai Story and moved to Canada. In 2025, she was revealed to have opened a moxibustion therapy centre in Vancouver.

Reflecting on life in showbiz, Joey said at the forum: "As you know, being in this industry means that you can't sleep and eat properly; most importantly, my sleep schedule is all messed up. Despite that, for any opportunity that came my way, I treasured it very much, not because of whether I like or dislike it."

She added that she left at the peak of her career because she felt she was in her best condition then and wanted to leave a good impression on the public.

Joey said: "After leaving, I didn't think I wasn't an ordinary person. I always think I am just a common person. I started to reflect and search for an answer by asking myself, 'I have worked hard for so long, why do so many people know me, but I don't know them at all?' I kept thinking about this and started questioning who I truly am and my own problems.

"But I couldn't find any answers to my questions because it's impossible to think of an answer by myself. So during that period, I was depressed and suffered from depression. I was very disappointed because I couldn't find an answer to my questions."

Joey said she later found peace through religion and treatment from traditional Chinese medicine.

Taiwanese media reported that her revelation refuted earlier rumours that she left the entertainment industry in 2004 due to relationships issues, including with Taiwanese singer-songwriter Chyi Chin and Hong Kong businessman Peter Lam.

Joey and Chyi Chin had an on-and-off relationship from 1985 to 2002. In the early 1990s, while separated from him, she became a subject of public scrutiny after she had an affair with Lam, who was then married to Taiwanese actress Hsieh Ling-ling.

[[nid:727756]]

yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.