Zine Tseng
Zine Tseng is a Taiwanese actress best known for her role as Ye Wenjie in the American Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem.
Early life
Tseng was born in 1993 or 1994 in the Tamsui District of New Taipei City, Taiwan, to a Taiwanese father and Hunanese mother. She began practicing martial arts at a young age due to the influence of her grandfather, including learning Northern Praying Mantis and nunchucks. She split her childhood time between Taiwan and China, and later moved to the United States, where she completed high school. Tseng continued her studies at the USC School of Dramatic Arts in 2013 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in theater. From 2017 to 2019, she starred in David Henry Hwang's play Chinglish on the invitation of a friend, which sparked her interest in acting. Instead of returning to Taiwan to start a cafe in Taitung City as initially planned, she enrolled at USC again to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in acting and intended to pursue a career in stage performances. However, she deferred her studies for a year in 2021 due to COVID-19 and ultimately quit the program in her second year when she was cast in 3 Body Problem.Career
Tseng made her onscreen acting debut with the 2024 American Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem, adapted from the Chinese novel of the same name. She shared a main role with Rosalind Chao, portraying the younger version of Ye Wenjie, a Chinese astrophysicist who contacted extraterrestrial beings during the Cultural Revolution. While still enrolled at USC in 2021, Tseng was invited by a classmate who majored in directing to audition for the role, and she was selected by director Derek Tsang from a pool of 3,000 contestants. She was required to move to London for an eight-month shoot, leading her to discontinue her master's studies. Tseng also worked on the Mandarin dialogues for the scenes set in China. Her performance was critically acclaimed, with Palmer Haasch of Business Insider calling it "a brilliant debut performance" and Therese Lacson of Collider describing it as "magnificent", and it earned her Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series at the 1st Gotham TV Awards.Tseng signed with Artist International Group in August 2023, and she has expressed interest in making her debut in Taiwanese cinema. In 2024, Tseng was cast in a lead role as Princess Gulun Shou'an, a Chinese scholar and martial artist, in Guy Ritchie's upcoming series Young Sherlock.