Quick Facts
Biography
Sonija Kwok (Chinese: 郭羨妮, born on 22 July 1974) is a Hong Kong actress, worked for TVB till her contract expired in July 2015 and decided not to renew it.
She was born in Hong Kong and is of mixed 3/4 Cantonese and 1/4 English parentage. Kwok immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from Hong Kong. She initially attended the University of British Columbia, but transferred to Simon Fraser University completing her BA major in Psychology. After graduation, she joined Cathay Pacific as a flight attendant.
Pageant career
After a short stint as a flight attendant, she returned to Hong Kong in 1999 and competed in the 1999 Miss Hong Kong pageant. During the semi-final, she won the Miss Photogenic award making her a favourite to win Miss Hong Kong following the precedent since 1996. She subsequently won the title "Miss Hong Kong" in July 1999 as well as Miss International Goodwill and Miss Intelligence.Coincidentally, all the winners of the Miss Hong Kong pageant spanning 1997-2000 hail from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
After winning the "Miss Hong Kong" title, she participated in numerous TVB events. In February 2000, she represented Hong Kong at the 2000 Miss Chinese Internationalpageant in Las Vegas, Nevada.She was crowned as the winner and also won two other awards. She is considered one of the most successful winners, as she, Michelle Reis, and Grace Chan are the only three Miss Hong Kong pageant winnersto have held both titles. Reis was the winner for the pageant's inaugural year in 1988, while Chan won in 2014.After her success in both pageants, she represented Hong Kong at the Miss Universe 2000 pageant held in Cyprus. Although she did not feature in the top ten list, she was included in the top ten list of "Miss Photogenic" featured on the Miss Universe's website main page.She is the last representative from Hong Kong to participate in Miss Universe contest.
She has appeared on many TVB drama series and has starred in other TV shows, series, commercials, and entertainment functions, as well as being a spokeswoman for many beauty and other commercial products in Hong Kong. She has also appeared on TV series produced in mainland China.
Assaulted by her maid
On 24 March 2009, Kwok was attacked by her maid, who bit her arm, pulled her hair and held a knife to her neck. This followed Kwok's reporting to the police of an earlier incident in which the maid, apparently distraught over the break-up of a relationship, held a knife to her own throat and was calmed by Kwok. The helper was subsequently held in a mental hospital.
Personal
Kwok is married to a Chinese martial arts choreographer called Zhu Shaojie (朱少杰) organized in Guam in 2011. The pair met in a film shooting in China a year earlier.
She was linked to other TVB stars in the past including Deric Wan and Steven Ma.
Awards
- Miss Hong Kong 1999
- Miss Photogenic, Miss Intelligence, Miss International Goodwill, Winner.
- Miss Chinese International 2000
- Winner, Miss Internet Popularity, and Miss Vegas Gorgeous.
- Starhub TVB Awards 2010
- My Favourite TVB Female Character 2009: Ying Jing-Jing 邢晶晶.