Elaine Tan

Early life

Tan trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School before graduating from the University of Exeter with a degree in Law and completing the Legal Practice Certificate with Distinction.

Career

In 2001, Tan was cast in the lead role of Liat by Trevor Nunn in his production of South Pacific at the Royal National Theatre, and sang the song "Happy Talk" as a duet with the character of Bloody Mary, which features on the musical soundtrack recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

In 2006, she was nominated for Best Actress at the ECU European Independent Film Festival.

Her television credits include Nighty Night, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, EastEnders, 'Til Death, Boston Legal, Entourage, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Hawaii Five-0 and Doctor Who. She played Kelli Lin in Person of Interest, was Anne in Hand of God for Amazon, and 'Angeline Borgen' in the Norwegian crime drama Frikjent.

Tan played Lucy Chang in the HBO feature film Starter for 10, Sala Khan in the film Jewtopia, April in Gina Prince-Bythewood's Beyond the Lights, Xandra in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, and Elyse in Tully.

In 2023, Tan joined the cast of The Lazarus Project in the role of Zhang. In 2025, she joined the cast of Virdee as Rebecca Armitage.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. "Elaine Tan joins Sue Terry Voices!".
2. "Articles | Cornwall Campuses | University of Exeter".
3. Wolf, Matt. (13 December 2001). "South Pacific".
4. (18 November 2020). "South Pacific - 2002 National Theatre Record - Rodgers & Hammerstein".
5. (11 January 2008). "Elaine Tan at Gilty Couture / Golden Globes Lounge".
6. (20 October 2006). "'In the City' actress joins 'EastEnders'".
7. (10 March 2014). "Hawaii Five-0 – Hoku Welowelo".
8. (8 July 2015). "Series 9: Everything You Need To Know".
9. (3 July 2018). "Tully: New Trailer For Jason Reitman And Charlize Theron's Latest".
10. "Meet the cast of The Lazarus Project season 2".
11. (17 February 2025). "Virdee Cast: Meet the Bradford Crime Drama Characters".
12. (2 November 2024). "Li Chong".
13. https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item?q=all&p=487&item=101860
14. (3 April 2019). "Acquitted keeps you in suspense - the Norwegian American". The Norwegian American.
15. (8 March 2016). "BBC One - Doctor Who (2005–2022), Series 9, Sleep No More, Elaine Tan on escaping the Sandmen".
16. (4 April 2019). "Love, Death & Robots: Good Hunting - Recap, Review (With Spoilers)".
17. "Get Even".
18. (25 July 2022). "Meet Elaine Tan, British-Chinese Actress on 'Moonhaven' as Lone".
19. (17 June 2024). ""The Lazarus Project, Season 2" Episode 2, where love may break from repeats".
20. "Red Eye ending explained: Who is behind the murders? | Radio Times".