Hong Chau

Hong Chau (born 1979) is an American actress who is known for her appearance in the US film Downsizing (2017), for which she was nominated for several awards for best supporting actress. Before Downsizing, she appeared in the US television series Treme (2010–2013) and the US film Inherent Vice (2014). Chau was born to Vietnamese parents who lived in a refugee camp in Thailand after fleeing Vietnam in the late 1970s. A Vietnamese Catholic church in New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States arranged for a family to sponsor Chau and her family, and they moved to New Orleans. After growing up in New Orleans, she majored in film studies at Boston University and pursued an acting career. 2Background Hong Chau's parents were among the Vietnamese boat people who fled Vietnam in 1979, and Chau's mother was six months pregnant with her. Chau was born in a refugee camp in Thailand later in the year. A Vietnamese Catholic church in New Orleans, Louisiana organized for a local Vietnamese family, not related to Chau, to sponsor her family. Chau grew up speaking Vietnamese as her first language and later learned English in school. She was one of three children, and her parents worked in menial labor to ensure that the children went to college when they grew u