She is the granddaughter of Mr. Lai Man-Wai, who was a key figure of the first generation filmmakers, and has been referred to as "Father of Hong Kong Cinema". Gigi's father was born deaf and when her family went bankrupt, she entered the entertainment industry at the age of 14 to earn money to support the whole family.
Gigi is very well known for her beautiful image and her love of beauty, the Hong Kong media has given her the nickname "Goddess of Beauty" (愛美神). In the past, Gigi would turn down roles if they affected her appearance on screen. However, later in her career, Gigi had overcome her self-claimed "superficial and childish image" and began to embrace many critically acclaimed roles. She has since won a Best Actress award.
After entering the entertainment industry, Gigi first started out as a singer, she released many albums during the 1990s, in both Cantonese and Mandarin. Gigi has made several box office hits, especially for her role as the innocent and stuttering "Smartie" in the popular Young and Dangerous movie series.
She won the TVB Most Popular Actress Award in 2004 for her portrayal of a scheming and conniving concubine in the hit series "War and Beauty". Gigi has since become very popular with fans from Hong Kong and mainland China and many overseas countries.
After filming an 80-episode series The Gem of Life, she announced that she will not film any new series for at least one year because she needs to take care of her brother and his business after the latter was seriously injured in a car accident in 2007.
Gigi Lai
