# Regina Lei

Regina Lei Jia-rui (Chinese: 雷嘉汭; born 2000) is a Taiwanese actress. She made her feature film debut as Kat in the zombie film The Sadness (2021) and rose to prominence with her role as Leena in the PTS series Port of Lies (2023), for which she was nominated for Best Leading Actress in the 59th Golden Bell Awards. She is set to make her Korean debut in Twelve in 2025.

## Early life and education

Lei was born in 2000 in Puli, Nantou, Taiwan, and grew up with a younger brother. She studied at a Buddhist school, and was a member of her high school cheerleading team. She later pursued applied Japanese at Kainan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 2022. In her freshman year, a friend of her mother who worked as a talent agent encouraged Lei to film an audition tape, leading to her casting as an advertisement model. She began working part-time in advertising in 2018, and accumulated around 40 advertisements over the next three years. She also started filming music videos, which she found enjoyable and sparked her interest in acting.

## Career

Lei decided to pursue an acting career after graduating from university, and made her debut in the horror anthology series 76 Horror Bookstore [zh]. She then made her feature film debut as the female lead, Kat, alongside Berant Zhu's character Jim, a couple trying to reconnect during a zombie apocalypse, in Rob Jabbaz's zombie film The Sadness. Han Cheung of Taipei Times praised her for doing a "satisfactory job" for a debut; while Jasneet Singh of Collider commended Lei's "emotional performances" that evoke sympathy from the audience as they "witness the ordeal through [her character's] eyes". She also appeared as the younger version of Christina Mok [zh]'s character in the SET series Love is Science? [zh]. She was named Top Talent by Taipei Film Festival in 2022.
In 2023, Lei delivered a breakout performance in her starring role as Leena, an Indonesian caretaker appointed as a court translator for a fellow Indonesian accused of murder in the PTS series Port of Lies [zh]. She was cast three weeks before filming after the original Indonesian actress was unable to travel to Taiwan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Lei secured the role by auditioning while wearing a hijab. To prepare for her character, Lei learned Indonesian, Javanese, and Arabic, and practiced Muslim customs for a short period. Lu Hao-ping of Global Views Monthly described her acting as "perfect", making her "seem like an Indonesian migrant herself"; while The Storm Media ranked her performance as the second best among the ensemble cast based on audience responses. She was also nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film in the 59th Golden Bell Awards with the role. The same year, she landed another starring role as Wang Yu-fan, a girl loved by Huang Kuan-chih [zh]'s character who seeks sorcery to win her affection, in the horror film Antikalpa [zh].
In 2024, Lei made a cameo appearance as a sky lantern saleswoman in the fourth season of the Japanese TV Tokyo series Recommendations for Solo Live Girls [ja], which was filmed in Taiwan. She is set to star in a leading role in the Taiwanese-Indian comedy film Demon Hunters, and will make her Korean debut with a main role in the U+ Mobile TV series Twelve. Lei studied Korean for a year and participated in auditions in South Korea to secure the role.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2021 | The Sadness | Kat (曾凱婷) |
| 2023 | Antikalpa [zh] | Wang Yu-fan (王羽凡) |
| TBA | Demon Hunters | TBA |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2020 | 76 Horror Bookstore [zh] | Hsiao Min (小敏) | Main role; segment: Hide and Seek |
| 2021 | Love is Science? [zh] | Young Yen Fei (顏霏) | Guest role |
| 2023 | Port of Lies [zh] | Leena (莉娜) | Main role |
| 2024 | Recommendations for Solo Live Girls [ja] | Sky lantern saleswoman | Cameo |
| 2025 | Twelve | Bang-wool (방울) | Main role |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 2024 | 59th Golden Bell Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film | Port of Lies [zh] | Nominated | |