Born September 21st, 1990, Sonia Yuan grew up in California before graduating from the University of California Santa Barbara and working in Taiwan. A native speaker of Mandarin and English , Yuan first gained recognition when she starred in the hit Chinese romantic drama Summer's Desire. That same year, she went on to make her feature debut in Bo Huang's award-winning comedy, The Island, which grossed more than $200M worldwide. Most recently, Sonia can be seen starring in Hamaguchi Ryusuke's Academy Award-nominated Drive My Car. Yuan plays "Janice Chang," the English and Mandarin speaking female protagonist of the Chekov play, within the plot. Drive My Car received Academy Award Nominations in four categories: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and International Feature. It is the first Japanese film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.