K-pop Prodigy, Henry Lau Is Ready for a Globalized Entertainment Industry

Courtesy of Echelon Talent Management Being multi-talented is nothing unusual in Korean entertainment as Henry Lau can attest. The Canadian 30-year-old is one of K-pop ’s biggest stars, and is now simultaneously breaking into the Korean, Chinese and English-language film and TV businesses. The top Korean talent agencies typically cast their recruiting nets very wide, and Lau was found by SM Entertainment at a 2006 audition in Toronto. When offered a contract with the powerhouse agency he had to choose between a career in classical music, where he had expected to be a professional violinist, and an uncertain future as a singer in Korea. Making the decision harder, Lau actually has no Korean roots. He has the looks that could allow him to appear Korean, but is instead of Chinese descent — a second generation Canadian who at the time spoke no Chinese. Lau’s “culture shock” involved full days of education and training within the agency. The curriculum had him learning the Korean and Chinese languages, Korean culture and multiple different forms of dance and song. “It was like a big school,” Lau says. By 2008, the agency had packaged him as part of Super Junior M, a Chinese-targeted […]

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