Darren Chiu
BIOGRAPHY
Darren Chiu (Chinese: 邱凱偉, Chiu Kai-wei; born December 18, 1976 in Pingtung, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and television host who has also worked as a visual artist, producing album packaging and book illustration alongside his screen career. He is credited in some markets as Kai-Wei Chiu and performs under the single name Darren.
He entered the industry through variety television as a member of host Jacky Wu’s long-running on-air “family” of regulars, then moved into music as one half of the duo Wave Brothers, a project promoted by Jay Chou. His acting career took hold in 2013 with the TTV drama A Good Wife, in which he played Chou Shang-en. In 2021 he won Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series at the 56th Golden Bell Awards for the SET family comedy released internationally as U Motherbaker, where he played Su Bing Zhong. He reprised the role for U Motherbaker-The Movie in 2023.
His screen credits cross comedy, horror and romance. His film work includes The Rooftop (2013) as William, Secrets in the Hot Spring (2018), the Taiwanese BL feature My Best Friend’s Breakfast (2022) as Xiang Yi-da, and Where the River Flows (2025) as Major Shen. In 2026 he joined the Taiwanese BL series Wishing Upon the Shooting Stars as Uncle Hua, appearing in all twelve episodes. He is known for street dance, skateboarding, voice work and celebrity impersonation, a skill set he built during his variety-show years and still uses on stage.
In Wishing Upon the Shooting Stars he is listed among the supporting players, alongside Lee Lee-zen as Old He and Tsao Lan as Angela. The fantasy romance premiered on Thursday, March 26, 2026 on LINE TV in Taiwan with Ray Jiang directing. It follows He Xiang-yong, a laid-off office worker who returns from Taipei to an island hometown and wishes not to be recognised, and its story turns on his reconnection with Chen Hao-wei once the wish has come true. Jed Chung plays the adult Xiang-yong and Chu Meng-hsuan plays Hao-wei.
A Golden Bell winner from variety television took an uncle role in a twelve-episode BL series.
Before Wishing Upon the Shooting Stars, Chiu’s work ran through variety hosting, the duo Wave Brothers, comedy series and horror films.
The part follows his role in the 2022 BL feature My Best Friend’s Breakfast.
His acting timeline has a clear order. Television came first with A Good Wife in 2013, the same year as the film The Rooftop. The major award followed in 2021, and the next two years gave him a film sequel of the same comedy, U Motherbaker-The Movie, and a BL feature, My Best Friend’s Breakfast. His character names also show a move in age and standing: William, Su Bing Zhong and Xiang Yi-da, then Major Shen in 2025 and Uncle Hua in 2026, so his most recent parts carry a rank or a family title instead of a first name.
In my view, the spread of his work is what makes his list worth reading. He came to acting after years in variety television and pop music, and the range of parts he has taken, from a family comedy lead to a horror film to a supporting role in a fantasy romance, gives his list an unusually wide reach. If I were choosing where to start, I would take the prize-winning U Motherbaker for his comic side and then move to the 2026 series to see him in a supporting part.
PROFILE DETAILS
- Native Name
- 邱凱偉
- Real Name
- Chiu Kai-wei (邱凱偉)
- Nickname
- Li Jie (李杰)
- Pronouns
- he/him
- Born
- (Age 49)
- Birthplace
- Pingtung, Taiwan
- Gender
- Male
- Western Zodiac
- Sagittarius ♐
- Profession
- Nationality
- Languages
- Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Hokkien
- Skills
- Acting, Street Dancing, Skateboarding, Voice Acting, Impersonation, Illustration
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