Heart attack claims life of North Van supermodel, Asian film star
Godfrey Gao, the North Vancouver-raised supermodel and star of Chinese cinema, has died after suffering an apparent heart attack while filming a reality TV show.
Gao collapsed Tuesday on the set of Chase Me, a competitive sports reality show for China’s Zhejiang Television, in the Chinese city of Ningbo.
Taiwan News, citing Chinese news outlets, reported that an audience member heard Gao shout, “I can’t carry on,” before he fell to the ground. “Cameramen swarmed around him and kept filming, apparently believing that his actions were part of the show,” Taiwan News reported.
The Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily reported that CPR was applied at the scene before the 35-year-old Gao was sent to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Jetsta, Gao’s management team, said in a statement that Godfrey died “following three hours of medical rescue efforts.”
“We are very shocked and saddened and even until now find it impossible to accept,” the statement said. “Thank you media friends and every fan of Godfrey’s for their concern. His management and team were present and his family were urgently rushed to the location.”
Shortly after, condolences began pouring forth from the film community, including from superstar Michelle Yeoh, who shared a photo with Gao to Instagram.
“Deep sadness that such a shining star has left us,” she wrote.
Actor Henry Golding, who starred in last year’s Crazy Rich Asians and has been filming in Vancouver this fall, also posted a message for Gao to Instagram.
“Very sad to hear of the passing of @godfreygao, a huge loss to the community,” wrote Golding. “He inspired so many to follow in his footsteps in film and entertainment, myself included.”
Gao was born in Taipei in 1984 to a Taiwanese father and a Malaysian mother but grew up in North Vancouver. He went to Queensbury elementary, Argyle secondary and studied at Capilano University before heading to Taipei in 2004 to start his acting career appearing in Taiwanese television dramas.
“I wanted to make a name first here (in Asia) before trying to go for Hollywood,” Gao told The Vancouver Sun in 2013. “Now I hope to get more work in North America, but I’d like to keep playing (the two markets) off each other.”
In 2011, he became the first Asian model to be signed by Louis Vuitton. He made his American film debut in 2013, starring as Magnus Bane in The Mortal Instrument: City of Bones, alongside Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower and Kevin Zegers.
Chinese official media Zhejiang News said Gao’s body would be transported back to Taipei on Wednesday.