From Haircuts To Hollywood

By Editorial Team

Henry Golding may look like he was born for the red carpet, but his journey to fame started far from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood — in fact, he once worked as a hairdresser on Sloane Street in London. Yes, before he became a movie star, Henry was trimming fringes and blow-drying bobs!

Born on 5 February 1987 in Betong, a small town in Sarawak, Malaysia, Henry has a mixed background — his mum is Dayak Iban from Sarawak, and his dad is English. He spent his early childhood in Terengganu, Malaysia, before moving to Surrey, England, at the age of eight. He went to The Warwick School in Redhill and has British citizenship.

At 21, Henry moved back to Malaysia to chase his dream of being on TV. He started off as a presenter on shows for ESPN, BBC, and Discovery Channel Asia, covering everything from football to travel. One of his biggest adventures was filming Surviving Borneo, where he lived in the wild and took part in the bejalai — a traditional Iban journey into manhood. He even carried his own camera gear and earned a hand-tapped tattoo on his thigh of a fig tree, a symbol of strength and adaptability.



But the real turning point came in 2017, when an accountant (yes, really) flagged him to director Jon M. Chu during a worldwide search for the lead in Crazy Rich Asians. Golding’s charm, jawline, and uncanny ability to wear a tuxedo like he was born in one landed him the part of Nick Young. The film became a cultural phenomenon, and overnight, Henry went from “that good-looking guy on BBC Travel” to “Hollywood’s next big thing.”

What followed was a genre-hopping film spree. In 2018, he played Blake Lively’s suspiciously suave husband in A Simple Favor. Then came Last Christmas in 2019, where he teamed up with Emilia Clarke to ask the pressing question: “Can romance bloom in winter while George Michael croons in the background?” (Answer: Yes, with cheekbones like his.)

Also in 2019, he joined Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, and Michelle Dockery in Guy Ritchie's crime caper The Gentlemen, where he proved he could deliver menace along with charm. And just in case anyone thought he was all dimples and no danger, he bulked up and dove into a katana-swinging role as the titular character in Snake Eyes (2021), a spin-off of the G.I. Joe franchise.

Never one to stay in one genre for long, Golding starred in Monsoon, a quiet, reflective indie film that took him to Vietnam, and more recently joined the cast of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), because clearly, "gentleman" isn't the only word that suits him. In 2025, he even reprised his role as Sean in Another Simple Favor—proving, once again, that murder and mystery are no match for his smouldering stare.



Off-screen, Henry lives in Venice Beach, California, with his wife Liv Lo, a Taiwanese TV presenter and yoga instructor, and their two daughters born in 2021 and 2023. He’s the kind of man who films documentaries in Borneo, hosts travel shows, survives the red carpet in style, and somehow still makes time to change nappies and attend school runs (presumably in designer sneakers).

And if you're wondering about the surname—yes, he’s heard it before. "Golding is really darn Jewish, isn't it?" he once remarked in an interview, sharing that his grandfather may have been adopted by a Jewish family during the war. It's a mystery even Henry hasn’t unravelled—though we’re pretty sure he could turn it into a Netflix limited series if he wanted to.

From humble beginnings with a pair of scissors to Hollywood premieres and martial arts stardom, Henry Golding is proof that charm, grit, and a really good travel wardrobe can take you anywhere.