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, according to a report in the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily.
Gao collapsed Tuesday on the set of Chase Me, a competitive sports reality show for China鈥檚 Zhejiang Television, in the Chinese city of Ningbo.
Taiwan News, citing Chinese news outlets, reported that an audience member heard Gao shout: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 carry on,鈥� before he fell to the ground.
鈥淐ameramen swarmed around him and kept filming, apparently believing that his actions were part of the show,鈥� Taiwan News reported.
Apple Daily reported that CPR was performed at the scene before the 35-year-old Gao was sent to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
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 TV dramas.
鈥淚 wanted to make a name first here [in Asia] before trying to go for Hollywood,鈥� Gao told the Vancouver Sun in 2013. 鈥淣ow I hope to get more work in North America, but I鈥檇 like to keep playing [the two markets] off each other.鈥�
