Today we’d like to introduce you to PENG PENG.
Hi PENG PENG, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
When I was younger, I would sing and dance ever since I can remember. I did a theatre camp at the age of 8 and it blossomed my interest in acting and singing. I was invited to a local theatre production of an Alice and Wonderland Musical where I played the dormouse. However, I also grew up in an extremely athletic family where sports was always something we had to do.
I grew up as a competitive gymnast my entire life, as I fell in love with the sport. I started competing for the Canadian National Team at age 12 and was the 2012 Olympic Team captain for Canada and was a 2 time NCAA National Champion. However, my journey was not easy. I had to overcome many injuries throughout my career such as spondylolesthesis, spondyolitis (which took me out of all physical activity for a year, such as running, jumping etc.) 2 ACL tears, a meniscus surgery, and a thumb surgery. Leading up to the 2012 Olympics I had the highest amounts of points, qualifying me a spot on the team. However, I tore my ACL right before the London Olympic Games, taking me out of the running. Although I was unable to compete, Team Canada still invited me to be their captain as they saw my leadership skills and experience as a valuable addition to the team. My Olympic journey wasn’t normal but I was glad to have had an experience.
Once I attended UCLA I was still dealing with injuries here and there. Song writing was a big portion of my life that helped me get through all of that. When I was injured in high school, I took acting classes and picked up a guitar at that time as well to stay active and creative. Although my story started out in gymnastics, I always felt strongly for acting and music.
Now I have acted on “SpongeBob” and “Warped” on Nickelodeon, “My Perfect Landing” on Netflix and “Overcompensating” on Amazon Prime with A24. I have two released singles, “Pretty Please” and “Money On Me (Gold Over America Tour Mix)”. My debut music video for Pretty Please has now won awards at some film festivals, the most recent was winning the “Indie Short Film Music Video of the Year”, at the Los Angeles international film festival. I am working on an EP and my music journey has been so fun and amazing.
I have always had a love for creating and song writing and the fact that I am able to live out my childhood dream is unreal. I feel so grateful for the people I have met because both my parents are accountants and I had no idea where to even start. I am constantly working on my craft and I am finding myself as an artist every time I enter the studio.
I write music to inspire others as well as empower. I always want for listeners to put themselves in the song, so they can feel empowered and confident. I love to perform and dance and I can’t wait to perform on stage again soon.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road hasn’t been easy. I think coming from an athletic background and also being Chinese Canadian, I never had anyone to look up to who had done both athletics and arts. I also had to pause my dream once I was at UCLA because I wasn’t allowed to use my name and likeness outside of sports due to NCAA rules. It wasn’t until after school I was able to start my acting and music career. My UCLA family could not have been more supportive and most of my connections who I found were from UCLA. I now look up to people like “The Rock” who came from athletics and is a very successful actor and he even sings in projects like Moana. I would not be here if it weren’t for the support of my gymnastics family, my family and friends because they all knew I wanted to be in this industry and everyone has been very helpful leading me into the right direction, even if they didn’t know anything about it.
Once I decided to get on to social media as well and built a following of 5.5Million followers, it helped to give me exposure outside of gymnastics and show the world I was more than an athlete. The road feels constantly one where I am diving in and taking a leap of faith every single day. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way though because It just adds to my story. I am trying to learn how to enjoy the ups and downs of being an artist but it definitely is a lot different than gymnastics. In athletics we learn that we are 100% in control and we make everything happen. However in the artist and acting industry a lot of it is out of your control. But what I’ve learned from gymnastics is the ability to feel like a perfect 10, because perfect is always subjective, so as long as I’m proud of my work and I feel at my best, that is all I can ask for in my artist projects.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am most known for my gymnastics career as the 2012 Olympic Team Captain and 2 time NCAA National Champion. In my 6th year at UCLA, I scored 10 perfect 10’s in total. At the 2018 NCAA National Championship, I scored 2 perfect 10’s on both my events I competed and clinched the NCAA National Championship title by the smallest margin in NCAA History. However after my gymnastics career some may know me from TikTok for my transitions, acting in different projects such as SpongeBob (Nickelodeon), Warped (Nickelodeon), My Perfect landing (Netflix), or my artist career in singing with my debut single called “Pretty Please” where this music video has won various awards at film festivals.
I would hope my attitude sets me apart from others. My journey to get to where I am today has not been easy, I’ve had career ending injuries that I had to overcome, bullying where I had to learn how to be confident again as well as starting in an industry I knew no one in. I am most proud of taking a chance and really going after my dreams. I think having an athletic background sets me a part because of the mentality I approach things. I always try to give my 110% of my best self in all my projects and be kind to others along the way. I love working in teams and know that I would not be here if it weren’t for every person i’ve encountered no matter how big or small of the significance, I am always grateful. My coaches from UCLA, Valorie Kondos-Field, Chris Waller, and Randy Lane have really impacted me and shaped me into the woman I am today.
How do you think about happiness?
The people around me, like my family and friends, make me happy because that is the place where I can be myself the most. I am definitely a kid at heart and love to be playful and I am so thankful for the amazing people I have surrounded myself with. Making music, performing and acting also make me happy because those are the things I love to do. Also video games, except when I lose then I’m not as happy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://officialpengpeng.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pengpengclee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568309623565
- Twitter: https://x.com/PengPengCLee
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pengpengclee
Image Credits
Lexi Hunsaker
Paul Han
Close up with gold on face: Pretty Please Music Video, directed by Vanessa Zamarripa
