Taiwanese-Canadian model and actor collapsed on the set of a reality TV show while filming in China

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

Taiwanese-Canadian actor and model Godfrey Gao, the first Asian person to be the face of Louis Vuitton, died while filming a TV show in China on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old Gao collapsed in the eastern city of Ningbo while on the set of Chase Me, a competitive sports challenge show on China’s Zhejiang Television.

A statement from the network said Gao had slowed and fallen to the ground while running during filming, and that a hospital had confirmed it was a sudden cardiac death.

His management company Jetstar Entertainment said in a statement posted on the Twitter-like Weibo platform that Gao had collapsed and was declared dead after nearly three hours of medical care.

The statement thanked “every fan who loves Godfrey” and said his death was “extremely painful”.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1984, Gao moved with his family to Vancouver as a child, before returning to Taiwan in 2004 to work as a model.

In 2011, Gao became the first Asian model to be signed by Louis Vuitton, and he played the role of Magnus Bane in 2013 Hollywood action film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. He also acted in a string of TV shows, including the hit series Remembering Lichuan.