Chantal Ughi

Chantal Ughi is a multi-lingual international actress born in New York from a French mother and an Italian father and raised in Italy. She speaks Fluent Italian, French, English and conversational Spanish and Thai. Actress, film-maker and Muay thai World champion, martial artist 12th khan Muay Boran and Thai swords experience, Chantal studied piano and followed her relative Uto Ughi, violin player, at an early age. She also played tennis from the age of 7 years old to 14, and just quit before turning pro. She then dropped tennis and music and at 17 years old started modeling and traveling Europe, Paris, London, Madrid and Tokyo, Japan. At the same time she pursued her passion for acting and photography by going to Acting school and taking photographs. She soon moved to Rome where she got her first acting role in the movie "Traveling Companion", starring Asia Argento and French actor Michel Piccoli, (Official Selection @ the Cannes International Film Festival). She quickly became he muse of many European film directors such as Peter Del Monte, Citto Maselli, G. Piccioni, Fulvio Ottaviano. She showcased her talent in both drama and comedy movies through many leading and supporting roles in internationally acclaimed European and Italian movies like "Not Of This World", starring Margherita Buy and Silvio Orlando (United Artists Release and winner of the Montreal World Film Festival and the AFI Los Angeles Film Festival),"Love in The Mirror" starring Peter Stormare (Dancer In The Dark), the Italian Academy Award Winner "Growing Artichokes in Mimongo, the critically acclaimed comedy "But We Only Made Love", where she plays Corinna, an actress that every week takes a train to go to Rome to audition, but she never gets a part because she is too tall, "Albania Blues" where she plays Aida, a refugee' from Albania that made it to the South coast of Italy with the dream of becoming a TV star, and lately the Italian period feature "Bell'E Poker". After an Intensive Shakespeare Program @ The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London RADA, like many other artists Chantal decided to move to New York City, where she immediately landed a leading role in the romantic comedy "Big Apple" (Audience Award @ the Las Vegas Independent International Film And Video Festival), aka "Freax and the City" European DVD release, which she also help produce. In New York Chantal's also decided to develop her talent for photography and Film directing. Her debut film "La Mia Mano Destra" (My Right Hand) won for Best Short @ the Brooklyn International Film Festival, was in competition @the Capalbio International Film Festival in Tuscany and @ the Arcipelago International Film Festival in Rome, Italy."Voices Underground" is her first documentary film (New York Turkish Film Festival, Arlene's Grocery's Picture Show). Her Fine Art photographs have been shown in personal and group exhibitions around the city (Photo district Gallery in Chelsea among others). During the filming of her documentary Voices Underground, Chantal got in touch and became part of the New York avant-garde music scene._As a vocalist she recorded and played with the Nublu Orchestra, Ilhan Ersahin, Butch Morris's Chorus of Poets, Bill Ware's Urban Vibes, Sasa Crbonja from Organic Grooves, and was the lead singer of the band 'In Flagranti Live'.

Chantal was always fascinated by martial arts, Bruce Lee and Wing Chun Kungfu. She started Taekwondo classes and soon passed the first-grade Taekwondo belt. In 2000, Chantal moved to New York where she fell in love with the toughest of all martial arts, Muay Thai. Chantal first started to study Muay Thai in 2002 with Kru Phil Nurse (now coach of many MMA fighters like George San Pierre), in the basement of World gym on Mercer Street in The West Village. Phil opened his own gym, The Wat, later that year and Chantal followed. In 2006 Chantal had her first amateur fight at the WKA Amateur tournament in Virginia. Chantal lost her first fight on points but became hooked, The adrenaline that she experienced, she wanted to go back in the ring again. Chantal went back the next year and won.

In January 2008 during a short trip To Thailand Chantal started training and fighting Muay Thai to follow her dream of becoming a professional Muay Thai fighter and so far she had 68 Muay Thai fights, 45 Wins 22 Losses and became 7 X World champion. Chantal quickly escalated the World Muay Thai rankings, winning her first Professional World Title bout, WPMF (World Professional Muay Thai Federation), in December 2008 at the prestigious King's Birthday Cup in Bangkok. She then became 2 X WPMF, 3 x WMF, and WMA and WMO pro-am World champion. In June 2009 Alias /Il Manifesto published Chantal's Diary of a Thai boxer 'Never Lose Your Temper'. She also has a featured interview on Italian magazine "Fight" issue of February 2010 and a featured interview 'From New York to Nak Muay' on Australia world known John Tozeland Wmmv magazine.

A talented actress, Chantal has recently returned to acting. She recently had a featured role in the movie The Impossible starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts. She has also been featured in Ridley's Scott 2017 All The Money In The World nominated for 2018 Academy Awards.

The Award Winning Documentary Film Goodbye darling I'm Off To Fight, (2017) that tells her life story and where she plays herself, won Best Documentary and Jury Special Mention at the prestigious Biografilm festival and many other prizes at Film Festivals across the World. The film was nominated for the prestigious Italian Nastri D'Argento for Best Documentary, for the Italian Academy awards and has been distributed by I Wonder Pictures. A certified Kru by the prestigious WMF and KMA association of the National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Chantal has taught female Muay Thai in the US and Muay Thai seminars around the world.

Based between Rome and Los Angeles, Chantal divides herself between training and teaching Muay Thai and auditioning for movies in the USA, and her theatrical agents in Rome, Paris, and London.

Her dream is to be a Superhero in the next Marvel series and to land a leading role in a Quentin Tarantino movie or opposite Woody Allen.