Can speak fluent English, Cantonese and Taishanese.
She is of Cambodian, Khmer and Chinese descent.
She began acting in community theatre while attending L'Amoreaux Collegiate Institute and worked in a variety of television production jobs from the age of 14. She later studied radio and television arts at Ryerson University.
Her name comes from the Greek and means "torch", "bright", or is possibly related to "selene" (moon). In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War.