62 Notable alumni of
Central Academy of Drama
Updated:
The Central Academy of Drama is 246th in the world, 47th in Asia, and 6th in China by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 62 notable alumni from the Central Academy of Drama sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Zhang Ziyi
- Occupations
- actormodelfilm actordancerstage actor
- Biography
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Zhang Ziyi, sometimes credited Ziyi Zhang, is a Chinese actress, known for playing independent and strong-willed characters. Born and raised in Beijing, Zhang was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama in 1996. That year, she made her acting debut in the television film Touching Starlight (1996). After her breakout role in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home (1999), which won her Best Actress at the 2000 Hundred Flowers Awards, she gained international fame for her performance in Ang Lee's wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
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Yang Yang
- Occupations
- television actordancersingerfilm actor
- Biography
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Yang Yang is a Chinese actor. He is known as one of the "Big Four" or "Four Major Traffic Stars" alongside Li Yifeng, Lu Han and Kris Wu, due to their immense popularity and influence in mainland China. He made his acting debut in the Chinese television drama The Dream of Red Mansions (2010). Since then, he has received recognition for his roles in television dramas The Lost Tomb (2015), The Whirlwind Girl (2015), Love O2O (2016), Martial Universe (2018), The King's Avatar (2019), You Are My Glory (2021), Glory of Special Forces (2022), Who Rules The World (2022), Fireworks of My Heart (2023), The Immortal Ascension (2025) and films The Left Ear (2015), I Belonged to You (2016), Once Upon a Time (2017), Vanguard (2020).
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Gong Li
- Enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama
- Studied in 1985
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Gong Li is a Chinese-born actress. Known for her versatility and naturalistic performances, she is regarded as one of the best actresses in Chinese cinema. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
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Tiffany Tang
- Occupations
- actortelevision producer
- Biography
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Tang Yan, also known as Tiffany Tang, is a Chinese actress and singer. She is known for her roles in the television series Chinese Paladin 3 (2009), My Daughters (2011), Perfect Couple (2014), My Sunshine (2015), The Princess Weiyoung (2016), and Blossoms Shanghai (2023).
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Tang Wei
- Occupations
- modelactor
- Biography
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Tang Wei is a Chinese actress. She rose to international fame for her role in Golden Lion-winning Lust, Caution (2007) by Ang Lee, for which she was banned by the Chinese government due to the explicit sexual nature of her performance, until her comeback in Crossing Hennessy in 2010. She gained further acclaim for her performances in Late Autumn (2010), Finding Mr. Right (2013), The Golden Era (2014), Long Day's Journey into Night (2018), Decision to Leave (2022), and Wonderland (2024).
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Jackson Yee
- Occupations
- singeractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Yi Yangqianxi, also known as Jackson Yee, is a Chinese actor, singer, and member of the boy band boygroup TFBoys. After gaining fame as a member of the boy group TFBoys, his breakthrough performance in Better Days (2019) earned him multiple Best New Actor awards, including the Hong Kong Film Awards, the Hundred Flowers Awards, and the Asian Film Awards. He subsequently starred in A Little Red Flower (2020), Nice View (2022), Full River Red (2023), Big World (2024) and Resurrection (2025). Yee is the first post-2000 Chinese actor to surpass ¥20 billion in cumulative box office earnings and the first to win the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor.
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Cheng Yi
- Enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama
- Studied in 2008
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Fu Shiqi, known professionally by his stage name Cheng Yi (Chinese: 成毅), is a Chinese actor and singer. He made his television debut in Chinese television drama Beauty World (2011) and graduated from Central Academy of Drama in 2012. He first gained recognition for his role in Noble Aspirations (2016). He is also known for his roles as Yu Sifeng in Love and Redemption, Ying Yuan in Immortal Samsara, and Li Lianhua in Mysterious Lotus Casebook.
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Deng Chao
- Enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama
- Studied in 1998-2001
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorscreenwritervoice actorfilm director
- Biography
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Deng Chao is a Chinese actor and director. Deng received recognition for the television series The Young Emperor (2003) and Happiness as Flowers (2005). He later shifted his focus to films, starring in the box office hits Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010), American Dreams in China (2013), The Dead End (2015), for which he won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor, The Mermaid (2016), Duckweed (2017), and Shadow (2018). He also directed and starred in The Breakup Guru (2014), Devil and Angel (2015) and Looking Up (2019). He was a cast member of variety show Keep Running from 2014 to 2019. He has been a cast member of web show HAHAHAHAHA since 2020.
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Chen Xiao
- Occupations
- singeractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Chen Xiao is a Chinese actor. He is known for his roles in TV series Swordsman (2013), Legend of Lu Zhen (2013), The Romance of the Condor Heroes (2014), Nothing Gold Can Stay (2017), A Dream of Splendor (2022), and Legend of the Magnate (2025).
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Tong Liya
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Tong Liya is a Chinese actress of Xibe ethnicity. She first gained recognition in The Queens (2008), followed by roles in the television series Palace (2011), Beijing Love Story (2012), Ordinary World (2015), Nirvana in Fire 2 (2017), Great Expectations (2018), as well as the film How Long Will I Love U (2018).
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Mao Xiaotong
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Mao Xiaotong, also known as Rachel Momo, is a Chinese actress. She is best known for her supporting roles in Empresses in the Palace (2012), Love O2O (2016), and The Princess Weiyoung (2016).
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Jiang Wen
- Occupations
- film screenwriterfilm actorfilm directortelevision actorsinger
- Biography
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Jiang Wen is a Chinese actor and filmmaker. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. His representative works include In the Heat of the Sun (1994), Devils on the Doorstep (2000), The Sun Also Rises (2007), and Let the Bullets Fly (2010). Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum (1986), and more recently as Baze Malbus in the Star Wars film Rogue One (2016). He is the older brother of fellow actor Jiang Wu.
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Bai Baihe
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Bai Baihe is a Chinese actress. She is best known for her roles in films Love Is Not Blind (2011), Personal Tailor (2013), Monster Hunt (2015), and Go Away Mr. Tumor (2015), as well as the television series Surgeons (2017) and Sunshine by My Side (2023).
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Zhang Jingchu
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Zhang Jingchu is a Chinese actress. She first gained recognition for the film Peacock (2005), which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. Zhang is also known for her roles in the films Protégé (2007), Red River (2009), and Aftershock (2010).
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Jin Dong
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Jin Dong is a Chinese actor. He is known for his television roles in Legend of Entrepreneurship (2012), The Disguiser (2015), Candle in the Tomb (2016), Surgeons (2017), and The First Half of My Life (2017).
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Zhao Jinmai
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Zhao Jinmai is a Chinese actress. She is known for her role in the films Balala the Fairies franchise, and The Wandering Earth; in the series Growing Pain, A Little Thing Called First Love, Reset, The Princess Royal, Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, Drifting Away and Shine on Me. In 2019, Forbes China listed Zhao under "30 Under 30 Asia" category, for her professional contributions.
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Wang Kai
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Wang Kai is a Chinese actor. He is known for his television roles in All Quiet in Peking (2014), The Disguiser (2015), Nirvana in Fire (2015), Ode to Joy (2016), When a Snail Falls in Love (2016), Stay With Me (2016), Like a Flowing River (2018-2024), and Flight To You (2022), as well as his film role in The Devotion of Suspect X.
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Xin Zhilei
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Xin Zhilei, born Xin Lei (Chinese: 辛蕾; pinyin: Xīn Lěi), is a Chinese actress. She is known for her roles in the television series Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018), Joy of Life (2019), and Blossoms Shanghai (2023). Her notable films include Crosscurrent (2016), Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield (2017), and The Sun Rises on Us All (2025), for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.
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Chen Xingxu
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Chen Xingxu, also known as Oliver Chen, is a Chinese actor and model. He is known for his roles as Yang Kang in The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017), Gu Xiaowu / Li Chengyin in Goodbye My Princess (2019), Tan Xuan Lin in Fall In Love (2021), and Shaodian Youqin in The Starry Love (2023).
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Liu Ye
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Liu Ye is a Chinese actor. He made his feature film debut in Postmen in the Mountains (1999), and later on won recognition through critically acclaimed film Lan Yu (2001), which earned him the Best Actor award at the Golden Horse Awards. His other notable works include the film Cock and Bull (2016), as well as the television series Blood Color Romance (2005) and All Quiet in Peking (2014).
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Rosina Lam
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Rosina Lam is a Hong Kong actress currently signed with Shaw Brothers Pictures.
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Wei Daxun
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Wei Daxun is a Chinese actor, singer, and host. Wei ranked 85th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2019, and 56th in 2020. He graduated from the Central Academy of Drama.
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Tong Yao
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Tong Yao, also known as Tanya Tong, is a Chinese actress, best known in film for portraying Chen Shu in A Big Deal (2011), May in Snowfall in Taipei (2012) and Annie Yang in To Love Somebody (2014), and has received critical acclaim for her television work, particularly as Meng Xizi in Militia Ge Erdan (2012), Zhou Xiaobei in Three Bosom Girls (2014), Song Renping in Like a Flowing River (2018) and Gu Jia in Nothing But Thirty (2020).
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Liang Jie
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Liang Jie is a Chinese actress. She is best known for her roles in the dramas The Eternal Love (2017), Handsome Siblings (2020), and You Are My Destiny (2020).
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Chen Jianbin
- Occupations
- directorfilm directortelevision actorpedagogueactor
- Biography
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Chen Jianbin is a Chinese actor and director. He is best known for his roles in television series, including Cao Cao in Three Kingdoms (2010) and the Emperor Yongzheng in Empresses in the Palace (2011). In 2014, he broke a Golden Horse Awards record by winning the best actor, best supporting actor, and best new director all on the same night.
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Chen Daoming
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Chen Daoming is a Chinese actor. He has served as president of China Film Association since 2018.
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Hu Jun
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Hu Jun is a Chinese actor best known for playing dramatic roles in various films and television series. He has acted in a number of Hong Kong films.
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Vicky Chen
- Occupations
- television actorfilm directoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Wenqi “Vicky” Chen, better known by her stage name Wen Qi (Chinese: 文淇; pinyin: Wénqí), is a Taiwanese actress. In 2017, she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (2017) and became the second youngest actress who was nominated Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress for Angels Wear White (2017) when she was 14 years old. In 2019, Chen was named as one of the "New Four Dan actresses of the post-95s Generation" by CCTV-6.
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Qin Hailu
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorsingeractor
- Biography
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Qin Hailu is a Chinese actress, screenwriter and singer. She has won Best Actress at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award and Golden Bauhinia Awards.
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Zhang Hanyu
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Zhang Hanyu is a Chinese actor. He is known for starring in the films Assembly (2007), The Message (2009), The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel (2013), The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014), Operation Mekong (2016), The Captain (2019), and Chinese Doctors (2021), as well as the television series All Men Are Brothers (2011).
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Yuan Quan
- Occupations
- singeractor
- Biography
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Yuan Quan, also known as Yolanda Yuan, is a Chinese actress and singer. She graduated from the Central Academy of Drama where she majored in drama.
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Chen Shu
- Occupations
- actorsinger
- Biography
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Chen Shu is a Chinese singer and actress.
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Xinyi Zhang
- Occupations
- actorfilm director
- Biography
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Zhang Xinyi is a Chinese actress and director. She ranked 95th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2013, 99th in 2014, and 80th in 2015.
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Zhang Ming'en
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Zhang Ming'en, is a Chinese actor. He made his official acting debut in 2016 with the tomb-raiding series The Mystic Nine. He has also acted in the series Tientsin Mystic and Nice to Meet You.
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Xia Yu
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Xia Yu is a Chinese actor. At the age of 18 years, he rose to international prominence after winning the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival in 1994 for his leading role in the film In the Heat of the Sun and became the youngest actor to win that award in the history of the Venice Film Festival.
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Ma Ke
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Ma Ke is a Chinese actor.
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Yu Xiaoguang
- Occupations
- composertelevision actor
- Biography
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Yu Xiaoguang, also known as Ethan Yu, is a Chinese composer and actor. Yu is a former swimmer and sprint canoer. In 2006 he made a crossover from sports to films. Yu made appearances on many television series, most notably My Kung Fu Girlfriend (2006), Fighting in Peking (2009), Mao Anying (2010), The Happy Time of the Spicy and Hot Girlfriend (2012), City and Country Life (2014), and Namchow Mechanic Heroes (2015).
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Chen Hao
- Occupations
- modelsingeractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Chen Hao is a Chinese actress, singer, and model.
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Duan Yihong
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Duan Yihong is a Chinese actor best known for his role as Yuan Lang in Soldiers Sortie (2006), Long Wenzhang in My Chief and My Regiment (2009), and Hei Wa in White Deer Plain (2011).
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Edward Zhang
- Occupations
- television actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Zhang Luyi, also known as Edward Zhang, is a Chinese actor and director.
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Zhou Yun
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Zhou Yun is a Chinese actress.
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Hu Xianxu
- Occupations
- child actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Hu Xianxu is a Chinese actor.
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Tao Hong
- Occupations
- swimmeractor
- Biography
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Tao Hong is a Chinese actress and former synchronised swimmer. A National Games of China champion, Tao was part of the Chinese national team at several synchronised swimming competitions from 1987 to 1991, including the 1991 World Aquatics Championships.
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Wang Qianyuan
- Enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama
- Studied in 1993-1994
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Wang Qianyuan is a Chinese actor who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. He won Best Actor at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival for his role in the movie, The Piano in a Factory.
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Chen Baoguo
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Chen Baoguo is a Chinese actor, President of the China Film Performance Society (CFPS) and a Chairman of China TV Artists Association (CTAA) Actor's Committee. He graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 1977 and has since acted in many films and television series, including The Emperor in Han Dynasty, Da Zhai Men and Rob-B-Hood. He is married to actress Zhao Kui'e (赵奎娥). In 2020, he became the first Chinese actor to win a two-round "Grand Slam", after winning the "Best Actor" award at least twice at the Feitian Award, the Golden Eagle Award and the Magnolia Award.
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Ren Suxi
- Enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama
- Studied in 2005
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Ren Suxi is a Chinese actress. She made her acting debut in the drama film The Eighth Clay Man (2006), and has since gone on to appear in numerous movie and film titles such as Mr. Donkey (2016) and Looking Up (2019).
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Guo Tao
- Occupations
- film directortelevision actorfilm produceractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Guo Tao is a Chinese actor.
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Liu Yun
- Occupations
- actorperforming artist
- Biography
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Liu Yun is a Chinese actress.
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Zhao Jiamin
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Zhao Jiamin is a Chinese idol singer and actress. She is a former member of the female idol group SNH48, and came in first during SNH48's second general election.
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Gong Beibi
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Beibi Gong is a Chinese film and television actress. Beginning her acting career as a teenager after she was discovered for the lead role in the film You Are Not Sixteen, Gong later studied and graduated from the nationally prestigious Central Academy of Drama. She first gained recognition among audiences in China after starring in several popular TV series and feature films in both mainland China and Hong Kong. Due to her success while still a student, Gong was dubbed in the media at the time as "little Gong Li", who also graduated from the same acting college.
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E Jingwen
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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E Jingwen, also known as Vin E or E Bo (Chinese: 鄂博), is a Chinese actress. E is considered a "Sing girl"—an actress who first received media attention through starring in the movie directed by Stephen Chow, after she has known for her role as "Ru Meng" in The New King of Comedy (2019).
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Katherine Rose Morley
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Katherine Rose Morley is an English actress. She is best known for her television roles in The Mill (2013–2014), Vera (2015), Thirteen (2016), Last Tango in Halifax (2013–2020), Clink (2019), The Syndicate (2021), and the Black Mirror episode "Demon 79" (2023).
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Lü Liping
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Lǚ Lìpíng is a Chinese actress.
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Lin Peng
- Occupations
- actorsinger
- Biography
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Lin Peng is a Chinese actress. Peng began her career by appearing in a Jackie Chan film Little Big Soldier.
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Ai Jing
- Occupations
- paintersingeractor
- Biography
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Ai Jing is a Chinese singer, actress and painter. China's Northeast News called her "China's most talented female folk rock singer."
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Zhang Yibai
- Occupations
- film directorfilm producer
- Biography
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Zhang Xiaoling, known professionally as Zhang Yibai, is a Chinese filmmaker.
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Dai Yuqiang
- Occupations
- opera singer
- Biography
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Dai Yuqiang is a Chinese operatic tenor. He was the first and only Chinese student of Luciano Pavarotti. With Wei Song and Warren Mok he has performed abroad as "China's Three Tenors."
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Cai Shangjun
- Occupations
- film directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Cai Shangjun is a Chinese film director and screenwriter, part of the Chinese sixth generation of cinema. Most known for his 2011 film People Mountain People Sea, which won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the 68th Venice International Film Festival.
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Zheng Zhenyao
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Zheng Zhenyao was a Chinese film and television actress. Zheng started her career in the theater stage, but rose to fame through her role as a middle-aged lady in Sparkling Red Star (1974). For her performance in My Memories of Old Beijing (1982), Zheng won Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2004, she won Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress for Shanghai Story.
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Chen Maiping
- Occupations
- translatorwriter
- Biography
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Chen Maiping is a Chinese-Swedish writer and poet, known by the pen name Wan Zhi (万之). He has written mostly short stories, and has also translated literature from English and Swedish to Chinese.
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Yilin Zhong
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Yilin Zhong is a British-Chinese journalist, screenwriter and bestselling novelist. She is the author of eighteen novels, two film screenplays, ten books and many other work including poems and literary reviews. She currently lives in London.
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Zhang Meng
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Zhang Meng is a Chinese director and screenwriter. He graduated from the Chinese Central Academy of Drama. In 2007, he made his directorial debut with Lucky Dog (Erduo Da You Fu). His first documentary was called Mr. Zhang and His Dog (2008). The Piano in a Factory (Gang de qin) won the Grand Jury Prize at the Miami International Film Festival in 2011 and the award for best actor, for Wang Qian-Yuan, at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival.
