ZHAO LIYING CHINESE ACTRESS BORN ON 1987 OCTOBER 16

ZHAO LIYING CHINESE ACTRESS 

BORN ON 1987 OCTOBER 16

Zhao Liying (simplified Chinese: 赵丽颖; traditional Chinese: 趙麗穎; pinyin: Zhào Lìyǐng; born on 16 October 1987), also known as Zanilia Zhao, is a Chinese actress.[1][2][3][4][5] She is currently the highest paid Chinese TV actress, earning over 5 million yuan per drama episode.[6]

Zhao is noted for her starring roles in New My Fair Princess (2011), Legend of Lu Zhen (2013), Boss & Me (2014), The Journey of Flower (2015), The Mystic Nine and Noble Aspirations (2016)

Early life and education[edit]

Zhao was Born on 16 October 1987 in Langfang, Hebei. She graduated from Langfang School of Electronic Information Engineering, a secondary professional training school.[7] She shortly obtained a secretary job at a local company in Langfang before she became an actress.

In 2016, it was revealed that she helped paved the big roads in her hometown which usually get flooded due to rain. Zhao was invited to be the spokesperson for her province in September 2016.

Career[edit]
2006–2012[edit]

In 2006, Zhao Liying participated in the Yahoo Search Star Game and became the final winner. She then signed with Huayi Brothers as a new talent, and filmed an advertisement with Zhou Xun. Zhao made her debut in the family drama Golden Marriage.

In 2009, Zhao took on her first historical drama role, the gentle and demure Ling'er in The Firmament of The Pleiades. The series was broadcast on Japanese channel NHK and earned critical acclaim.[8][9]

Zhao first started to gain recognition from mainland audiences in the 2010 drama The Dream of Red Mansions, a television series adaptation based on the novel of the same name by Cao Xueqin.[10][11][12][13][14]

In 2011, she signed with Hairun Movies and Television Production Co. LTD. She then rose to fame starring as Princess Qing'er in New My Fair Princess.

In 2012, Zhao starred in her first lead role in Cuo Dian Yuan Yang, where she played double roles. The drama was very well received and further boosted her fame and her recognition as an actress.

2013–2014[edit]

Zhao's breakthrough role was in Legend of Lu Zhen, where she played the smart and kind Lu Zhen, who worked her way up to become the first female prime minister. The drama aired in May 2013, capturing first-place spot among TV show ratings, and quickly gained one of the highest viewership ratings of the year. Broadcasting rights to the show were also, sold to Japan, Malaysia and South Korea, and achieved high ratings in South Korea. For her performance in the drama, Zhao won the Favorite New Artist at the 4th TV Drama Awards, the Most Popular TV Actress at the 4th LeTV Awards and Favorite Actress for the mainland region at the Tudou Awards.[15][16]

In July, she starred in mythology series The Legend of Chasing Fish, which was also a commercial hit. In August, she starred in Palace: Lock Sinensis, the fourth and final installment of the Gong series by Yu Zheng. Opposite to her usual sweet and nice image, Zhao plays the scheming and evil princess, Liu Li. This further accentuated her acting skills.

Zhao further solidified her popularity with two dramas in 2014; Wife's Secret and Boss & Me. Her works are particularly acclaimed, with all both yielding high ratings. In particular, the romantic-comedy drama Boss & Me, based on Gu Man’s popular novel Shan Shan Comes to Eat was particularly popular with the audience and boosted Zhao's fame.

 The drama series was not only popular in mainland China (achieving #1 spot in TV ratings throughout its run), but also garnered a fanbase in countries like Russia, America and Japan. Zhao's soaring popularity thanks to her various successful acting projects allowed her to be crowned the 

"Golden Eagle Goddess" of 2014 at the 10th China TV Golden Eagle Awards where she performed as the opening act to the ceremony. The drama also earned her the Most Popular Actress awards from both iQiYi All Star Carnival and Anhui’s TV Drama Awards

The same year, she set up her personal studio under Hairun Media.

2015–2016[edit]

On 9 June 2015, the fantasy-wuxia drama The Journey of Flower starring Zhao and Wallace Huo premiered on Human TV. She plays the ill-fated but kind orphan Hua Qiangu. The series became a commercial hit, capturing the first place spot among TV show ratings in the province of Hunan, and online views went on to achieve a total of 18 billion views. The success of the drama brought Zhao's career to a greater height.[17][18] At the 2015 Macau International Movie Festival, Zhao was awarded Best TV Actress.

In July, Zhao starred in workplace romance-comedy Best Get Going, portraying the innocent and kind intern Song Nuan. The drama series achieved an average ratings of 1.2 on Jiangsu Television and placed first in its ratings slot nationally. She then starred in fantasy wuxia drama Legend of Zu Mountain alongside William Chan. The drama premiered on online platform iQiyi. It was later aired offline on Anhui Television in 2016.

At the iQiyi All Star Carnival held on December 5, 2015, Zhao was named the Most Popular Actress alongside The Journey of Flower co-star Wallace Huo who bagged Most Popular Actor. She was also awarded the Ratings Magnet Award and the Special Contribution of the Year at the 7th TV Drama Awards held on December 19.

In January 2016, Zhao was crowned "Weibo Queen" and "Weibo Goddess". She also won the Most Popular Actress from Tencent Star Award.

In February, it was announced that Zhao would star in Eternal Wave along with Aaron Kwok. The movie is about Communist Party undercover agents operating in Shanghai in the 1930s against the Japanese, and Zhao plays a CPC agent.

In March, Zhao reunited with Boss & Me co-star Hans Zhang in romantic comedy film The Rise of a Tomboy, playing a tough-nerd-lady that believes love can be calculated through an equation.

In April, she was cast alongside Lin Gengxin in Princess Agent, in the character of Chu Qiao who transforms from a lowly slave to a formidable warrior on the battlefield. Broadcasting rights to the drama were bought by Hunan TV even before filming commences in May, due to Zhao's popularity and star power. The drama is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2017.

In June, Zhao was specially invited to guest-star in The Mystic Nine, as the love interest of Fo Ye (played by her Legend of Zu co-star William Chan). The web drama achieved success, setting a record for the most number of online views garnered in a day and also captured first-place spot among TV show ratings.[19] Her appearance in the drama helped boosted the ratings and viewership drastically.

She was then cast as one of the two female leads, Bi Yao in the xianxia drama Noble Aspirations, based on the popular novel Zhu Xian written by Xiao Ding. Said to be the most anticipated drama of the year, Noble Aspirations premiered on 31 July to great reception, placing first in ratings and receiving positive critics.[20]

On September 2, the youth nostalgia film Days of Our Own was released; Zhao stars in the film with Kimi Qiao as a couple. She also sung the theme song for the movie, titled "Ten Years".

In her first war drama Rookie Agent Rouge, Zhao plays the hot-blooded and chivalrous female agent Yan Zhi. The drama premiered on JSTV and CCTV simultaneously on September 27.

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year	Title	Chinese Title	Role	Notes
2007	Mudan Pavilion	《镖行天下之牡丹阁》	Xiao Hong
2008	Ten Warriors in Mashi Mountain	《马石山十勇士》	Ying Zi
	Love Killed Nine River Hall	《爱杀九河堂》	You Lan
2013	Palace: Lock Sinensis	《宫锁沉香》	Liu Li
2015	Crazy New Year’s Eve	《一路惊喜》	Li Nana
2016	Royal Treasure	《极限挑战之皇家宝藏》	Princess Baihua
	The Rise of a Tomboy	《女汉子完美恋人》	He Xiuwu
	Days of Our Own	《我们的十年》	Zhang Jingyi
2017	Eternal Wave	《新永不消逝的电波》	He Lanfang