Xu Jinglei

Xu Jinglei (Chinese: 徐静蕾, born 16 April 1974) is a Chinese actress and film director.[1] She was hailed as one of the Four Dan Actresses in China. In 2002, Xu won the Huabiao Award for Outstanding New Actress for her performance in I Love You and the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress for Spring Subway. The same year, she won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Far From Home.

Xu Jinglei
Born (1974-04-16) April 16, 1974
Alma materBeijing Film Academy
Occupation
Years active1994–present
AwardsSilver Shell for Best Director
2004 Letter from an Unknown WomanHuabiao AwardsOutstanding New Actress
2003 I Love You

Golden Rooster AwardsBest New Director
2003 My Father and I
Best Supporting Actress
2003 Far From Home

Hundred Flowers AwardsBest Actress
2003 Spring Subway

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese徐靜蕾
Simplified Chinese徐静蕾
Musical career
LabelsBeijing Kaila Pictures Co., Ltd.

Early life and education

On April 16, 1974, Xu was born in Beijing, China. Xu graduated from Beijing Film Academy in 1997.[2] She later returned as a teacher at the Performing Department.[3]

Career

Acting career

Xu Jinglei rose to fame in China with the television series A Sentimental Story (1997), where she played a policewoman who falls for a gangster.[4] Thereafter, she starred in romance film Spicy Love Soup (1997), where she won the Society Award at the Golden Phoenix Awards for her performance.[3]

In 1998, Xu and actor Li Yapeng paired up in Cherish Our Love Forever, a story based on the life and love between a group of young college students. The television series struck a chord with young audiences and became a massive hit in China, where Xu and Li were hailed as the "Nation's Couple".[5] The two would later pair up again for the film sequel Eternal Moment (2011), set ten years after the drama.[6]

Xu solidified her success in 2002 with the films Spring Subway and I Love You, both popular hits in China and particularly with younger audiences.[7] Along with Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei, Xu was hailed as one of the Four Dan Actresses in China.[7] Xu won the Huabiao Award for Outstanding New Actress for her performance in I Love You and the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress for Spring Subway.[8] The same year, she won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Far from Home.[9]

In 2006, Xu starred alongside Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung and Shu Qi in the crime drama Confession of Pain.[10] She received her first acting award in Hong Kong; the year's Most Attractive Actress at the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers (HKSC) Awards.[11] Xu was then cast as the female lead in the war epic, The Warlords (2007) by Peter Chan.[12]

After an extended hiatus from acting, Xu made a comeback in the science fiction thriller Battle of Memories (2017).[13][14]

Directing career

Xu made her directorial debut with the film My Father and I (2003), where she also starred as the lead actress. The film, which tackled the delicate relationship between a Chinese father and his daughter, received widespread critical acclaim and won her a Golden Rooster for Best Directing Debut.[15][7] Her second directorial work, Letter from an Unknown Woman (2004) was a romantic story based on the classic novel of Stefan Zweig, and won her the Silver Shell for Best Director at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.[15][16]

After two successful art-house films, Xu had a shot in innovative film making in Dreams Come True (2006), an experimental film shot in one setting.[17] However unlike her previous two films, Dreams Come True was panned by critics.[18]

Xu became the first female director in China whose films gross more than 100 million yuan, for her 2010 film Go Lala Go!.[15][4] The film, adapted from Li Ke's bestseller of the same name which is about a young woman's growth in society, is Xu's first attempt at commercial production.[19]

Xu continued to direct romantic features Dear Enemy (2011) and Somewhere Only We Know (2015), which were moderately successful at the box office.[20][21][22]

Deviating from her former productions which mainly focuses on romance and family, Xu returned with action cop thriller The Missing in 2017.[15] She also announced that she would be producing an alien-themed online comedy series based on the popular online novel "My 200-Million-Year-Old Classmate".[15]

Other activities

Xu is popular in China, and in mid-2006, her Chinese-language blog had the most incoming links of any blog in any language on the Internet, according to blog search engine Technorati.[23][24]

In 2006, Xu founded her own production company, Kaila Pictures Corporation.[25] She uses the same name for her monthly digital magazine, which was first launched in April 2007.[26] In 2010, she launched her first jewelry line which was sold on online stores.

Xu also launched an education and film fund with 200,000 yuan (US$25,000) to support braille publications, education for the children of migrant workers, and filming.[27]

In 2008, Xu was awarded the honorary title of "China Environmental Ambassador" at an awarding ceremony cosponsored by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the United Nations Development Program on World Earth Day.[28]

Filmography

Film

YearEnglish titleChinese titleRoleNotes
1996Tough Guy忽然丈夫
1997 My Love to Tell You我的爱对你说
Life Express一夜富贵
Spicy Love Soup愛情麻辣燙Lin Yuqing
1998The Storm Riders風雲Feng Wu
2002Dazzling花眼Xiao Hao
Spring Subway開往春天的地鐵Xiao Hui
Far From Home我的美丽乡愁Xue'er
2003I Love You我爱你Du Xiaojie
Heroic Duo雙雄Zhuo Min
My Father and I我和爸爸Xiao Yualso director and screenwriter
2004Brothers兄弟Xue'er
Last Love, First Love最后的爱,最初的爱Fang Min
2005Letter from an Unknown Woman一个陌生女人的来信Young girlalso director and screenwriter
2006Dreams May Come梦想照进现实Actoralso director and screenwriter
Confession of Pain伤城Zhou Shuzhen
2007The Warlords投名状Lian Sheng
2009Shinjuku Incident新宿事件Yuko Eguchi
2010Go Lala Go!杜拉拉升职记Du Lalaalso director and screenwriter
2011Eternal Moment将爱情进行到底Wen Hui
Dear Enemy亲密敌人Ai Mialso director
2013Better and Better越來越好之村晚Liu Shufen
2014One Step Away触不可及Ying Zi
2015Somewhere Only We Know有一个地方只有我们知道Chen Lanxinalso director
2017The Missing綁架者also director
Battle of Memories记忆大师Zhang Daichen
2018The Trough低压槽HuiMeizi
Good Luck Dad让我怎么相信你also Title Design

Television series

YearEnglish titleChinese titleRoleNotes
1994My Old Classmate同桌的你
1996Beijing Love Story北京爱情故事Dan Hong
1997A Sentimental Story一場風花雪月的事Lu Yueyue
1998Long Tang龙堂Ding Min
Cherish Our Love Forever将爱情进行到底Wen Hui
1999Thunderstorm Rider霹雳菩萨Ah De
Here Comes Fortune财神到Xiao Yu
Love Letter情书Xia Lin
2000New Romance Generation新言情时代Yi Feitelevision film
Divine Retribution世纪之战Yuen Siu-mui / Siu-kuk
Family of Lu Ao旅"奥"一家人
2001Accumulating All My Love堆积情感Yu Jingjing
Let Love Make the Decision让爱作主Lou Jiayi
2002Sky Lovers天空下的缘分Du Mai
2005Doukou Nianhua豆蔻年华Lin Lan
2018200 Million Years Old Classmate同学两亿岁also executive producer

Awards and nominations

References

  1. "A Versatile 'Flower Vase'". Women of China. September 16, 2008.
  2. "徐静蕾简介 (Introducing Xu Jinglei)". Retrieved July 26, 2007.
  3. "Love story with a twist inspires actress-director". China Daily. February 14, 2005.
  4. "Chinese Director-Actress Xu Jinglei". China Radio International. March 16, 2010.
  5. "Film Version of "Cherish Our Love Forever" to Be Shot". China Radio International. May 6, 2010.
  6. "Xu Jinglei, Li Yapeng in new romantic film". Xinhua News Agency. September 23, 2010.
  7. "Story of a secret love". China Daily. March 6, 2005.
  8. "Xu Jinglei wins Hundred Flowers award". Guangdong News. November 7, 2003.
  9. "第23届中国电影金鸡奖揭晓 张艺谋获最佳导演奖". Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). May 11, 2013.
  10. "Shu Qi and Xu Jinglei". Variety. July 16, 2006.
  11. "Aaron Kwok and Xu Jinglei Most Attractive in Cinematographers' Eyes". China.org.cn. April 12, 2007.
  12. "China's Xu set for 'Ci ma' role". Variety. December 15, 2006.
  13. "Actress-director Xu Jinglei returns to big screen". China Daily. November 24, 2016.
  14. "Xu returns to acting role in sci-fi film". China Daily. May 3, 2017.
  15. "Actress expands her talent with directing". Shanghai Daily. December 31, 2016.
  16. "Xu Jinglei Wins Best New Director in Spain". China.org.cn. September 27, 2014.
  17. "Experimental director breaks out of mould with "Dreams"". Xinhua News Agency. July 7, 2006.
  18. "Bore or score?". Xinhua News Agency. July 8, 2016.
  19. "Director Xu Jinglei Swaps Styles in Her New Movie". People's Daily. April 12, 2010.
  20. "Xu Jinglei: From art house to box office". China Radio International. December 23, 2011.
  21. "Xu Jinglei Playing Four Roles in Dear Enemy". Women of China. December 23, 2011.
  22. "Xu Jinglei begins production on Somewhere". Film Business Asia. June 26, 2014. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014.
  23. "Chinese actor writes world's top blog". The Guardian. July 20, 2007.
  24. "Actress becomes world's favourite blogger". The Telegraph. May 24, 2007.
  25. "The tale behind the 'talented bella'". China Daily. December 21, 2011.
  26. "Xu Jinglei Launches Her E-magazine "Kai La"". China Radio International. April 17, 2007.
  27. "Xu launches film and education fund". China Daily. June 15, 2006.
  28. "Xu Jinglei awarded title of 'environmental ambassador'". China.org.cn. April 22, 2008.
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