Yao Yuanhao

Yao Yuanhao was born on April 19, 1982 in Keelung, Taiwan.[1]

He started acting at around 16 years old in the television series Bandits and Angels (強盜與天使; 1999), directed by Wu Nien-jen,[2] but only became active in 2002. He had his career breakthrough in FTV's 2011 series Rookies' Diary, which received high ratings.[3] The production costs for the series was said to be up to two million TWD, and it also received strong support from the Ministry of Justice. Due to the high expectations, each cast member received training in taekwondo, kendo, and self-defense before shooting began in July.[4] During filming, they were always exposed to the sun, causing sunburn and peeling, and did not wear any make up.[5] Despite the heat, they made an effort to do comedy-style acting; Yao said that there was a lot of nonsense humor and they also did improvisation.[6]

Two years after Rookies' Diary, he starred opposite Cheryl Yang in Big Red Riding Hood.[7] Screenwriter Su Limei (蘇麗媚) asked him to cut his hair similar to her favorite character in the Japanese manga Musashi no Ken, which would make him look more humorous.[8]

In 2013, Yao starred in five television series, in four of which he portrayed "rich, handsome men".[Note 1][9] For the Deja Vu TV series with Mandy Wei, both Hao and Wei trained in ballet for their roles.[10] For Three Exits To Love, he once again needed to learn basic dancing with an instructor.[11] He said that the biggest challenge in his 2014 Lion Dancing film was performing the lion dance.[12]

Yao enjoys skateboarding,[13] surfing, and extreme sports.[14] He usually joins race marathons, including a 42-km marathon during the 'Tokyo Marathon' in February 2013; he was a sports brand ambassador at that time.[15] He also entered the 2013 Taiwan International Surfing Competition.[16] He was the first Taiwanese artist to compete and finish the competition despite spraining his legs during the run.[17]

In December 2011, he became the ambassador for the Independent Department of Justice held at the '1209 International Anti-Corruption Day', calling people together for the anti-corruption efforts to improve Taiwan.[18] He also became a charity ambassador in Taiwan township schools, promoting traditional Chinese culture to children.[19] In 2015 he volunteered to sell chocolates to raise money for young kids who have brain tumors.[20]

• (in Chinese) Yao Yuan Hao on Jetsar website
• Yao Yuan Hao on Facebook
• Yao Yuan Hao on Sina Weibo