Liu Yifei Biography

Liu Yifei (, , born 25 August 1987), birth name An Feng (??), legal name Liu Ximeizi (????), also known as Crystal Liu, is a Chinese-American actress, model and singer. Liu is widely known as "Fairy Sister" in the entertainment industry for her sweet and delicate image. In 2009, she was named as one of the New Four Dan Actresses in China. In 2017, she was cast as the lead in Disney's live-action adaptation of Mulan.

Early life

Liu was born in Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei and her birth name was "An Feng". She is an only child. Her father is An Shaokang (???), a 1st Secretary in the Chinese Embassy in France and a French language university professor, while her mother is Liu Xiaoli (???), a dancer and a stage performer. Her parents divorced when she was 4 years old and she was raised solely by her mother. That same year, she adopted her mother's family name and changed her legal name to "Liu Ximeizi" and began modelling, along with training in singing, dancing and playing the piano. Her godfather is Chen Jinfei (???), the Chairman of Beijing Tongchan Investment Group (????????).

When she was 10 years old, Liu and her mother moved to New York City, where she attended Louis Pasteur Middle School 67. She lived in Queens before returning to China in 2002 to pursue an acting career and adopted the stage name "Liu Yifei" (???). While living in the United States, she gained her United States citizenship. Several weeks later after returning to China, Liu was accepted into the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy at the age of 15, and graduated in 2006.

Career

2003-2006: Rising popularity

Immediately after her admittance into the Beijing Film Academy, Liu Yifei received offers to star in various television series. Her first television appearance was in the period romance drama The Story of a Noble Family (2003), based on Zhang Henshui's novel of the same name. The series achieved the highest ratings on CCTV, and positive reviews from audience. The same year, she was chosen by Zhang Jizhong to play Wang Yuyan in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, an adaptation of Louis Cha's wuxia novel of the same title. The series was broadcast in Taiwan and achieved a rating of 5.69, becoming the highest-rated Chinese drama in Taiwan. Liu's role as the beautiful Wang Yuyan earned her the nickname of "Fairy Sister" by the media and fans.

In 2005, Liu starred in Chinese Paladin, a fantasy action drama adapted from the role-playing game The Legend of Sword and Fairy. The drama earned a cult following, and solidified her popularity in China.

In 2006, Liu was chosen to portray Xiaolongn in The Return of the Condor Heroes, based on Louis Cha's wuxia novel of the same title. Liu's casting was backed by Cha himself, who felt that she had all the necessary qualities to portray the young and innocent female protagonist. After the drama aired, Liu gained acclaim for performance and swiftly experienced a surge in popularity. The same year, she was chosen as the "Golden Eagle Goddess" at the 6th China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival.

2008-2013: Transition to films

After achieving success in television, Liu then ventured onto the big screen. In 2007, she joined William Morris Agency (WMA) and was subsequently cast in her first Hollywood production, The Forbidden Kingdom. She played Golden Sparrow, an orphan seeking revenge against her parents' killer. Thereafter, she starred in romantic-comedy Love in Disguise (2010) opposite Taiwanese singer-actor Wang Leehom.

In 2011, she starred in fantasy supernatural film A Chinese Ghost Story, adapted from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio; as well as White Vengeance, a historical epic based on the well-known legend of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu of the Qin Dynasty. The same year, she was cast as Wu Qing (Emotionless) in Gordon Chan's wuxia film The Four, adapted from Woon Swee Oan's novel series The Four Great Constables.

Liu won her first major acting award in her 11-year career, the Best Actress award at the 5th Macau International Movie Festival, for her role as Lingju and Diaochan in the historical film The Assassins (2012).

2014-present: International collaborations and television comeback

In 2014, Liu collaborated with Korean actor-singer Rain for the romance film For Love or Money, based on Hong Kong novelist Amy Cheung's 2006 novel of the same name. Though it did reasonably well at the box office, the film was criticized for its storyline and production. She then starred in the American-Chinese action film Outcast (2014) directed by Nick Powell, alongside Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen.

Liu starred in another Chinese-South Korean co-production, The Third Way of Love (2015), a romance melodrama co-starring Song Seung-heon. Her performance in the film led to her win for the Most Anticipated Actress award at the 16th Chinese Film Media Awards. The same year, she was named the first Chinese ambassador of Dior Prestige and became the global ambassador of Tissot.

</ref> |quoted=1 |width=30em |align=right }} In 2016, Liu starred in romance film Night Peacock, a Chinese-France co-production directed by Dai Sijie. The film was awarded first prize under the Special Chinese Film category at the 40th Montreal World Film Festival, and Liu was nominated as Best Actress. She then starred alongside Kris Wu in the youth romance film Never Gone.

In 2017, Liu starred alongside Yang Yang in romantic fantasy film Once Upon a Time by award-winning director Anthony LaMolinara and Zhao Xiaoding. She also starred in the historical film The Chinese Widow directed by Bille August. The film premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival as the opening film, and Liu was nominated as Best Actress. The same year, Liu reunited with White Vengeance co-star Feng Shaofeng in the fantasy comedy film Hanson and the Beast.

In November 2017, Liu was cast as Mulan in the live-action adaptation of the 1998 Disney animated film, which is set to be released in 2020.

In December 2017, it was announced that Liu will star in the upcoming fantasy mystery television series, Records of the Southern Mist House. This marks her small-screen comeback in 12 years.

Music career

Liu Yifei signed with Sony Music Entertainment Japan in 2005. She released her first Japanese single "Mayonaka no Door" with Sony Music on July 19, 2006. Her debut album Liu Yifei was released the next month in various parts of Asia such as mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and throughout Southeast Asia, featuring a diverse music repertoire including rap and soft rock. In the same year, Liu also released her Japanese album in which the single, "Mayonaka no Doa" was chosen to be the theme for an animation series Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z by Tokyo TV.

Filmography

Film

Year	English Title	Chinese Title	Role	Notes
2004	Love of May	????	Zhao Xuan
	The Love Winner	?????? (?????)	Jin Qiaoli
2006	Abao's Story	?????	Xixi	Cameo
2008	The Forbidden Kingdom	????	Golden Sparrow
2010	Love in Disguise	????	Song Xiaoqing
2011	A Chinese Fairy Tale	????	Nie Xiaoqian
	White Vengeance	???	Consort Yu
2012	The Four	????	Wu Qing
	The Assassins	???	Lingju / Diaochan
2013	The Four II	????2	Wu Qing
2014	The Four III	????3	Wu Qing
	For Love or Money	????	Xing Lu
2015	Outcast	??????????	Zhao Lian
	The Third Way of Love	?????	Zou Yu
2016	Night Peacock	???	Elsa
	So Young 2: Never Gone	???????	Su Yunjin
2017	Once Upon a Time	????????	Bai Qian / Si Yin / Su Su
	The Chinese Widow	????	Ying
	Hanson and the Beast	????	Bai Xianchu
2020	Mulan	???	Mulan

Television series

Year	English Title	Chinese Title	Role	Notes
2003	The Story of a Noble Family	????	Bai Xiuzhu
	Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils	????	Wang Yuyan
2005	Chinese Paladin	?????	Zhao Ling'er
	Doukou Nianhua	????	Teacher Xiao Zhao	Cameo
2006	'	????	Xiaolongn
2019	Records of the Southern Mist House	?????	Lu Mansheng

Discography

Albums

Album information	Track list	Notes
Title: Liu Yifei Label: Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Limited Release date: 31 August 2006	???? ????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ?????	Chinese album
Title: All My Words Label: Sony Music Entertainment Japan Release date: 6 September 2006	?????? ????? HAPPINESS ?????? ???????????????? ???????? My sunshiny day ????? CLOSE TO ME ??? ???? Pieces of my words??????	Japanese album

Singles

Album information	Track list	Notes
Title: Mayonaka no Door Label: Sony Music Entertainment Japan Release date: 19 July 2006	?????? brightly ?????? (Instrumental) brightly (Instrumental)	Japanese album

Soundtracks

Year	English Title	Chinese Title	Album	Notes
2006	I Want My Taste	??????		theme song for Yili milk
2011	Lan Ruo's Lyrics	???		theme song for video game A Chinese Ghost Story Online
	Song of Chu	??	White Vengeance OST	with Feng Shaofeng
2012	Dreams Won't Die	???	The Four OST	with Deng Chao, Ronald Cheng & Collin Chou
	Waiting For Snow	???	The Assassins OST	with Chow Yun-fat
2013	Giving Up	??	The Four II OST
2016	Still Here	????	Never Gone OST	with Reno Wang
2017	Three Lifetimes, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms	????????	Once Upon a Time OST	with Yang Yang

Awards and nominations

Competitive feature film festivals main competition unit

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2016	40th Montreal World Film Festival	Best Actress	Night Peacock
2017	20th Shanghai International Film Festival	Best Actress	The Chinese Widow

Other film awards

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2012	24nd Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers Awards	Most Charismatic Actress	A Chinese Fairy Tale
2013	5th Macau International Movie Festival	Best Actress	The Assassins
2016	16th Chinese Film Media Awards	Most Anticipated Actress	The Third Way of Love
	13th Guangzhou College Student Film Festival	Most Popular Actress	Night Peacock, Never Gone
2017	9th Macau International Movie Festival	Best Actress	Once Upon a Time