Liu Yifei

Liu Yifei
Liu Yifei in 2010
Chinese name	劉亦菲 (traditional)
Chinese name	刘亦菲 (simplified)
Pinyin	Líu Yìfēi (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Lau4 Jik6-fei1 (Cantonese)
Birth name	An Feng (安风)
Born	(1987-08-25) 25 August 1987 Wuhan, Hubei, China
Other name(s)	Liu Ximeizi (刘茜美子), Crystal Liu
Occupation	Actress, singer, model
Genre(s)	Mandopop, Japanese pop
Instrument(s)	Vocals, piano
Label(s)	Sony BMG (2005–present) Sony Music (2005-present)
Years active	2002-present
Parents	An Shaokang (father) Liu Xiaoli (mother) Chen Jinfei (godfather)

Liu Yifei (born 25 August 1987^[1]), birth name An Feng (安风), legal name Liu Ximeizi (刘茜美子),^[2] is a Chinese actress, model and singer. She holds United States citizenship.

Early life and education

Liu was born in Tongji Hospital in Hubei and her birth name was "An Feng".^[1] She is an only child. Her father is An Shaokang (安少康), a 1st Secretary in the Chinese Embassy in France and a French language university professor, while her mother is Liu Xiaoli (刘晓莉), a dancer and a stage performer. Her parents divorced when she was 10 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 (陈金飞), the Chairman of Beijing Tongchan Investment Group (北京通产投资集团).^[3][4]

When she was 11 years old, Liu and her mother moved to New York City, where she attended Louis Pasteur Middle School 67.^[5] She returned to China in 2002 to pursue an acting career and adopted the stage name "Liu Yifei" (刘亦菲). Several weeks later, Liu was accepted into the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy at the age of 15, and graduated in 2006.

Career

Acting career

Immediately after her admittance into the Beijing Film Academy, Liu received offers to star in various television series. Her debut appearance on television was in The Story of a Noble Family. Shortly after, she was chosen to play Wang Yuyan in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, an adaptation of Louis Cha's novel of the same title. Initially, Liu Tao was selected for the role of Wang Yuyan but it went to Liu Yifei eventually and Liu Tao was cast as A'zhu instead.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Liu starred as Zhao Ling'er in Chinese Paladin, an adaptation of the action RPG The Legend of Sword and Fairy. The following year, she starred in The Return of the Condor Heroes, a television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. After intense speculation on who would play Xiaolongnü, the role was finally offered to her. She was backed by Cha, who felt that she had all the necessary qualities to portray the young and innocent female protagonist.^[6] Although the television series she acted in were well-received, most of the films she starred in did poorly in terms of box office earnings.

In 2008, she co-starred with Jet Li and Jackie Chan in The Forbidden Kingdom, in which she played Golden Sparrow, an orphan seeking revenge against her parents' killer. In 2010, she starred in Love in Disguise with Leehom Wang.

Music career

Liu appeared in Jimmy Lin's music video of the song "I Am Still Waiting For You" (我还在等你) from his 2006 album Can't Stop Me (挡不住我). She previously co-starred with him in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and The Love Winner. Liu also attended one of Lin's concerts as a guest, and in turn, he appeared at her birthday party in 2005. In conjunction with her acting career, Liu obtained a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment Japan in August 2005. She has started studying singing and dancing in Japan since then.^[7] She released her first single "Mayonaka no Door" with Sony Music on July 19, 2006. Her song "Mayonaka no Doa" as recorded by Sony Music appeared on television as one of the ending themes to Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

• Liu Yifei at the Internet Movie Database