Eddie Peng

Eddie Peng (Chinese: 彭于晏; pinyin: Péng Yúyàn, born in Taipei, also known as Peng Yu-yen) is a Taiwanese actor, singer, and model. Peng moved to Vancouver, Canada at the age of thirteen. In 2000, he graduated from Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School.^[1] Subsequently, he was admitted into the University of British Columbia and majored in economics, but later dropped out to begin his acting career.

The incident of returning to Taiwan to attend his beloved grandmother's funeral set out a new fate for him when he was referred by a family member to director Yang Daqing, who cast him in the TV series named The White Paper of Love (爱情白皮书).

Peng in 2008

2002-2008

Peng began his career when he was cast as the 2nd male lead in Tomorrow by director Yang Daqing. The drama is adapted from the Japanese manga series Asunaro Hakusho, written by Fumi Saimon. In 2003, he starred as the male lead for the first time in the Taiwanese drama series Scent of Love, which tells the story of two star-crossed lovers who transcend life and death to find one another in their many reincarnations.^[2] In 2005, his role of Tangyu in Chinese Paladin was popular among viewers in Mainland China. Peng rose to fame after roles in I Only Care About You, The Young Warriors, Wayward Kenting and Honey and Clover. His debut movie was Exit No.6, directed by Yu-Hsien Lin in 2006. Since then, he was attracted to the movie industry and embarked on a number of movies including My DNA Says I Love You, All About Women, My So Called Love. Peng was nominated as Best New Actor in the 44th Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards based on the movie My DNA Says I Love You.^[3]

2008 Taipei International Book Exhibition - Spokespeople of Comic Pavilion Eddie Peng (left) and Janine Chang (right)

2009-2010

In 2009, Peng's movie Hear Me, directed by Fen-Fen Cheng was released a week prior to the opening of the 21st Summer Deaflympics. The movie is about a delivery boy who falls for a hearing impaired girl and they communicate using sign language throughout the whole movie.^[4] The movie is the highest grossing locally produced movie at Taiwan's box office of 2009.^[5] However, during that period, Peng was also involved in a contract dispute lawsuit against his former manager, reaching the nadir of his career. After winning the lawsuit in 2009,^[6] he released his debut EP titled Fei Ai Bu Ke, which featured 5 songs,^[7] under the management of Avex Group^[8] in 2010. In the same year,he starred as the male lead in the movie titled Close to You and was nominated as Best Actor in the 2nd Macau International Movie Festival.^[9]

2011-2013

In 2011, Peng's portrayal of a gymnast in Jump Ashin!, directed by Yu-Hsien Lin, earned him several nominations for Best Actor in 48th Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and 13th Taipei Film Festival, which marked the turning point of his career. The movie was also a box-office hit and stayed in theaters for three months in Taiwan.^[10] After the movie Jump Ashin!, he took on several roles in movies such as LOVE, Cold War,^[11]Tai Chi 0 and Tai Chi Hero.^[12]

In 2013,his popularity increased after shooting the movie A Wedding Invitation starring Bai Baihe. The movie grossed RMB¥192 million (US$31.4 million) in China and ￦127 million (US$118,000) in South Korea.^[13] In MMA action movie Unbeatable directed by Dante Lam,starring Nick Cheung and Peng, received some good reviews from critics and topped the box office in Hong Kong.The movie earned over HK$43 million and became the highest grossing locally produced movie of 2013.^[14] Peng was nominated as Best Supporting Actor in 33rd Hong Kong Film Award and 50th Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards due to his immense dedication in making sure his portrayal of a MMA fighter was as realistic as possible in Unbeatable.

2014-present

In 2014, Peng reached the peak of his career so far as his drama and movies were released consecutively in October, November and December. Peng played as the male lead, General Wei Wuji, in the Chinese drama series Sound of the Desert, based on the novel Ballad of the Desert (also known as Da Mo Yao), written by Tong Hua. The drama aired in October^[15] and gained huge popularity. Peng also starred in Rise of the Legend as Wong Fei-hung, an iconic martial artist in China, who previously had been portrayed by Jet Li,^[16]Vincent Zhao^[17] and Jackie Chan.^[18] Peng rejected all the other filming offers in 2013 to focus on his martial arts training. After 9 months of immense training, he was able to do most of the action scenes by himself including punching through the concrete and jumping down from a three-storey building.^[19] He then earned the nomination for Best Actor in the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards. In December, adapted from the famous novel of the same name written by Jiuye Hui, Peng took up the role of Chen Xun, the male lead of the movie Fleet of Time, directed by Zhang Yibai. Unexpectedly, Fleet of Time is the highest grossing movie of the month at the box office of China, pulled in about RMB¥578 million.^[20] By March 2015, the movie grossed RMB¥589 million in China.^[21]

In 2015,Peng will be joining the cast of The Great Wall, directed by Zhang Yimou along with Matt Damon, Andy Lau, Pedro Pascal, Zhang Hanyu, Willem Dafoe, Jing Tian and Luhan (singer).^[22] In August, he played the role of a professional cyclist in a sports-themed movie To the Fore.Once again,he endured several months of hard core training for the movie and developed extensive interest in cycling in the process.As a result,he has been appointed to become the first Chinese Goodwill Ambassador of the 2015 Tour de France.^[23] His upcoming romantic movie with Shu Qi, The Last Woman Standing, was released in China on November 6, 2015.

Filmography

Films

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TV series

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Representative works

Hear me^[32]

This movie starred Eddie Peng, Ivy Chen and Chen Yanxi. Inspired by the Paralympic Games, the main characters, Yang Yang and Tian Kuo, were portrayed by Ivy Chen and Eddie Peng respectively.

The female protagonist, Yang Yang, was accompanying her disabled sister to practice in the natatorium for the upcoming Paralympic Games when Tian Kuo met her. He was delivering boxed lunches to the members of the swimming team. He saw Yang Yang communicating in sign language to some children and fell in love with her at first sight.

Afterwards, Yang Yang fell while riding a moped. Tian Kuo helped her up and sent her to hospital. On the way there, he asked her for her MSN ID, prompting the beginning of their friendship. Subsequently, Tian Kuo, whose parents ran a small restaurant, brought lunch to Yang Yang every day. Sometimes, he personally made "love" lunch boxes for her. Yang Yang was very touched by his actions, however, she continued to insist on paying him for her lunches.

Finally, Tian Kuo decided to confess his love for Yang Yang. He took her to his restaurant to pay a formal visit to his parents. Believing that she was mute, Tian Kuo's parents used a board to communicate with Yang Yang. When Yang Yang was asked if she was willing to marry Tian Kuo, she said yes aloud. Both Tian Kuo and his parents were shocked to discover that Yang Yang could in fact speak perfectly well. It was only then that Tian Kuo and Yang Yang realised that they had mutually misunderstood each other - they were, in fact, both perfectly normal people who had built up a silent relationship assuming that the other was physically disabled.

Jump Ashin!^[33]

This movie was an inspirational story about a physically disabled boy who persevered in pursuing his dreams and eventually succeeded. The main character, Ashin, contracted polio at a young age; however, he was greatly talented in sports. Ashin became very interested in gymnastics and set a personal goal to become an excellent gymnast. Ashin was discovered by a talent scout who decided to cultivate his natural talent. However, the strain of the highly intense training took a toll on Ashin's weak body - his legs could not withstand training and his physical health deteriorated. His mother opposed further training. The tremendous pressure of both mental and physical stress almost crushed Ashin, leading him to stray onto a destructive path of alcoholism and brawling. Fortunately, with the support of his friends and mother, he rebuilt his confidence and finally returned to gymnastics.

Awards

Film

TV

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Endorsements

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Music videos

• 2005 - The Most Beautiful (最美) - Maggie Chiang （江美琪）
• 2005 - One To One （一对一） - Fish Leong
• 2006 - Find the Unicorn （寻找独角兽）- Fiona Sit （薛凯琪）
• 2007 - the Sea Loves the Blue Sky (大海爱蓝天) - Eddie Peng （彭于晏）
• 2008 - Wishes of Lucky Grass (幸运草的祝福)- Clover Band
• 2008 - Coastal Highway Exit^[39] （沿海公路的出口）- S.H.E
• 2008 - Because You Love Me (因为你爱我) - Joanna Wang(王若琳)
• 2010 - Break up Needs Practice (分手需要练习的) - A-Lin （黄丽玲）
• 2010 - Fei Ai Bu Ke (非爱不可） - Eddie Peng （彭于晏）
• 2010 - Chameleon （变色龙）- Eddie Peng （彭于晏）
• 2010 - Corner of Summer （转角的夏天）- Eddie Peng （彭于晏）

Books

• Photos of Lian Xiang (Eddie & Ben 照相簿/恋香全追踪)(2004)
• Eddie Peng's dolphin diary (彭于晏的海豚日记)(2005)
• Eddie Peng Ken Ding 15x6 (彭于晏 垦丁15x6)(2008)

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References

External links

• Eddie Peng's Weibo
• Eddie Peng's Facebook
• Eddie Peng's Instagram
• Eddie Peng's YouTube Channel