Xu Jinglei

Xu Jinglei
Chinese name 徐靜蕾 (traditional)
Chinese name 徐静蕾 (simplified)
Pinyin Xú Jìnglěi (Mandarin)
Jyutping Ceoi4 Zing6-leoi4 (Cantonese)
Born (1974-04-16) April 16, 1974
Beijing, China
Occupation Actress, Director
Years active 1994–present
Alma mater Beijing Film Academy

Xu Jinglei (born 16 April 1974) is a Chinese actress and film director.[1]

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 off 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

Although not well known outside of China, Xu is popular domestically: 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.[27]

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.[28]

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.[29]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Chinese Title Role Notes
1996 Tough 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
1998 The Storm Riders風雲Feng Wu
2002 Dazzling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
2003 I Love You 我爱你 Du Xiaojie
Heroic Duo 雙雄Zhuo Min
My Father and I 我和爸爸Xiao Yu also director and screenwriter
2004 Brothers 兄弟Xue'er
Last Love, First Love 最后的爱,最初的爱Fang Min
2005 Letter from an Unknown Woman 一个陌生女人的来信Young girl also director and screenwriter
2006 Dreams May Come 梦想照进现实Actoralso director and screenwriter
Confession of Pain 伤城Zhou Shuzhen
2007 The Warlords 投名状Lian Sheng
2009 Shinjuku Incident 新宿事件 Yuko Eguchi
2010 Go Lala Go! 杜拉拉升职记Du Lalaalso director and screenwriter
2011 Eternal Moment 将爱情进行到底Wen Hui
Dear Enemy 亲密敌人Ai Mialso director
2013 Better and Better 越來越好之村晚Liu Shufen
2014 One Step Away 触不可及Ying Zi
2015 Somewhere Only We Know 有一个地方只有我们知道 Chen Lanxin also director
2017 The Missing 綁架者 also director
Battle of Memories 记忆大师 Zhang Daichen

Television

Year Title Chinese Title Role Notes
1994 My Old Classmate同桌的你
1996 Beijing Love Story北京爱情故事 Dan Hong
1997 A Sentimental Story 一場風花雪月的事Lu Yueyue
1998 Long 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
2000 New Romance Generation 新言情时代 Yi Fei television 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
2005 Doukou Nianhua 豆蔻年华Lin Lan

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ "A Versatile 'Flower Vase'". Women of China. 16 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "徐静蕾简介 (Introducing Xu Jinglei)". Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  3. 1 2 "Love story with a twist inspires actress-director". China Daily. 14 February 2005.
  4. 1 2 "Chinese Director-Actress Xu Jinglei". CRI English. 16 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "Film Version of "Cherish Our Love Forever" to Be Shot". CRI English. 6 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Xu Jinglei, Li Yapeng in new romantic film". Xinhua News. 23 September 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 "Story of a secret love". China Daily. 6 March 2005.
  8. ↑ "Xu Jinglei wins Hundred Flowers award". Guangdong News. 7 November 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 (in Chinese). 11 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Shu Qi and Xu Jinglei". Variety. 16 July 2006.
  11. ↑ "Aaron Kwok and Xu Jinglei Most Attractive in Cinematographers' Eyes". China.org.cn. 12 April 2007.
  12. ↑ "China’s Xu set for ‘Ci ma’ role". Variety. 15 December 2006.
  13. ↑ "Actress-director Xu Jinglei returns to big screen". China Daily. 24 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Xu returns to acting role in sci-fi film". China Daily. 3 May 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Actress expands her talent with directing". Shanghai Daily. 31 December 2016.
  16. ↑ "Xu Jinglei Wins Best New Director in Spain". China.org.cn. 27 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "Experimental director breaks out of mould with "Dreams"". Xinhua News. 7 July 2006.
  18. ↑ "Bore or score?". Xinhua News. 8 July 2016.
  19. ↑ "Director Xu Jinglei Swaps Styles in Her New Movie". People's Daily. 12 April 2010.
  20. ↑ "Xu Jinglei: From art house to box office". CRI English. 23 December 2011.
  21. ↑ "Xu Jinglei Playing Four Roles in Dear Enemy". Women of China. 23 December 2011.
  22. ↑ "Xu Jinglei begins production on Somewhere". Film Business Asia. 26 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "Chinese actor writes world's top blog". The Guardian. 20 July 2007.
  24. ↑ "Actress becomes world's favourite blogger". The Telegraph. 24 May 2007.
  25. ↑ "The tale behind the 'talented bella'". China Daily. 21 December 2011.
  26. ↑ "Xu Jinglei Launches Her E-magazine "Kai La"". CRI English. 17 April 2007.
  27. ↑ "KaiLA: "a girl's dream come true"". Global Times. 1 September 2010.
  28. ↑ "Xu launches film and education fund". China Daily. 15 June 2006.
  29. ↑ "Xu Jinglei awarded title of 'environmental ambassador'". China.org.cn. 22 April 2008.
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