Li Yifeng

Li Yifeng, born May 4, 1987 in Chengdu, is a Chinese actor and singer, who rose to fame after participating in the 2007 My Hero contest. He debuted as a singer in the same year, with the album Four Leaf Clover. Since 2009, he gradually shifted his career focus to acting. He is best known for his roles in Swords of Legends (2014), Legend of Fragrance (2015), The Lost Tomb (2015), Mr. Six (2015), Noble Aspirations (2016) and Sparrow (2016). In 2015, he placed 9th on the Forbes Chinese Celebrity list. In 2016, he won the Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Supporting Actor with his performance in Mr Six.

Biography

On May 4, 1987, Li was born in Chengdu, Sichuan.

From 2006 to 2010, Li majored in Broadcasting and Host at Sichuan Normal University.

Career

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

Li achieved fame in 2007 after appearing in the talent show competition, My Hero, coming in at 8th placeand winning the Most Popular Contestant award. He released his first single "The One I Love Hurts Me The Most" on November 11, 2007. He then released his 1st EP titled Four Leaf Clover in December.

The following year, he released his second album, Ferris Wheel in August, and held his first solo concert at the Shanghai Majestic Theatre.

In 2009, Li made his acting debut in the youth inspirational television series The Prince of Tennis 2, adapted from the Japanese anime The Prince of Tennis. His role is the equivalent of Saeki Kojirou in the original anime. He then released his first full-length album Mr Child.

In 2010, Li starred in the television series Happy & Love Forever and released his second album, titled That Song.

Li rose to fame for his role as Xiang Yunchao in the popular Taiwanese drama Sunny Happiness, the sequel to Happy & Love Forever The drama captured first-place spot among TV show ratings in both mainland China and Taiwan, and Li won Best New Actor at the 2011 TV Drama Awards. The same year, he also made his feature film debut in Lovesick, starring alongside Ariel Lin and Chen Bolin.

In 2012, Li starred in White Lies, portraying a guy who suffers from autism. The drama edged out competitors on the same time-slot to capture the highest ratings on CCTV. He appeared in two other television series, Bounty Hunter and Love Actually.

Li's popularity continued to rise in 2013, when he played the role of "first love icon" Lin Hao in the television series Daughter's Return. The series was broadcast on the prime time slots on four major broadcast channels and achieved an average rating of 1. Li won Best Idol at the 2013 TV Drama Awards, as well as the Most Popular Actor at the 2013 LeTV Awards.

Mainstream Popularity

2014

Li's breakout role was in the 2014 hit drama Swords of Legends, where he portrayed the cold and quiet Bali Tusu. He also contributed to the soundtrack of the drama, with the singles "Sword Wound" and "Sword Heart". The series captured the first-place spot among TV show ratings and online views surpassed a billion. Li's popularity rapidly rose, and he placed first on Vlinkage Celebrity List for 78 days straight and achieved a peak score of 9.8213, the highest record attained for mainland China's actors. He also became the most-searched artist on Baidu for 100 days.

Li also starred in the television drama adaption of the hugely successful film series Tiny Times, playing Lin Xiao's boyfriend Jian Xi. In recognition of his audience appeal and popularity, Li was given the Most Commercially Valuable Actor award and the Favorite Actor award at the 2014 TV Drama Awards. Li also became the first male actor to be crowned as the Artist of the Year at the 2014 Elle Style Awards.

2015

2015 continued to be a successful year for Li. From January to February, he embarked on a sold-out solo fan-meeting concert tour at Beijing and Shanghai. During the Milan Men's Fashion Week, he was invited by Hogan, Versace, Moncler, Gucci, Etro and Fendi to attend their shows.

On February 4, Li's first republican-era drama Legend of Fragrance premiered on Hunan TV. The series was successful, achieving a rating of 3.43 (the highest rating achieved for a drama's first episode in ten years) and breaking 100 million views with 2 episodes in a day. The same month, he was invited to star in He Jiong's directorial debut Forever Young. The movie was released in July of the same year, and became a box office hit. The theme song of the movie sung by Li, titled "Goodbye Goodbye" topped music charts upon its release.

Li then starred in The Lost Tomb as the main character Wu Xie, based on the novel of the same name. The series became an internet sensation upon its premiere on iQiyi, attaining 100 million views within 22 hours. Throughout its run, the web drama drew huge traffic and triggered much discussions online and offline, attaining a cult following.

In September, he attended the 72th Venice International Film Festival, where the crime blockbuster film Mr Six acted as the closing film. Li plays a leading role in the film as the son of a famous street punk (played by Feng Xiaogang). The film was commercially successful, and topped box office charts upon its premiere in China. It eventually grossed over US$100 million to become one of the highest-grossing films in China. Li won the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance at the 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards.

The same month, he reunited with Swords of Legends co-star Yang Mi for the romance film Fall in Love Like a Star. Li contributed to the soundtrack of the movie, releasing the single "Please Contact Me" featuring Girls' Generation's Yoona in the music video. The single topped the Freshasia music charts for three weeks consecutively, and became the Song of the Month for December.

Following his phenomenal success in 2014, Li once again was touted as the "No.1 Television Actor" by the media in 2015. He also entered the 2015 Forbes Chinese Celebrity list for the first time, placing at 9th with an estimated revenue of 69 million yuan (10.5 million dollars; 9.6 million euros).^[1]

2016

As a result of his fame, Li became the spokesperson for the blockbuster film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, becoming the first Chinese ambassador for the superhero series. He also attended 2016 Style Icon Asia Awards as the only Chinese representative, winning the Style Icon Award.

Li was cast as the protagonist Zhang Xiaofan in the drama adaption of popular xianxia novel Zhu Xian, titled Noble Aspirations. Said to be the most anticipated drama of the year, Noble Aspirations premiered in July to great reception, placing first in ratings nationally and receiving positive critics.^[2] Noble Aspirations is Li's most successful drama to date, surpassing 20 billion views. It is the third drama to do so after The Journey of Flower and The Legend of Mi Yue.

He then starred in Sparrow, a suspense thriller drama set in the 1940s, which premiered in September. Li plays as a double-agent who is in a specialized task force that captures anti-Japanese revolutionaries, but actually works under the code name Sparrow whose real mission is to bring down the very people that he works for. Li's performance in the drama received critical acclaim. The drama also garnered high ratings.^[3]

Li will star in the upcoming suspense crime drama Evil Minds, slated for a 2017 release.

In November, Li was cast in the Guan Hu's new film 800 Heroes alongside Ethan Juan and Jackson Yi. Filming will start in January 2017.

Filmography

Television

Film

^[5]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards

Acting

Music

References

• Li Yifeng's Baidu Baike (Chinese)

External links

• Yifeng Li at the Internet Movie Database