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	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)	Red Star Dock Brokerage Firm (2005-present, China) William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (2008-present, USA)
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.^[3]

Early life and education

Liu was born in Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, 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).^[4][5]

When she was 11 years old, Liu and her mother moved to New York City, where she attended Louis Pasteur Middle School 67.^[6] 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.

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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.

Personal life

Liu began dating South Korean actor Song Seung-heon in 2015. They starred together in The Third Way of Love.^[9]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
2004	Love of May	五月之恋	Zhao Xuan
2004	Love Winner, TheThe Love Winner	恋爱大赢家	Jin Qiaoli	alternative title I Love How You Love Me (喜欢你喜欢我)
2006	Abao De Gushi	阿宝的故事	Liu Yifei (Xixi)
2008	The Forbidden Kingdom	功夫之王	Golden Sparrow
2010	Love in Disguise	恋爱通告	Song Xiaoqing
2011	A Chinese Ghost Story	倩女幽魂	Nie Xiaoqian
2011	White Vengeance	鸿门宴	Consort Yu
2012	The Four	四大名捕	Wuqing
2012	The Assassins	铜雀台[10]	Lingju / Diaochan
2013	The Four II	四大名捕2	Wuqing
2014	The Four III	四大名捕3	Wuqing
2014	Outcast	绝命逃亡	Zhao Lian
2014	For Love or Money	露水红颜	Xing Lu
2015	The Third Way of Love	第三種愛情	Zou Yu
2016	Le Paon de Nuit	夜孔雀	Elsa	[11]
2016	Turns Out You're Still Here	原来你还在这里	Su Yun Jin	[12]
2016	The Chinese Widow	營救飛虎隊	Ying	[13]
2017	Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms	三生三世十里桃花	Bai Qian	[14]

Television

Year	Title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
2003	Story of a Noble Family, TheThe Story of a Noble Family	金粉世家	Bai Xiuzhu
2003	Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils	天龙八部	Wang Yuyan
2005	Chinese Paladin	仙剑奇侠传	Zhao Ling'er
2005	Doukou Nianhua	豆蔻年华	Teacher Xiao Zhao
2006	Return of the Condor Heroes, TheThe Return of the Condor Heroes	神鵰俠侶	Xiaolongnü

Discography

Albums

Album information	Track list	Notes
Title: Liu Yifei Label: Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Limited Release date: 31 August 2006	泡芙女孩 就要我滋味 心悸 幸运草 放飞美丽 世界的秘密 一克拉的眼泪 做你的秒钟 毛毛雨 爱的延长赛	Chinese album
Title: All My Words Label: Sony Music Entertainment Japan Release date: 6 September 2006	真夜中のドア 恋する週末 HAPPINESS 愛のミナモト どこまでも　ひろがる空に向かって テノヒラノカナタ My sunshiny day 世界の秘密 CLOSE TO ME 月の夜 スピード Pieces of my words　～言の花～	Japanese album

Singles

Album information	Track list	Notes
Title: Mayonaka no door Label: Sony Music Entertainment Japan Release date: 19 July 2006	真夜中のドア brightly 真夜中のドア (Instrumental) brightly (Instrumental)	Japanese album

References

1. (Chinese) 劉亦菲成長照片曝光 跳新疆舞美若天仙 People's Daily. November 30, 2005. Retrieved on August 21, 2006.
2. The "茜" (Xi) in her legal name comes from the German film Sissi (Chinese translation 茜茜公主—hence the pronunciation of xi, not qian; her mother calls her Xixi). (Chinese) "神仙姐姐" 劉亦菲 Xinhua online. July 29, 2004. Retrieved on August 21, 2006.
3. "刘亦菲美国国籍 张铁林英国国籍". Sina. People.com. Retrieved 2012.
4. (Chinese) 揭秘刘亦菲富豪“教父” 中国首富榜排23
5. (Chinese) 刘亦菲“富豪继父”真实身份揭秘
6. (Chinese) 芳邻刘亦菲. October 22, 2006. Retrieved on June 24, 2008.
7. (Chinese) 張紀中定"新俠侶" 金庸贊"小龍女" People's Daily. July 13, 2006. Retrieved on August 21, 2006.
8. Liu Yifei eyes international singing circle Xinhua online. May 28, 2005. Retrieved on July 17, 2006.
9. "Actor Song Seung-heon dating actress Liu Yifei". Yonhap. August 5, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
10. Stars of "The Four" and "The Assassins" Set to Shine at BJIFF
11. Clifford Coonan (February 8, 2015). "Berlin: France Setting the Pace On China Co-Productions". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
12. "《致青春2》开机 吴亦凡刘亦菲重返18岁(组图)". cri.cn. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
13. "Liu Yifei stars in The Chinese Widow for Zhejiang Roc Pictures". blakefriedmann.co.uk. November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
14. Etan Vlessing (September 9, 2015). "NBCUniversal International Inks Multi-Year Movie Deal With China's Alibaba". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved September 9, 2015.

External links

• Liu Yifei at the Internet Movie Database
• Liu Yifei on Sina Weibo