Dong Zijian

Dong is born in Beijing, China. His father, Dong Zhi Hua is also an actor; and his mother, Wang Jing Hua is an artist manager in China.^[1][2] He studied at the Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Shi Yan School, Yew Chung International School of Beijing and Beijing No.80 Middle School in his earlier years.^[3][4] In 2014, he was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama.^[4]

Dong made his debut in the youth drama film Young Style by Liu Jie,^[5] for which he won the Best Actor award at the China Movie Channel Media Awards.^[6]

In 2014, Dong featured in the horror film Bunshinsaba 3, directed by Ahn Byeong-ki;^[7] followed by the youth drama film The Ark of Mr. Chow.^[8]

In 2015, he was nominated for the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Mountains May Depart, a realistic melodrama pic directed by Jia Zhangke.^[9] Dong reunited with director Liu Jie to star in his film, De Lan, a rural tale that revolves around a loan officer who travels to a remote village and strikes up a complicated relationship with a Tibetan woman. De Lan won the Best Feature Film award at the Shanghai International Film Festival.^[10]

In 2016, he starred in the Taiwanese coming-of-age film At Cafe 6.^[11] He also had a supporting role in the thriller film Hide and Seek which co-starred Wallace Huo.^[12]

In 2017, Dong starred in Young Love Lost, a comedy film by first-time director Xiang Guoqiang. He was praised for his excellent portrayal as a young roustabout who has no clear goals.^[13] He also featured in Han Han's drama film Duckweed,^[14] and patriotic war film The Founding of an Army as Deng Xiaoping.^[15] The same year, Dong was cast as one of the three protagonists in Namiya, the Chinese remake of Japanese novel Miracles of the Namiya General Store.^[16]

In 2018, Dong starred in the comedy film Dude's Manual.^[17] The same year, Dong made his small-screen debut in the television series Like a Flowing River, based on the novel Da Jiang Dong Qu by Ah Nai and set in the period of Chinese economic reform.^[18] Forbes China listed Dong under their 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.^[19]

On May 7, 2017, Dong and actress Sun Yi announced that they were getting married. The couple later welcomed a baby girl named Dong Dafu in September. They announced their divorce in August 2022.^[20]