Zhang Yuqi

Zhang was born in Dezhou, Shandong province. She left Shandong at the age of 15 to attend the Affiliated Chinese Opera School of Shanghai Theatre Academy, a vocational school for Chinese opera talents.^{[citation needed]}

Zhang appeared in a minor, uncredited role in the 2007 film The Longest Night in Shanghai. Stephen Chow first noticed her in an advertisement for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and recruited her into his agency. She soon had her breakout role in the science fiction film CJ7, playing a young teacher opposite Chow. The film brought her major media attention as a "Sing girl".

After CJ7, Zhang appeared in the Japanese film Shaolin Girl (which was also produced by Chow).^[2] Chow considered casting her in Dragonball Evolution,^[3] but the role was ultimately given to another actress.^[4] Zhang then starred in the romantic comedy All About Women playing a headstrong business woman.^[5][6] In 2009, she played a country girl with a passion for hip-hop music in Jump, a musical comedy directed by Stephen Fung and penned by Stephen Chow.^[7]

Zhang ventured next to the horror genre in the Curse of the Deserted, where she played a college student scoping out a haunted house.^[8] She then starred in the kungfu comedy The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman, playing a dance hostess.^[9]

In 2012, Zhang was cast in the role of Qian Xuesen's wife, Jiang Ying in the biopic of the author.^[10] She then starred in the film adaptation of the Chinese literary classic White Deer Plain written by Chen Zhongshi.^[11] She plays Tian Xiao'e, a sensual, illiterate woman who follows her instincts. The role posed a challenge to Zhang, as it involved intimate scenes. Many other actresses rejected the role.^[12] Zhang won her first "Best Actress" trophy at the Chinese American Film Festival.^[13] She was also voted the Most Popular Actress at the Beijing College Student Film Festival for her performance.^[14]

In 2014, Zhang played a supporting role in Peter Chan's film Dearest, receiving acclaim for performance as a mother who lost a child.^[15]

In 2015, Zhang was cast alongside Brandon Routh in Lost in the Pacific, a sci-fi action adventure film directed by Vincent Zhou.^[16]

Zhang reunited with mentor Stephen Chow in his 2016 film The Mermaid, where she played the film's antagonist. Variety praised Zhang for "letting herself go, with her bitchiness and predatory sex appeal".^[17] The Mermaid broke the Chinese box office record and revived Zhang's waning film career.^[18]

In 2017, Zhang starred in the fantasy comedy film The Golden Monk directed by Wong Jing.^[19] The same year, she starred in Chen Kaige's fantasy mystery film Legend of the Demon Cat,^[20] for which she won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Asian Film Awards.^[21]

Zhang and Wang Quan'an had a whirlwind romance in 2011, and they married on 18 April in that year. Zhang announced they were divorced on 2 July 2015.^[22]

Zhang married businessman Yuan Bayuan in October 2016.^[23] The couple had a set of boy–girl twins born in the United States in October 2017. On 27 September 2018, they announced their divorce.^[24] They briefly reconciled before separating again in January 2019, when Yuan accused Zhang of infidelity.

Following Zhang's relationship with Yuan becoming public, Ge Xiaoqian, a former partner of Yuan who had held a marriage ceremony with him and has a daughter by him but was not legally married, alleged that Zhang had interfered in her relationship with Yuan.^[25] Ge further claimed that one of Zhang's twins had been born via surrogacy in the United States, an allegation that drew controversy in China, where surrogacy is prohibited. In January 2026, Ge stated on Weibo that she had identified the source of threatening phone calls as two lawyers with connections to Zhang. Amid backlash, Liaoning Television removed Zhang from its Spring Festival Gala lineup, and several brands deleted promotional content featuring Zhang from their social media accounts.^[26]

Film

More information Year, English title ...

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
2007	The Longest Night in Shanghai	夜·上海		Cameo
2008	CJ7	长江七号	Mrs. Yuen
	Shaolin Girl	少林少女	Minmin Ryû
	All About Women	女人不坏	Tang Lu
2009	Jump	跳出去	Phoenix
2010	Here Comes Fortune	财神到	Wu Shanshan	[27]
	Curse of the Deserted	荒村公寓	Ouyang Xiaozhi
2011	The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman	刀剑笑	Madam Mei
2012	Qian Xuesen	钱学森	Jiang Ying
	General's Command	将令		Documentary film
	White Deer Plain	白鹿原	Tian Xiao'e
2014	Dearest	亲爱的	Fan Yun
2015	The Honey Enemy	情敌蜜月	Xia Xiaoyu	[28]
2016	Lost in the Pacific	蒸发太平洋	Ruo Xin
	The Mermaid	美人鱼	Ruo Lan
2017	Come Across Love	不期而遇	Li Xin	[29]
	The Golden Monk	降魔大聖	Jing Jing
	Legend of the Demon Cat	妖猫传	Chun Qin
2019	The Sexy Guys	最佳男友进化论	Wen Jing	[30]
2025	Invincible Swordsman	笑傲江湖	Dongfang Bubai	[31]

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Television series

More information Year, English title ...

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
2017	Ice Fantasy Destiny	幻城凡世	Li Luo	[32]
2019	Behind The Scenes	幕后之王	Xin Huimei	Special appearance[33]
2020	Candle in the Tomb: The Lost Caverns	鬼吹灯之龙岭迷路窟	Shirley Yang	[34]
2021	Cracking Case	拆·案	Gong Shuchun	Guest appearance[35]
2022	Mom Wow	加油妈妈	Zhou Nannan	[36]
	Candle in the Tomb: Kunlun Tomb	鬼吹灯之昆仑神宫	Shirley Yang	[37]
2023	The Outsider (Chinese Drama)	繁华似锦	Su Mo	[citation needed] Main Role

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Variety show

More information Year, English title ...

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
2020	Sisters Who Make Waves	乘风破浪的姐姐	Cast member	[38]
	Lady Land	姐姐的爱乐之程	Cast member

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