Li Nanxing

After Li served his NS, he attended Singapore Broadcasting Corporation's drama training course before debuting in 1986 with Crossroads (红绿灯 之《红灯》).^[1] Li gradually rose to stardom in the 1990s. In 1993, he rose to prominence when starring in The Unbeatables I, the first ever gambling drama series produced in Singapore, alongside Zoe Tay. For most of the 1990s, he, Tay and Chew Chor Meng were MediaCorp's three most popular actors and he was voted the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes ten years in a row and also won several Malaysia and Taiwan popularity polls at the Star Awards. In 2004 he was awarded the All-Time Favourite Artiste award.^[2]

During the late 2000s, his career hit a rocky phase due to personal issues.^[3] After a two-year hiatus, Li made his comeback in On the Fringe 2011 and also directed his first film, The Ultimate Winner.^[4] He also produced the film, Imperfect, which he co-starred with Ian Fang and Kimberly Chia.^[5]

Some of his more famous shows include The Unbeatables trilogy and The Magnate; Li has also acted in 6 telemovies to date, and even sang the theme song of several of his shows. He mostly played in anti-hero roles such in The Vagrant, for which he won the Best Actor award at the Star Awards 2002 and On the Fringe 2011. In September 2012 it was announced that he will be cast in C.L.I.F. II as a police officer, which will be one of the few times he plays a protagonist.^[6]

In 2019, Li signed to Zhao Wei's management agency to manage his presence in China.^[7] He was then cast in Zhao's web drama series, Everyone Wants To Meet You (谁都渴望遇见你), which was filmed in China, in the same year.^[8] The series was released in February 2020 on IQIYI.^[9]

In the 2000s, Li bought a fish farm and managed it with his uncle.^[10]

In 2004, Li founded his own talent management agency, LNX Global, named after his initials.^[11] Constance Song was LNX's first artiste to be managed by LNX in 2015.^[11][12]

Li also co-owns the Chinese dessert shop Tian Wang Desserts at Jalan Besar, which opened in March 2021.^[13] In addition, he has collaborated with other brands to sell his Curry Chicken and Dried Scallop Hae Bee Hiam Croissant at Bakers & Co in Holland Village, as well as launching his Dried Scallop Hae Bee Hiam Ramen with Japanese ramen chain Ippudo.^[14]

Li married actress Yang Libing in 1994 after co-starring together in several drama series. They divorced in 2004 citing irreconcilable personality differences. They have no children from the marriage.^[15]

Li battled with gambling addiction and had to work as a Hollywood ‘calefare’ to pay off his debts in the 1990s.^[16] During this period, he became a Christian, having credited a "miraculous" experience he had while on a karaoke trip with a friend in Thailand.^[17]