Liu Ye
Encyclopedia
Liu Ye is a Chinese film and television actor.
at the Central Academy of Drama
in Beijing
, Liu Ye's talent in acting was apparent very early on. Liu was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a young postman in his first movie, Postmen in the Mountains
, at China's Golden Rooster Awards
in 1999. Shortly after his graduation, Liu Ye won Best Actor at Taiwan
’s 38th Golden Horse Awards for his performance as a young gay
man in the movie Lan Yu . Three years later, he clinched Best Actor with his role in the movie The Foliage at the 24th Golden Rooster Awards. In addition, several of Liu Ye’s movies have also featured in many international film festivals, for example Lan Yu, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
, Purple Butterfly
and The Floating Landscape
.
Instead of making use of his good physical appearance to become a teen idol
, Liu Ye has chosen the path of continuously challenging himself by taking on difficult roles. From simple, honest, and down-to-earth "peasant-like" roles, introvert and melancholic personas, to manly and Casanova roles, Liu Ye has not only convinced the audience, but also well-established international directors, of his remarkable acting skills. He has been openly praised and roped in by famous directors, such as Stanley Kwan
(Lan Yu), Chen Kaige
(The Promise
), Zhang Yimou
(Curse of the Golden Flower
) and John Woo
(Blood Brothers
), to take part in their major movie productions.
Liu Ye's first Hollywood movie Dark Matter
, inspired by a true story in the early 1990s, was screened at major international film festivals in 2007. Starring with actress Meryl Streep
, Liu Ye stars as the brilliant physics postgraduate "Liu Xing" from China. This movie won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize
at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
and has been released in America
in April 2008. Ye's first villainous role was in 2008 film Connected
(where he appears a lot older than he is now), a remake
of the American film Cellular
.
Liu Ye plays the lead character in City of Life and Death, a movie paying tribute to the victims of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Directed by 6th Generation Mainland Director Lu Chuan
, City of Life and Death, filmed in Tianjin
and in other Chinese cities such as Changchun
, was released in 2009.
In the 2011 film The Founding of a Party
, it was reported that Liu was required to gain 10 kilograms in order to play his role as 30-year old Mao Zedong
, a feat achieved by eating 20 eggs a day.
Career
From the beginning of his acting career when he was a 20 year old student majoring in performing artsPerforming arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
at the Central Academy of Drama
Central Academy of Drama
The Central Academy of Drama is a drama school in Beijing, People's Republic of China.-History:The academy was established in April 1950. It was named by Mao Zedong. It inherited the drama department of Lu Xun Art Academy in Yan'an, art school of North China University, and National Drama College...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Liu Ye's talent in acting was apparent very early on. Liu was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a young postman in his first movie, Postmen in the Mountains
Postmen in the Mountains
Postmen in the Mountains is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Huo Jianqi. It is based on the short story of the same name by Peng Jianming ....
, at China's Golden Rooster Awards
Golden Rooster Awards
China Golden Rooster Film Festival also known as Golden Rooster Awards are the most prestigious awards in film given in mainland China, equivalent the China's Academy Awards. The awards are given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981...
in 1999. Shortly after his graduation, Liu Ye won Best Actor at Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
’s 38th Golden Horse Awards for his performance as a young gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
man in the movie Lan Yu . Three years later, he clinched Best Actor with his role in the movie The Foliage at the 24th Golden Rooster Awards. In addition, several of Liu Ye’s movies have also featured in many international film festivals, for example Lan Yu, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (film)
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a 2002 Franco-Chinese romance drama film with dialogue in the Sichuan dialect directed by Dai Sijie and starring Zhou Xun, Chen Kun and Liu Ye...
, Purple Butterfly
Purple Butterfly
Purple Butterfly is a 2003 Chinese film, directed by Lou Ye. It is Lou's third film after Weekend Lover and Suzhou River. It stars Chinese mainland actors, Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye and Li Bingbing, as well as Japanese actor Tôru Nakamura...
and The Floating Landscape
The Floating Landscape
The Floating Landscape is a 2003 Hong-Kong film directed by Carol Lai Miu-suet , produced by Stanley KWAN Kam-Pang and Sylvain Bursztejn, Arthur Wong Ngok-Tai...
.
Instead of making use of his good physical appearance to become a teen idol
Teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
, Liu Ye has chosen the path of continuously challenging himself by taking on difficult roles. From simple, honest, and down-to-earth "peasant-like" roles, introvert and melancholic personas, to manly and Casanova roles, Liu Ye has not only convinced the audience, but also well-established international directors, of his remarkable acting skills. He has been openly praised and roped in by famous directors, such as Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan is a Hong Kong Second Wave film director and producer.Kwan landed a job at the TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist College...
(Lan Yu), Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...
(The Promise
The Promise (2005 film)
The Promise is a 2005 Chinese epic fantasy film directed by Chen Kaige and starring Jang Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse. The film is based on the wuxia romance The K'un-lun Slave, written by P'ei Hsing at the time of the Tang Dynasty.First released in mainland China on...
), Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
(Curse of the Golden Flower
Curse of the Golden Flower
Curse of the Golden Flower is a 2006 Chinese epic drama film directed by Zhang Yimou.With a budget of US$45 million, it was at the time of its release the most expensive Chinese film to date, surpassing Chen Kaige's The Promise...
) and John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
(Blood Brothers
Blood Brothers (2007 film)
Blood Brothers is a 2007 Chinese film directed by Alexi Tan and starring Daniel Wu, Shu Qi, Liu Ye and Tony Yang.It was co-produced by the Taiwanese production company CMC Entertainment, the mainland Chinese Sil-Metropole Organisation, Terence Chang's Lion Rock Productions and Hong Kong film...
), to take part in their major movie productions.
Liu Ye's first Hollywood movie Dark Matter
Dark Matter (film)
Dark Matter is the first feature film by opera director Chen Shi-zheng, starring Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn and Meryl Streep. It won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival....
, inspired by a true story in the early 1990s, was screened at major international film festivals in 2007. Starring with actress Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
, Liu Ye stars as the brilliant physics postgraduate "Liu Xing" from China. This movie won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize
Alfred P. Sloan Prize
The Alfred P. Sloan Prize is an award given each year, starting in 2003, to a film at the Sundance Film Festival. The prize is given to a feature film that focuses on science or technology as a theme, or depicts a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.Each winner is presented...
at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and has been released in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in April 2008. Ye's first villainous role was in 2008 film Connected
Connected (film)
Connected is a 2008 action-crime thriller film co-written and directed by Benny Chan. A co-production between Hong Kong and China, the film is a remake of the 2004 film Cellular...
(where he appears a lot older than he is now), a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the American film Cellular
Cellular (film)
Cellular is a 2004 thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, Jason Statham and William H. Macy. The screenplay was written by Chris Morgan, Larry Cohen and J...
.
Liu Ye plays the lead character in City of Life and Death, a movie paying tribute to the victims of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Directed by 6th Generation Mainland Director Lu Chuan
Lu Chuan
Lu Chuan is a Chinese filmmaker and screenwriter. He is the son of the novelist, Lu Tianming.-Education:Educated at the People's Liberation Army International Relations University in Nanjing, Lu spent two years serving in the Army as a secretary to a general. After his time in the army, Lu...
, City of Life and Death, filmed in Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
and in other Chinese cities such as Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
, was released in 2009.
In the 2011 film The Founding of a Party
The Founding of a Party
The Founding of a Party, alternatively titled in English Beginning of the Great Revival for its international release, is a Chinese film released in 2011 to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China...
, it was reported that Liu was required to gain 10 kilograms in order to play his role as 30-year old Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, a feat achieved by eating 20 eggs a day.
Personal life
Liu Ye married 29 year old French (of Jewish descent) photographer Anais Martane in Beijing on July 5, 2009. Their first child, a son named Nuo Yi, was born on October 10, 2010 in France .Filmography
- The Magical Portrait (1997)
- Postmen in the MountainsPostmen in the MountainsPostmen in the Mountains is a 1999 Chinese film directed by Huo Jianqi. It is based on the short story of the same name by Peng Jianming ....
(1999) - Son - Team SpiritTeam SpiritTeam Spirit was a joint military training exercise of United States Forces Korea and the Military of South Korea held between 1976 and 1993. The exercise was scheduled from 1994 to 1996 but cancelled in each year as part of diplomacy to encourage the Government of North Korea to disable the North...
(2000) - Lan Yu (2001) - Lan Yu
- Hua Er Nu Fang (2001) - Ding Tian
- Sky LoversSky LoversSky Lover is a 2002 film based on the novelette "Life Without Language" by Xi Dong which won the first Lu Xun Literature Award. It was directed by Jiang Qinmin.-Cast:...
(2002) - Jiakuan - Balzac and the Little Chinese SeamstressBalzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (film)Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a 2002 Franco-Chinese romance drama film with dialogue in the Sichuan dialect directed by Dai Sijie and starring Zhou Xun, Chen Kun and Liu Ye...
(2002) - Ma - The Foliage (2003) - Liu Simeng
- Sudden Lover (2003) - Xie Liao Sha
- Purple ButterflyPurple ButterflyPurple Butterfly is a 2003 Chinese film, directed by Lou Ye. It is Lou's third film after Weekend Lover and Suzhou River. It stars Chinese mainland actors, Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye and Li Bingbing, as well as Japanese actor Tôru Nakamura...
(2003) - Situ (Szeto) - The Floating LandscapeThe Floating LandscapeThe Floating Landscape is a 2003 Hong-Kong film directed by Carol Lai Miu-suet , produced by Stanley KWAN Kam-Pang and Sylvain Bursztejn, Arthur Wong Ngok-Tai...
(2003) - Lit - Assassinator Jing KeAssassinator Jing KeAssassinator Jing Ke is a Chinese television series released in 2004. The series is based on a semi-fictional story of the assassin Jing Ke, who attempted to kill Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, in 227 BC. Liu Ye stars as the titular protagonist.-Plot:...
(2004) - Jing KeJing KeJing Ke was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin state, who later became China's first emperor... - Jasmine WomenJasmine WomenJasmine Women is a 2004 film, adapted from Su Tong's novel called Funü Shenghuo which means Women's Lives. It is directed by Hou Yong, formerly a well known cinematographer. Zhang Ziyi plays the youngest of three generations of women who leads lives in Shanghai. Joan Chen plays the...
(2004) - Xiao Du - The Ghost InsideThe Ghost InsideThis article is about the Chinese film. For the American Hardcore band, see The Ghost Inside .The Ghost Inside is a 2005 Chinese horror film directed by Herman Yau, and starring Mainland actors, Liu Ye and Gong Beibi and Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu.The film was produced by the China Film Group...
(2005) - Fang Cheng - Mob SisterMob SisterMob Sister is a 2005 Hong Kong action film, directed by Wong Ching-Po and starring Karena Lam, Simon Yam and Eric Tsang.-Plot:In the macho triad world where heroes are molded from blood, brawn and brains, what place is there for a defenseless girl? The only exception to the rule is if you earn...
(2005) - Pilot - Mini (2005) - Kang
- The PromiseThe Promise (2005 film)The Promise is a 2005 Chinese epic fantasy film directed by Chen Kaige and starring Jang Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse. The film is based on the wuxia romance The K'un-lun Slave, written by P'ei Hsing at the time of the Tang Dynasty.First released in mainland China on...
(2005) - Snow Wolf - Curse of the Golden FlowerCurse of the Golden FlowerCurse of the Golden Flower is a 2006 Chinese epic drama film directed by Zhang Yimou.With a budget of US$45 million, it was at the time of its release the most expensive Chinese film to date, surpassing Chen Kaige's The Promise...
(2006) - Crown Prince Wan - Dark MatterDark Matter (film)Dark Matter is the first feature film by opera director Chen Shi-zheng, starring Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn and Meryl Streep. It won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival....
(2007) - Liu Xing - Blood BrothersBlood Brothers (2007 film)Blood Brothers is a 2007 Chinese film directed by Alexi Tan and starring Daniel Wu, Shu Qi, Liu Ye and Tony Yang.It was co-produced by the Taiwanese production company CMC Entertainment, the mainland Chinese Sil-Metropole Organisation, Terence Chang's Lion Rock Productions and Hong Kong film...
(2007) - Da Gang - Underdog Knight (2008) - Lao San
- ConnectedConnected (film)Connected is a 2008 action-crime thriller film co-written and directed by Benny Chan. A co-production between Hong Kong and China, the film is a remake of the 2004 film Cellular...
(2008) - City of Life and Death (2009) - Lu Jian Xiong
- Tie Ren (2009)
- The Founding of a RepublicThe Founding of a RepublicThe Founding of a Republic is a 2009 Chinese historical film commissioned by China's film regulator and made by the state-owned China Film Group to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China...
(2009) - Lan (2009)
- Driverless (2010)
- Color Me Love (2010)
- A Beautiful LifeA Beautiful Life (2011 film)A Beautiful Life is a 2011 romance film directed by Andrew Lau and starring Shu Qi, Liu Ye, Tian Liang, Feng Danying, Sa Rina, Zhang Songwen and Gao Tian with a special appearance by Anthony Wong.-Plot:...
(2011) - The Founding of a PartyThe Founding of a PartyThe Founding of a Party, alternatively titled in English Beginning of the Great Revival for its international release, is a Chinese film released in 2011 to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China...
(2011) - He-ManHe-Man (film)He-Man is a 2011 Chinese action comedy film directed by Ding Sheng. The film is a sequel to Ding Sheng's 2008 film The Underdog Knight. The plot is set in Qingdao, China where a discharged navy man Lao San is caught in the crossfire of a bank robbery...
(2011)