Aarif Rahman (, born 26 February 1987), also known as Aarif Lee Zhi-ting, is a Hong Kong actor, singer and songwriter.

Early life

Born in Hong Kong, Aarif Rahman is of mixed

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

, Malay and Chinese descent. He grew up in Hong Kong and attended King George V School, where he discovered his penchant for music and started playing drums, guitar and the piano, as well as dabbling in song-writing. After graduating with a physics degree from the

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a ...

, Rahman signed with East Asia Record Production company.

Career

Rahman first gained the interest of the Hong Kong music scene when he was exposed as the writer who penned all the lyrics in

Janice Vidal Janice M. Vidal (born 13 April 1982) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer of mixed Filipino and Korean descent. Vidal was first discovered by music producer Mark Lui and initially began her career as a back-up singer for Leon Lai. She debuted as a ...

's 2009 English album ''

Morning Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning stric ...

''. Following this, in 2009 he released his debut album ''Starting from Today'', which won him the Best Newcomer award at the Metro Radio Music Awards. Rahman then made his film debut in the movie ''

Echoes of the Rainbow ''Echoes of the Rainbow'' (; romanisation: ''Shui Yuet Sun Tau''; literally "''Time, the Thief''") is a 2010 Hong Kong drama film directed by Alex Law and starring Simon Yam and Sandra Ng. It won the Crystal Bear for the Best Film in the Childr ...

'' (2010), which won him the

Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer The Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer is an annual Hong Kong industry award presented to an actor or actress for the best performance by a new artist. The performance is often, but not obligatory, the debut role of the artist. Histor ...

and Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild for Best New Actor of the Year – Silver Award. The theme song which he sang also won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Song. He then starred as

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...

in the dramatic biopic film ''

Bruce Lee, My Brother ''Bruce Lee, My Brother'' (, also known in the United Kingdom as ''Young Bruce Lee'') is a 2010 Hong Kong biographical martial arts drama film directed by Raymond Yip, and also written, produced and directed by Manfred Wong, and also storied ...

'' (2010) and as a police investigator in the crime thriller '' Cold War'' (2012). In 2013, Rahman starred in the Mainland romantic comedy '' One Night Surprise''. The low-budget film unexpectedly became a commercial success, and received positive reviews. Rahman won the Best New Actor award at the 1st China International Film Festival London and Outstanding Performance award at the

Chinese Film Media Awards Chinese Film Media Awards (华语电影传媒大奖) are presented by '' Southern Metropolis Daily'' annually to honor excellence in Chinese-language cinema. Though based in mainland China, the awards are open to Chinese-language films from Hong Kon ...

for his performance. Rahman then starred in historical drama ''

The Empress of China ''The Empress of China'' () is a 2014 Chinese television series based on events in 7th and 8th-century Tang dynasty, starring producer Fan Bingbing as the titular character Wu Zetian—the only female emperor (empress regnant) in Chinese histo ...

'', where he played the role of Li Zhi. The 82-episode TV series was broadcast on

Hunan Television Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a provincial satellite TV station officially launched on 29 September 1970 and is currently China's second-most-watched channel, second only to CCTV-1, owned by China Central Television, although Hunan STV occas ...

from 21 December 2014 to 5 February 2015, and earned increased recognition for Rahman in the Mainland region. He won the Best Actor in the Ancient Drama category at the

Huading Awards The Huading Awards are a set of entertainment awards in China. The awards were set up by Tianxia Yingcai Cultural Media Co., LTD () in 2007 in Beijing and are held more than once each year across multiple entertainment media from Chinese televis ...

for his performance. In 2016, Rahman starred alongside Korean actress

Kim Ha-neul Kim Ha-neul (; born February 21, 1978) is a South Korean actress. After starting her career as a model, she rose to fame by starring in romantic-comedy films ''My Tutor Friend'' (2003) and '' Too Beautiful to Lie'' (2004) and the action-comedy ...

in the family film ''Making Family''. He also featured in

Guo Jingming Guo Jingming (; born June 6, 1983), also known as Edward Guo, is a Chinese young adult writer. In addition to being an author and businessperson, Guo is also a teen pop idol and popular celebrity figure. On the other hand, Guo is a polarizing ...

's fantasy animated motion capture '' L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties'', and reprised his role in the sequel of ''Cold War''. In 2017, Rahman starred alongside

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

in the action comedy film ''

Kung Fu Yoga ''Kung Fu Yoga'' ( zh, 功夫瑜伽) is a 2017 Chinese action adventure comedy film written and directed by Stanley Tong and starring Jackie Chan. The film's cast includes Chinese actors Aarif Rahman, Lay Zhang, and Miya Muqi, and Indian acto ...

''. The same year, he starred in

Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...

's science fiction wuxia film '' The Thousand Faces of Dunjia''. In 2019, Rahman starred in the historical romance drama ''

Princess Silver '' Princess Silver'' () is a 2019 Chinese television series based on the novel ''Bai Fa Wang Fei'' (, lit: ''The White-Haired Imperial Concubine'') by Mo Yanshang. It stars Zhang Xueying, Aarif Rahman, Jing Chao, Luo Yunxi and Chen Xinyu. It aire ...

'' as the male lead. He is considered one of the promises in film acting, as he himself recognized in April 2021, during an interview for

Vanity Teen ''Vanity Teen'' is an independent biannual fashion magazine based in New York, United States and London, United Kingdom, edited by Toni Pérez and Luis Alonso Murillo. It features young artists' work of new models from agencies around the world. ...

China magazine.Aarif Lee：I have more than luck (Vanity Teen China)
16 April 2021. ''Vanity Teen.''

Filmography

Film

Television series

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards

Music

Film and television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Aarif 1987 births Living people Hong Kong male singers Cantopop singer-songwriters Cantopop singers Cantonese people Mandopop singers Hong Kong people of Malay descent Hong Kong people of Arab descent Hong Kong people of Malaysian descent Alumni of King George V School, Hong Kong Alumni of Imperial College London 21st-century Hong Kong male actors Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong male television actors