Yong Mei (; born 14 February 1970) is a Chinese actress. In 2019, she won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress () was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the fil ...

at the

69th Berlin International Film Festival The 69th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 7 to 17 February 2019. French actress Juliette Binoche served as the Jury President. Lone Scherfig's drama film '' The Kindness of Strangers'' opened the festival. The Golden ...

for her performance in the film '' So Long, My Son'' directed by

Wang Xiaoshuai Wang Xiaoshuai (; born May 22, 1966) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the "Sixth Generation" of the Cinema of China. Like others in this gen ...

Early life and education

An ethnic

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

, Yong Mei was born on 14 February 1970 in

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

, the capital of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Her original name in Mongolian is Sunjidma (, , , ), meaning "fairy", which has given rise to her nickname "Sister Fairy" (). She studied business administration at the University of International Business and Economics in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, where she was active in performing arts.

Career

After graduation from university, she initially worked in foreign trade, and later in the studio of the influential television hostess Xu Gehui (许戈辉). On the recommendation of Xu, Yong Mei starred in the 1997

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

''The Man Who Herds the Clouds'' (牧云的男人) and began her acting career. She had her breakout role in the 2004 television drama ''A Chinese-style Divorce'' (中国式离婚), which made her wildly popular. She was also praised for her performances in the TV series ''Cell Phone'' (手机), ''Ocean Paradise'' (海洋天堂), ''You Are My Lover'' (你是我爱人), and ''Cliff'' (悬崖, 2012). In 2015, Yong Mei appeared in

Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien ( zh, t=侯孝賢, poj=Hâu Hàu-hiân; born 8 April 1947) is a retired Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema mo ...

's film ''The Assassin'' (or ''Assassin Nie Yinniang''), in which she plays the mother of the title character, Nie Yinniang. The production lasted from 2012 to 2014; she thoroughly enjoyed the experience and held the film in high regard. She did not accept a major role for the next few years for lack of a suitable script that met her standard for quality. The next major film she appeared in was '' So Long, My Son'', directed by

, in which she portrays a mother who has lost her only son. To prepare for the role, she interviewed a real-life mother who had lost her only child. She originally scheduled two hours for the interview, but it was eventually extended to seven hours and gave her deep insight into a mother's sorrow. The film premiered at the

on 14 February 2019, Yong Mei's 49th birthday. For their performance, Yong Mei and

Wang Jingchun Wang Jingchun (; born 12 February 1973) is a Chinese actor. Awards He won the Best Actor Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2013 for his performance in Ning Ying's film ''To Live and Die in Ordos''. In 2019, he won the Silver B ...

, who plays her husband in the film, were awarded the

and Best Actor, respectively. She was the first actress from mainland China to win the award.

Personal life

Yong Mei is married to Luan Shu, the former lead singer of the Beijing rock band

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

. She became a fan of the band after being introduced to its music by a friend, and starred in the music video for its song "Don't Break My Heart".

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Yong Mei
on

Douban Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese ci ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yong, Mei 1970 births Living people 21st-century Chinese actresses Actresses from Inner Mongolia Chinese people of Mongolian descent People from Hohhot Beijing University of International Business and Economics alumni Silver Bear for Best Actress winners