Yuan Li (; born 12 July 1973) is a Chinese actress and philanthropist. Yuan rose to fame for her role in the television drama ''Never Close Eyes'' (1998), for which she won the Supporting Actress at the 18th Golden Eagle Awards. She starred in the four seasons of television series '' The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan'' (2002–2008) and won the Best Supporting Actress at the 20th

Hundred Flowers Awards The Hundred Flowers Awards () are, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards honouring the best in Chinese cinema, as well as Hong Kong cinema and the Cinema of Taiwan. They are classified as the Chinese equiv ...

for her performance in the film ''Pure Sentiment'' (2002). Since 2011, Yuan has shifted her focus to charitable work, including establishing the Yuan Li Foundation for

pneumoconiosis Pneumoconiosis is the general term for a class of interstitial lung disease where inhalation of dust (for example, ash dust, lead particles, pollen grains etc) has caused interstitial fibrosis. The three most common types are asbestosis, silico ...

patients—a sensitive topic in China due to its link to government negligence regarding workers’ rights. She converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

around 2013. Following years of increasingly outspoken views on social issues, religion, and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, her

Weibo Weibo (), or Sina Weibo (), is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

account was suspended in 2020, effectively blacklisting her in China. In 2021, her

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account was suspended after she expressed support for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

while attacking

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

and his family

Life

Early life

Yuan was born Yuan Li () in

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

on July 12, 1973, with her

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

Jiangyin Jiangyin (, Jiangyin dialect: ) is a county-level city on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. It is administered by the Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Jiangyin is an important transport hub on the Yangtze River and one of the most developed counties ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

. She graduated from Beijing Film Academy, majoring in acting.

Acting career

Yuan had her first experience in front of the camera in 1996, and she was chosen to act as a support actor in ''History of Han Dynasty'', a film starring Zhang Tielin. After playing minor roles in various films and television series, Yuan rose to fame after portraying Ouyang Lanlan in the television series ''Never Close Eyes'', alongside Lu Yi, she won the "Best Supporting Actress" at the 18th China Golden Eagle Awards. In 2000, Yuan starred as Du Xiaoyue in '' The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan'', a historical television series co-starring with Zhang Guoli, Zhang Tielin and Wang Gang, which were highly praised by audience. In 2002, Yuan played the role of An Ran in Cao Baoping's film ''Pure Sentiment'', for which she received a " Best Supporting Actress" at the 20th

. In 2010, Yuan acted with

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah ( zh, order=t,j, t=劉德華, j=Lau4 Dak1 Waa4; born Lau Fook-wing; 27 September 1961), is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He was named the "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB in the 1 ...

and

Gong Li Gong Li ( zh, s=巩俐, t=鞏俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese-born Singaporean actress. She is regarded as one of the best actresses in China today, known for her versatility and naturalistic performances. She starred in three of the ...

in Chen Daming's film ''

What Women Want ''What Women Want'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy film written by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa, and Diane Drake, directed by Nancy Meyers, and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The film was released on December 15, 2000 by ...

''. On September 19, Yuan became a spokesperson of the Red Cross Society of China.

Personal life

In 1993, Yuan met businessman Xu Wei (), with whom she had a 12-year relationship until 2005. They had a rumored son born in the late 1990s, but they never confirmed. Yuan married her first husband Zhao Ling (), a Chinese actor, on September 9, 2005. They divorced in 2007. On November 30, 2011, Yuan married her second husband Blaine Willis Grunewald, a Canadian Mormon missionary. Grunewald studied Chinese at Northeast Normal University from 2003 to 2004, and obtained a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

in 2009. He briefly worked for Lehman Bush, a firm co-founded by

Neil Bush Neil Mallon Bush (born January 22, 1955) is an American businessman and investor. He is the fourth of six children of former president George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (née Pierce). His five siblings are George W. Bush; Jeb Bush, a former go ...

and Edward Lehman. They divorced in 2015. On 26 March 2019, Yuan announced that she had married her third husband Liang Taiping (), a poet.

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuan, Li 1973 births Actresses from Hangzhou Actresses from Zhejiang Beijing Film Academy alumni Living people Chinese Latter Day Saints Chinese film actresses Chinese television actresses