Yu Nan (Chinese: 余男, born 5 September 1978) is a Chinese actress. Born in Dalian, Yu Nan studied at the Beijing Film Academy, where she graduated in 1999.[1]

Yu Nan
Yu Nan, 2010
Born (1978-09-05) 5 September 1978 (age 46)
OccupationActress
Years active1999–present
AwardsDeauville - Best Actress
2001 Lunar Eclipse
Paris - Best Actress
2004 Jingzhe
Chicago - Best Actress
2007 Tuya's Marriage
Golden Rooster AwardsBest Actress
2003 Jingzhe

Career

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Yu Nan started acting at the age of 4, playing role of a little girl with a handkerchief tied to her dress. Later, instead of following her family's advice to study foreign languages and get a university degree, Yu enrolled at the Beijing Film Academy in 1995.[2]

Her feature film debut in Lunar Eclipse (1999) by Wang Quan'an. Her feisty performance as a shy, retiring wife by day and a wild party animal by night won her Best Actress at the Deauville Asian Film Festival. The recognition caught the attention of French producers, who cast her in Rage (2003).[2][3]

She subsequently starred in three more films with Wang Quan'an. Jingzhe (2003) earned her Best Actress accolades at the Golden Rooster Award[4] and Paris International Film Festival in 2003;[5] Tuya's Marriage (2006), the Golden Bear winner at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival,[6] won her the Best Actress prize from the Chicago International Film Festival[7] for her portrayal of a shepherdess who seeks a new husband after her first one falls ill; and Weaving Girl (2009), which won Jury Special Grand prix and the FIPRESCI prize from the 2009 Montreal World Film Festival.[8][9]

Yu Nan has also worked with other major Chinese directors, including Wang Xiaoshuai in In Love We Trust (2008), which won the Best Screenplay Silver Bear prize at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival,[10] Lee Yun-chan's in My DNA Says I Love You and Ning Hao, in his Chinese Western film, No Man's Land (2013).[9][11]

Helped in part by her fluency in Mandarin, French, and English,[12] Yu Nan has played in several international productions, such as the Canadian-Chinese film Diamond Dogs (2007), and the Hollywood films Speed Racer (2008) and The Expendables 2 (2012).[13]

Known for her success in art house films,[14] Yu also starred in commercial films. In Deadly Delicious (2008), she plays a frustrated wife who discovers her husband's extramarital affair and wants him to pay a price for his infidelity;[15] and also starred in Design of Death (2012), playing a mute widow. Yu's most notable work in recent years include Silent Witness (2013) and Wolf Warriors (2015).

Festivals

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Yu Nan has served as a jury member at several international film festivals:

Filmography

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Year English Title Chinese Title Role Notes
1999 Lunar Eclipse 月蚀 Ya Nan
2003 Rage 狂怒 Chinh
2004 Jingzhe 惊蛰 Ermei
2006 Tuya's Marriage 图雅的婚事 Tuya
2007 My DNA Says I Love You 基因决定我爱你 Marlene
Diamond Dogs 权杖 Anika
2008 In Love We Trust 左右 Dong Fan
Deadly Delicious 双食记 Li Chunyan
Speed Racer 极速赛车 Horuko Togokahn
2009 Weaving Girl 纺织姑娘 Lily
Looking for Jackie 寻找成龙 Director
2010 Wind Blast 西風烈 Nora
2011 Lost Child 寻人奇事 Zhang Xiaoyue
Sleepless Fashion 與時尚同居 Qi Xi
2012 Design of Death 杀生 Ma Guafu
The Expendables 2 敢死队2 (Mainland China)
轟天猛將2 (Hong Kong)
浴血任務2 (Taiwan)
Maggie Chan
2013 Beloved 亲爱 Xui Nin
Feed Me 哺乳期的女人 A woman
Silent Witness 全民目击 Zhou Li
Angel Warriors 铁血娇娃 Bai Xue
No Man's Land 无人区 Ye Bali
2014 Beijing Love Story[21] 北京爱情故事 Zhang Lei
The Taking of Tiger Mountain 智取威虎山 Ma Qinglian
2015 Wolf Warriors 特种兵之战狼 Long Xiaoyun
Lovers and Movies 爱我就陪我看电影 Ruo Yao
2016 Pleasure. Love. 男欢·女爱 Hu Yajie
Blood of Youth 少年 Han Yun
2017 Lord of Shanghai 上海王 Xiao Yuegui
Lost in the Moonlight 夜撩人 Jie Zi
Explosion 引爆者 Xiao Hong
2018 Justice in Northwest 西北风云 Gao Qiao
The Trough
2019 Fox Hunting

[22] [23]

Awards

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Year Award Category Nominated work
2001 4th Deauville Asian Film Festival Best Actress Lunar Eclipse
2003 23rd Golden Rooster Awards Best Actress Jingzhe
2004 19th Paris International Film Festival Best Actress
11th Beijing College Student Film Festival
2005 10th Golden Phoenix Awards[24] Society Award
2007 43rd Chicago International Film Festival Best Actress Tuya's Marriage
2008 8th Chinese Film Media Awards Best Actress
15th Beijing College Student Film Festival Students' Choice Award for Favorite Actress Deadly Delicious

Notes and references

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  1. ^ Yu Nan at hkmdb.com
  2. ^ a b "The rise and rise of Yu Nan". China Daily. 7 March 2007.
  3. ^ "Yu Nan: from Peking to Paris". China.org.cn. 3 March 2006.
  4. ^ ""Golden Rooster" Best Actor and Actress Prizes Awarded". China.org.cn. 6 November 2003.
  5. ^ Allociné (7 April 2007). "festival du film de Paris: Le palmarès". Allocine. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  6. ^ "'Tuya's Marriage' won the Golden Berlin Bear". China Daily. 18 February 2007.
  7. ^ "43rd Chicago Film Festival". Chicago International Film Festival. 2007. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  8. ^ Paquet, Darcy (19 October 2009). "Weaving Girl". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  9. ^ a b "Yu Nan: China's Unconventional Film Star". Women of China. 31 May 2012.
  10. ^ Hickley, Catherine (16 February 2008). "Brazilian Film 'Elite Squad' Wins Top Berlin Award". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  11. ^ "Rising Chinese Movie Star Yu Nan". Women of China. 16 May 2007.
  12. ^ Landreth, Jonathon (28 September 2007). "Four stars on the brink of global success". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11.
  13. ^ "Interview: Yu Nan". TimeOut Shanghai. 23 August 2012.
  14. ^ "YU NAN". Asia Pacific Screen Academy. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  15. ^ "Yu Nan: Art house to our house". China.org.cn. 10 March 2008.
  16. ^ Elley, Derek (12 October 2007). "Art films win at Pusan festival". Variety. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  17. ^ "Yu Nan to Judge Pusan Film Festival". Sina. 29 August 2007.
  18. ^ "International Jury for Asian New Talent Award 2009". Shanghai TV Festival. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  19. ^ Roxborough, Scott (26 January 2010). "Renee Zellweger, Yu Nan join Berlin jury". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  20. ^ Tsui, Clarence (20 May 2013). "Shanghai festival unveils competition jury and entries". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  21. ^ "Love story gets a femme fatale". China Daily. 9 January 2014.
  22. ^ Yu Nan at douban.com
  23. ^ Yu Nan at chinesemov.com
  24. ^ "第十届表演艺术学会奖金凤凰奖 - 学会奖" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-06-03.
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