Ma Tianyu (; born 12 July 1986), also known as Ray Ma, is a Chinese
Mandopop
Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkie ...
singer and actor of
Hui
The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
ethnicity. He graduated from the
Beijing Film Academy
Beijing Film Academy (BFA; ) is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specializing in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia. The academy ...
.
Career
2006–2008: Debut as a singer
In 2006, Ma Tianyu entered the ''My Hero'' competition. He was the regional champion for the province of
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...
and came sixth in the final round, and was chosen as the most popular contestant.
In 2007, Ma released his first album ''Beautiful Light''. The album was well-received, and topped the Asia Music Chart for Chinese albums. Ma won two newcomer awards at the China Billboard Award Ceremony,
and Most Popular Singer awards at the 5th
Southeast Music Chart Awards
Southeast Music Chart Awards (), is a Chinese music awards ceremony that is presented by SETV, which created a pop music news TV program called FeiChangYinYue, featuring Southeast Music Chart since 2002.
Ceremony
Categories
References
...
and 11th Tencent Star Award Ceremony.
The title song of the album, "The Death of Gentleness" was also chosen as the Top Ten Songs of the Year.
2009–2013: Acting debut and breakthrough
Ma made his acting debut in the film ''
Evening of Roses
''Evening of Roses'' (), also released as ''Night Rose'', is a 2009 Chinese film by Hong Kong director Ng See-yuen. It was adapted from a novel from Taiwanese writer Pi Zhi Cai. The film was given the official English title ''Night Rose''.
''Even ...
'', based on a novel of the same name by Cai Zhiheng. In 2010, he played the character
Jia Baoyu in the historical television series ''The Legend of Daiyu''.
Ma first gained public attention in 2011 when he starred in wuxia drama ''
The Vigilantes in Masks'' alongside
Wallace Huo
Wallace Huo Chien-hwa (, born 26 December 1979) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and producer. He is known for his roles in ''At Dolphin Bay'' (2003), ''Chinese Paladin 3'' (2009), ''Swordsman'' (2013), '' Battle of Changsha'' (2014), ''The Journey of ...
and
Cecilia Liu
Liu Shishi (; born 10 March 1987), also known as Cecilia Liu, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Long Kui in the television series '' Chinese Paladin 3'' and Ruoxi in the Chinese time-travel drama '' Scarlet Heart'' and '' Imperial D ...
. He won the Breakthrough Actor award at the 2011 Youku Television Index Awards.
He then starred in
Hunan TV
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 occasi ...
's family drama ''Treasure Mother Treasure Girl'' (2012), which topped viewership ratings. The same year, he had a guest starring role in ''
Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky'', which was well received by the audience.
In 2013, Ma starred in the comedy film, ''The Cosplayers'', and was chosen as the Most Promising Film Actor for his performance.
2014–present: Rising popularity
Ma gained an increase in popularity after starring in the wuxia drama ''
Young Sherlock'' (2014). His portrayal of the elegant and dandy Wang Yuanfang was praised. He continued his success streak with dual roles in ''
Swords of Legends
''Swords of Legends'' () is a 2014 Chinese television series based on the role-playing video game '' Gu Jian Qi Tan'' developed by Shanghai Aurogon. It aired on Hunan TV from 2 July to 25 September 2014.
Synopsis
Set in the Tang Dynasty, a young ...
'' (2014), which was a huge commercial success. The same year he released a single titled "Narcissus". The song received positive reviews from both the media and fans and topped various music charts in China.
In 2015, Ma joined the cast of travel-reality show ''
Sisters Over Flowers'', and sung the theme song titled "Let Time Rewind in the Wind" for the show. The same year, he starred in the comedy film ''
Surprise''. The film broke a million admissions and Ma received acclaim for his dynamic portrayal of a "tragic hero". Ma received the "Outstanding Male Artist" award at the Esquire Man at His Best Award.
In 2016, Ma starred in the epic fantasy drama ''
Ice Fantasy
''Ice Fantasy'' () is a Chinese epic fantasy television drama based on Guo Jingming's bestselling novel, ''City of Fantasy''. The drama was produced by Shanghai Youhug Media, directed by Ju Jue Liang, and stars Feng Shaofeng, Victoria Song, Ma Tia ...
'', based on
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 best-selling novel ''City of Fantasy'', playing the role of the silent and mysterious ice prince, Ying Kongshi. He became known to wider international audience following the airing of the drama. The same year, he released the album ''Flower in Hand'' to celebrate his 10th anniversary since debut.
In 2017, Ma ranked 95th on ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
''
China Celebrity 100
The ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 is a list published annually by ''Forbes'' that ranks the influence of Chinese celebrities. First published in 2004, it is similar to Celebrity 100 also published by ''Forbes''. Factors that are taken into acco ...
list.
In 2018, Ma starred in the crime action film ''
A Better Tomorrow 2018
''A Better Tomorrow 2018'' (), is a Chinese action film directed by Ding Sheng and starring Wang Kai, Ma Tianyu, Wang Talu, Yu Ailei, Lam Suet and Wu Yue. In this remake of John Woo’s 1986 classic, director Ding Sheng delivers a similar s ...
'' by
Ding Sheng. The same year, he starred in the television series historical drama ''
Secret of the Three Kingdoms
''Secret of the Three Kingdoms'' is a 2018 Chinese television series based on the novel ''San Guo Ji Mi'' (三国机密; ''Secret of the Three Kingdoms'') by Ma Boyong. Produced by Tangren Media and directed by Patrick Yau and Cheng Wai-man, the ...
'', playing
Liu Xie
Liu Xie (, ca. 465–522), courtesy name Yanhe (), was a Chinese monk, politician, and writer. He was the author of China's greatest work of literary aesthetics, ''The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons'' (文心雕龍). His biography is inc ...
; and romance melodrama ''
All Out of Love
"All Out of Love" is a song by British/Australian soft rock duo Air Supply, released as a single in 1980 from their fifth studio album '' Lost in Love''. The song was written by Graham Russell and Clive Davis. The song's lyrics describe the em ...
''.
In 2019, Ma starred in romance melodrama ''River Flows To You'' alongside
Zheng Shuang, and romance environmental drama ''
My Mowgli Boy'' alongside
Yang Zi.
Personal life
Ma Tianyu was born in Wucheng County, Dezhou City, Shandong Province. His mother committed suicide on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival when he was 5 years old. His father also left because of debts. He and his two sisters lived with their elderly grandparents. In order to make a living, he took on the burden of supporting his family, Bei Piao, and went to work, when he was less than 16 years old. He met a group of "people closer to this circle" when he was a waiter at a bar, and they told Ma Tianyu that he should be an actor and take the Beijing Film Academy. At that time he had not found his proper career direction yet, so he accepted this suggestion from a friend. But because he was extremely timid, he least liked the atmosphere of the exam. In order to practice courage, he signed up for "
Come on! Good man".
Discography
Albums
Singles
Soundtracks and promotional songs
Other appearances
Filmography
Film
Television series
Variety show
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
Ma Tianyu's Weibo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Tianyu
1986 births
Living people
Chinese Mandopop singers
Hui male actors
Hui singers
Male actors from Shandong
People from Dezhou
Musicians from Shandong
Singers from Shandong
Chinese male television actors
Chinese male film actors
21st-century Chinese male actors
Beijing Film Academy alumni
21st-century Chinese male singers