Wu Yanshu (; born 1938) is a Chinese actress. Wu is considered a National Class-A Actor in China. Wu first garnered recognition for her acting in 2016, when her performance in '' Finding Mr. Right 2'' and earned her a

Golden Horse Award The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her film breakthrough came in 2017 with her performance as the grandmother in the drama film ''

Love Education ''Love Education'' is a 2017 Chinese-Taiwanese drama film directed and co-written by Sylvia Chang. It stars Chang, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Lang Yueting, Song Ningfeng, and Wu Yanshu. It focuses on three generations of women in Henan Province. The fi ...

'', for which she received Best Supporting Actress nominations at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, 37th Hong Kong Film Awards and 12th Asian Film Awards. For her role in ''Relocate'', she won a Best Supporting Actress at the 31st Golden Rooster Awards, the Chinese equivalent of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Early life

Born in 1938, Wu worked at Shanxi Drama Theatre since the 1960s. Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

invited her to perform ''Liu Hulan'' in the

Great Hall of the People The Great Hall of the People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the ruling Chinese Co ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She retired in 2003. In 2011 she moved to Beijing, living with her daughter.

Career

Wu's first major film credit was ''Stream Is Singing'', playing the role of Gao Xiaoling. The

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

was produced by

Changchun Film Studio Changchun Film Studio Group Corporation () is a Chinese film production company in Changchun. It is one of the studios transitioned from the 1940s, and has been considered one of the cornerstones of the Chinese film industry. Early history The ...

. In 1982, she guest-starred on ''Men of a Certain Age'', a drama film starring Da Shichang and

Pan Hong Pan Hong (Chinese: 潘虹, born November 4, 1954) is a Chinese film actress. She is widely regarded as one of the best film stars of her generation. Early life Born Liu Ronghua (刘蓉华) on November 4, 1954, in Shanghai. During the Cultural ...

. Wu had a supporting role in the comedy television series ''The Story of Xi Gengtian'' (2006), which starred

Lin Yongjian Lin Yongjian (, born 14 February 1970) is a Chinese actor. Lin, Yongjian graduated from PRC Academy of Drama in 1990, has been a successful stage actor at Guangzhou Soldiers' Drama Troupe after graduation. He has been starring in more than 50 ...

as Xi Gengtian. In 2011, Wu had a cameo appearance in ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...

'', adapted from

Wu Cheng'en Wu Cheng'en (, c. 1500–1582Shi Changyu (1999). "Introduction." in trans. W.J.F. Jenner, ''Journey to the West'', volume 1. Seventh Edition. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 1–22. or 1505–1580), courtesy name Ruzhong (), was a Chines ...

's classical novel of ''

'', one of the

Four Great Classical Novels Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known novels of pre-modern Chinese literature. These are among the world's longest and oldest novels. They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish t ...

in Chinese literature. Wu appeared as Yu Lan in ''Love is Not Blind'' (2013), a romance drama starring Yao Di and Zhang Mo. In 2016, Wu played the role of Tang Xiuyi in

Xue Xiaolu Xue Xiaolu is a Chinese film director and screenwriter. She is considered one of the top Chinese female directors''.'' Her first major feature was ''Ocean Heaven'', (2010) which stars Jet Li, followed by '' Finding Mr. Right'' (2013) starring Tan ...

's film '' Finding Mr. Right 2'', for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the

53rd Golden Horse Awards The 53rd Golden Horse Awards (Mandarin:第53屆金馬獎) took place on November 26, 2016, at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, the awards honored the best fi ...

. Wu had key supporting role in the 2017 ''

'', directed by

Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang (born 21 July 1953) is a Taiwanese actress, writer, singer, producer and director. In 1992, she was a member of the jury at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2018, she was one of the jury members of the main competition ...

. She was praised for her role and earned critical acclaim for her performance. And she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, 37th Hong Kong Film Awards and 12th Asian Film Awards. At the same year, Wu's performance in the feature film ''Relocate'' which garnered her a Best Supporting Actress at the 31st Golden Rooster Awards.

Personal life

Wu's husband was a composer and chairman of Shanxi Provincial Musicians Association. Her daughter is a screenwriter.

Filmography

Film

TV series

Theater

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Wu Yanshu on Douban

Wu Yanshi on Metime
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Yanshu 1938 births Living people Chinese film actresses Chinese television actresses 21st-century Chinese actresses 20th-century Chinese actresses