Yuan Quan (, born 16 October 1977), also known as Yolanda Yuan, is a Chinese actress and singer. She graduated from the

Central Academy of Drama The Central Academy of Drama (), abbreviated Zhong Xi (), is a drama school in Beijing, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university identified by the Ministry of Education of China. The school is the first theatre ...

where she majored in drama.

Career

Yuan starred in her first film ''

Rhapsody of Spring ''Rhapsody of Spring'' is a 1998 Chinese drama film directed and co-written by Teng Wenji, based on the life of composer Shi Guangnan (1940–1990). Although the protagonist's name has been changed to "Zhao Liming" to accommodate the dramatized pl ...

'' (1998), which won her the

Golden Rooster Award The Golden Rooster Awards () are film awards given in mainland China. The awards were originally given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981. Award recipients receive a statuette in the shap ...

for Best Supporting Actress. Her subsequent films also earned her awards; '' Once Upon a Time in Shanghai'' (1998) earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the

and ''A Love of Blueness'' (2000) brought her the Best Actress trophy at the

Beijing College Student Film Festival Beijing College Student Film Festival, first held in 1993, is an annual event organized by Beijing Normal University and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Radio, Film and Television. It is held in April or May, and is one of the biggest film festivals i ...

. In 2002, Yuan won her second

for her performance in ''

Pretty Big Feet ''Pretty Big Feet'', released in the United States as ''For the Children'', is a 2002 Chinese film directed by Yang Yazhou. It stars Ni Ping as a teacher in an extremely impoverished and barren town in Ningxia, and Yuan Quan as a volunteer teache ...

'' by

Mo Yan Guan Moye (; born 17 February 1955), better known by the pen name Mo Yan (, ), is a Chinese novelist and short story writer. Donald Morrison of U.S. news magazine ''TIME'' referred to him as "one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirate ...

, the first film that depicts contemporary western China. Though Yuan achieved success in films, it is on stage that Yuan has earned most fame and applause. She chose to become a professional drama actress at the National Theater of China after graduation and first attracted the audience and media in the 2001 production of ''Hurricane''. Yuan rose to prominence in 2005 when she starred in Meng Jinghui's musical drama ''Amber'', which was a hit; touring seven cities in Asia and attracting more than 100,000 audiences. In 2006, she starred in ''Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land'' by Stan Lai, which won critical acclaim and was voted "Best Stage Drama of 2006". The success of the play led to Yuan's introduction to famous Taiwan musician Yao Qian, who in turn inspired Yuan Quan to start a musical career. In 2007, Yuan released her first album, ''The Lonely Flower''. Yuan also took on the role of the titular protagonist for the 2009 and 2013 drama production ''Jane Eyre'' by the National Center for the Performing Arts. Her performance received acclaim; in an audience poll conducted by the Beijing News, 90% believed that Yuan's Jane did justice to the novel, conveying the character's ‘calm, introverted and persistent personality’. Yuan won the China Golden Lion Award for Drama in 2010 and the Plum Blossom Award in 2012; both are considered high honors in theater. 2014 was a successful year for Yuan, who starred in two top-grossing films '' Breakup Buddies'' and ''

The Continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

''. In 2017, Yuan co-starred in ''

The First Half of My Life ''The First Half of My Life'' () is a 2017 Chinese television series based on Hong Kong novelist Yi Shu's novel of the same name, and centers on a group of city dwellers who have to make choices about love and career. It was directed by Shen Yan ...

'', a drama that tells the inspirational story of a housewife-turned-career woman. The drama was a huge hit in China.

Personal life

Yuan Quan was born in a

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 ...

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

family. She married actor

Xia Yu Xia Yu may refer to: *Yu the Great, also known as Xia Yu, legendary founder of the Xia dynasty * Xia Yu (actor) (born 1978), Chinese actor *Ha Yu (actor) Wong Sing (born 14 June 1943), better known by his stage name Ha Yu, is a Hong Kong actor ...

in 2009, a decade after their first got together as students in

. They have appeared in 4 films together: ''The Law of Romance'' (2003), ''

Waiting Alone ''Waiting Alone'' () is a 2004 Chinese romantic comedy film written & directed by Chinese-American filmmaker Dayyan Eng (), depicting the lives of a group of hip, affluent, twenty-something Beijing residents. The film features Chinese movie stars X ...

'' (2004), ''

Shanghai Rumba ''Shanghai Rumba'' is a 2006 Chinese romance drama film written and directed by Peng Xiaolian, starring the real-life couple Yuan Quan and Xia Yu (actor), Xia Yu (before their marriage in 2009). Set in 1940s Shanghai, the story is loosely based on ...

'' (2006) and '' Breakup Buddies'' (2014). Yuan Quan also portrayed a character named Xia Yu in ''

'' (2002). Their daughter was born on 31 March 2010.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Theater

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

Television, Film and Theater

Music

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuan, Quan 1977 births Living people Actresses from Hubei Central Academy of Drama alumni People from Jingzhou Singers from Hubei Chinese stage actresses 20th-century Chinese actresses 21st-century Chinese actresses Chinese film actresses Chinese television actresses 21st-century Chinese women singers Chinese women television presenters Chinese television presenters Chinese broadcasters VJs (media personalities) Middle School Affiliated to the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts alumni