Xu Jinglei

Xu Jinglei rose to fame in China with the television series A Sentimental Story (1997), where she played a policewoman who falls for a gangster.[4] Thereafter, she starred in romance film Spicy Love Soup (1997), where she won the Society Award at the Golden Phoenix Awards for her performance.[3]

In 1998, Xu and actor Li Yapeng paired up in Cherish Our Love Forever, a story based off the life and love between a group of young college students. The television series struck a chord with young audiences and became a massive hit in China, where Xu and Li were hailed as the "Nation's Couple".[5] The two would later pair up again for the film sequel Eternal Moment (2011), set ten years after the drama.[6]

Xu solidified her success in 2002 with the films Spring Subway and I Love You, both popular hits in China and particularly with younger audiences.[7] Along with Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei, Xu was hailed as one of the Four Dan Actresses in China.[7] Xu won the Huabiao Award for Outstanding New Actress for her performance in I Love You and the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress for Spring Subway.[8] The same year, she won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Far from Home.[9]

In 2006, Xu starred alongside Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung and Shu Qi in the crime drama Confession of Pain.[10] She received her first acting award in Hong Kong; the year's Most Attractive Actress at the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers (HKSC) Awards.[11] Xu was then cast as the female lead in the war epic, The Warlords (2007) by Peter Chan.[12]

After an extended hiatus from acting, Xu made a comeback in the science fiction thriller Battle of Memories (2017).[13][14]

Xu made her directorial debut with the film My Father and I (2003), where she also starred as the lead actress. The film, which tackled the delicate relationship between a Chinese father and his daughter, received widespread critical acclaim and won her a Golden Rooster for Best Directing Debut.[15][7] Her second directorial work, Letter from an Unknown Woman (2004) was a romantic story based on the classic novel of Stefan Zweig, and won her the Silver Shell for Best Director at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.[15][16]

After two successful art-house films, Xu had a shot in innovative film making in Dreams Come True (2006), an experimental film shot in one setting.[17] However unlike her previous two films, Dreams Come True was panned by critics.[18]

Xu became the first female director in China whose films gross more than 100 million yuan, for her 2010 film Go Lala Go!.[15][4] The film, adapted from Li Ke's bestseller of the same name which is about a young woman's growth in society, is Xu's first attempt at commercial production.[19]

Xu continued to direct romantic features Dear Enemy (2011) and Somewhere Only We Know (2015), which were moderately successful at the box office.[20][21][22]

Deviating from her former productions which mainly focuses on romance and family, Xu returned with action cop thriller The Missing in 2017.[15] She also announced that she would be producing an alien-themed online comedy series based on the popular online novel "My 200-Million-Year-Old Classmate".[15]