Yang Zi

Yang Zi (English: Andy) is a Chinese actress. She started out as a child actress in "Home With Kids". She is one of the Four Dan; the most bankable/popular actresses born in the 90’s.

Yang is noted for her roles in Home with Kids (2005), Battle of Changsha (2014), Ode to Joy (2016), Noble Aspirations (2016) and Ashes of Love  (2018).

Early Life
She lived in the Beijing area, where she was accepted to the Beijing Film Academy.

Beginnings
Yang made her acting debut in Ru Ci Chu Shan (1999), playing Zhou Qiong.[4] In 2002, Yang had a minor role as little Consort Donggo in Xiaozhuang Epic.[5] In 2003, Yang made her film debut in Girl's Diary, for which she received a Best Young actor nomination at the Tongniu Film Awards.[6]

Yang first rose to prominence in 2005 for playing Xia Xue in the popular Chinese sitcom Home with Kids. The series reached number one in ratings when it aired in China, and won the Outstanding Television Series (for children) award at the Flying Apsaras Awards and the Golden Eagle Awards. Yang reprised her role as Xia Xue in the sequel Home with Kids 2 as well as the subsequent installments.[7]

In 2008, Yang released her first solo album Home with Snow.[8] She also performed the voice dub for the animation film A lot of trouble Ma Xiaotiao.[9]

In 2011, she starred in family drama Love Comes Knocking on the Door, based on the novel Stepmother by Geling Yan. Her role as a rebellious teenager allowed her to successfully shed her image of a "child star".[10][11]

In 2013, for performance in the movie Insisrence, Yang won the Best Newcomer Award at the Golden Phoenix Awards.[12] She also starred in romance drama Flowers in Fog, written by acclaimed writer Chiung Yao.[13]

2014–2016: Rising popularity
Yang then starred in her first war drama Battle of Changsha (2014), directed by Magnolia Award-winner Kong Sheng. The series was voted Best Drama of 2014 in major streaming website Douban after being broadcast on CCTV-8 beginning mid-July 2014.[14] Yang then starred in spy romance drama Yangko Dance (2015), which received rave reviews and topped television ratings.[15]

In 2016, she starred in the metropolitan romance drama Ode to Joy, which depicts the stories of five young women who comes from different social and educational backgrounds, but share a common goal. The series received critical acclaim and commercial success, and Yang gained widespread recognition for her portrayal of Qiu Yingying, a simple-minded girl from a small town.[16][17] She then portrayed Lu Xueqi, one of the two female protagonists in the television series adaption of the best-selling book Zhu Xian.[18] The drama was a success and has over 23 billion views online, the highest record held by a Chinese drama at that time.[19][20] Yang gained wider popularity as a result, and was nominated at the 22nd Huading Awards as Best Actress in the ancient drama category for her performance.[21] The same year, she co-starred with Oho Ou and Zhang Huiwen in Crying Out In Love, a film based on the novel Socrates in Love by Japanese novelist Kyoichi Katayama.[22]

In 2017, she starred in the ancient comedy drama, Legend of Dragon Pearl and reprised her role as Qiu Yingying in the second installment of Ode to Joy.[23][24]

2018–present: Breakthrough
In 2018, Yang starred in the xianxia romance drama Ashes of Love.[25] Ashes of Love is a commercial success with high ratings and positive reviews, and Yang received acclaim for her performance.[26] The same year, Yang starred in The Destiny of White Snake, a fantasy drama based on the renowned Chinese folktale[27]

In 2019, Yang starred in the crime suspense film Bodies at Rest.[28] She is set to star in romantic comedy drama Go Go Squid!.[29]