Zhao Wei
Actress-turned-director Zhao Wei (赵薇 or Vicki Zhao) has been crowned China’s most successful female film director in terms of box office revenue.
Her movie “So young,” adapted from the novel “To our youth that has been fading away,” grossed 600 million yuan in 16 days since its premiere on April 26, 2013. The film was a testimony to Zhao’s maiden directing abilities
After watching the movie, many netizens posted their positive reviews online. The post-90s found the movie rather amiable, whereas the post-70s and post-80s audiences developed a strong nostalgia from the film in which they saw traces of their own youth.
However, some viewers criticized the movie for being less attractive than its written origins. Chinese writer Wu Jingya said the plot of the movie cannot match its reminiscent name. To Wu, Zhao did still not get away from the influence of her maiden TV Series “Princess Huanzhu” in which she portrayed the lead character of a naughty grassroots girl.
Born on Mar. 12, 1976, in Wuhu of Anhui Province, Zhao’s stardom began with Taiwan writer Chiung Yao’s TV adaptation “Princess Huanzhu” in 1999. She -- together with Zhang Ziyi, Xu Jinglei and Zhou Xun -- was crowned one of the top four “Huadan” (the Beijing Opera equivalent to describe beautiful actresses) on the Chinese mainland in the late 1990s.
In 2005, she was named the “Best Actress” for her role in “A Time to Love,” an oriental-style Romeo und Juliette. From thereon, she won 23 “Best Actress” film awards and nine TV awards.
She also showed her singing ability by winning 17 “Best Female Singer” awards and with her albums selling a total of 9 million.
She married Chinese property businessman Huang Youlong, with whom she has a daughter.
