Li Bingbing

Li Bingbing is a Chinese actress who gained prominent recognition in domestic cinema before expanding into international feature films. Born on February 27, 1973, in Wuchang, Heilongjiang, her family originally came from Taigu, Shanxi. She was raised in a working-class family alongside her younger sister, Li Xue. At the age of sixteen, she enrolled in Jixi Normal School, graduating in 1992, after which she spent a year working as a probationary music teacher at a Harbin elementary school. In 1993, she began studying acting at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Li achieved early critical acclaim for her role in Zhang Yuan's 1999 film Seventeen Years, sharing the Best Actress Award at the 13th Singapore International Film Festival with Liu Lin, though the movie was banned in China. She gained broader public attention in 2001 after starring in the popular television series Young Justice Bao. She subsequently performed in several wuxia television shows, including Taiji Prodigy and Eight Heroes, earning recognition as an action actress.

In 2004, Li received a Golden Rooster Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in Dayyan Eng's romantic comedy Waiting Alone. That same year, she starred in Feng Xiaogang's A World Without Thieves, earning a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Hundred Flowers Awards, while her sister Li Xue became her manager. After appearing in The Knot in 2006 and The Forbidden Kingdom in 2008, Li won Best Actress at the 46th Golden Horse Film Awards for The Message in 2009. In 2010, she appeared in Tsui Hark's Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame as Shangguan Jing'er, a character based on Tang Dynasty politician Shangguan Wan'er. That year, she co-founded the studio Hesong Entertainment, going on to co-produce and co-star in the 2011 historical film 1911 alongside Jackie Chan.

Li made her English-language debut in Wayne Wang's 2011 film Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, adapted from Lisa See's novel and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. She subsequently played Ada Wong in Resident Evil: Retribution and was cast in 400 Boys. In 2013, she received the East-West Talent Award at the 4th Annual US-China Film Summit and was named Asian Star of the Year by Variety. Forbes China included her on its Celebrity 100 list multiple times between 2013 and 2019. Her international career continued with major roles in Transformers: Age of Extinction, the Chinese-Australian co-production Nest, and the 2018 action film The Meg opposite Jason Statham.

Outside of acting, Li has led several environmental initiatives. She established the organization L.O.V.E. to promote sustainable living and co-founded the One Million-Tree Forest project in Gansu Province, earning recognition from the World Wildlife Fund as its most influential global ambassador. She has also served as a United Nations Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador and a Charity Ambassador for the Shanghai World Expo. Additionally, Li is a member of the China Zhi Gong Party.