Yang Mi

Yang Mi, also known as Mini Yang, is a Chinese actress and singer born on September 12, 1986, in Beijing's Xuanwu District. The daughter of a police officer and a housewife, she was named with a character meaning exponentiation because both parents share the surname Yang. She attended the Beijing Xuanwu Experimental Primary School and later graduated from the Beijing Film Academy's Performance Department. Over her career, she was named among China's New Four Dan Actresses in 2009 and 2013 and eventually became recognized as a leading figure in Chinese television and cinema.

Her screen career started at age four in the 1990 television series Tang Ming Huang, followed by small roles in the film King of Beggars and the series Hou Wa. In 2001, she re-entered the entertainment sector through commercial modeling. She signed with Rosat Entertainment in 2002 and made her formal adult acting debut in the 2003 series The Story of a Noble Family.

Yang gained increasing public attention in the late 2000s through roles in Strange Tales of Liaozhai and The Return of the Condor Heroes. Her performance in the 2007 title role of Wang Zhaojun earned a Best Actress nomination at the 24th China TV Golden Eagle Awards. She reached wider audiences by portraying dual roles in the 2009 fantasy hit Chinese Paladin 3, followed by praised appearances in The Dream of Red Mansions and Beauty's Rival in Palace in 2010.

Yang achieved a major breakthrough in 2011 starring in the hit time-travel drama Palace, winning Most Popular Actress at the 17th Shanghai Television Festival. That year, she also starred in the box-office success Mysterious Island. She won Best Actress at the 26th China TV Golden Eagle Awards for her performance in the 2012 series Beijing Love Story. Between 2013 and 2015, she starred in the commercially successful Tiny Times film series, made her debut as a television producer with V Love, co-founded the agency Jiaxing Media, and headlined hit titles such as Swords of Legends and The Breakup Guru.

Yang continued to head major television projects, including the top-rated 2016 drama The Interpreter and the 2017 hit Eternal Love. Her feature film work included the sci-fi thriller Reset, which won her Best Actress at the 50th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, and the drama Baby, which earned her a Silver Shell Best Actress nomination at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. She also appeared in Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield and headlined Negotiator and Legend of Fuyao in 2018.

In her later career, Yang took on roles in dramas such as Novoland: Pearl Eclipse, The Great Craftsman, and In the Name of the Brother. For her performance in This Thriving Land, she received the Actress of the Year title at the 4th CMG Annual Chinese TV Drama Ceremony in 2026. In her personal life, Yang married actor Hawick Lau in 2014, had a daughter, and divorced in 2018. She left Jiaxing Media in 2023. By mid-2024, she was named China's top celebrity in advertising and commercial value.