Mark Chao

Mark Chao (, born 25 September 1984) is a Taiwanese-Canadian actor. He made his debut in the television series Black & White, for which he won the Golden Bell Award for Best Actor. After collaborating with director Doze Niu in Monga (2010) and Love (2012), he shifted his career to China, starring in films Caught in the Web (2012), So Young (2013), Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013), Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe (2015), Her Story (2024) as well as the television series Eternal Love (2017).

Chao ranked 100th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2011 and 36th in 2017.

Early life Chao is the son of actor and television host . He graduated from the University of Victoria in Canada, with a double degree in sociology and economics. After he graduated, he started his career in the Taiwanese entertainment industry.

Career Mark Chao made his debut playing Wu Yingxiong in the television drama Black & White (2009). His role as the rash, righteous and no-nonsense cop shot him to fame and won him the Best Actor award at the 44th Golden Bell Awards. He then starred in his first film, Monga (2010). The gangster flick, directed by Doze Niu, became a critical and commercial success,

After reuniting with Niu in Love (2012), Chao branched out of Taiwan by starring in First Time opposite Angelababy. He reprised his role of Wu Yingxiong in Black & White Episode I: The Dawn of Assault, the film prequel of Black & White. The same year, he starred opposite Gao Yuanyuan in Caught in the Web directed by Chen Kaige, winning him the Best Actor award for the Hong Kong and Taiwan category at the Huabiao Awards.

Chao then starred in Zhao Wei's directorial debut So Young (2013), playing an ambitious and nerdy China university student. The same year, he played Di Renjie in Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, directed by Tsui Hark.

Chao once again reprised his role as Wu Yingxiong in Black & White: The Dawn of Justice (2014), the sequel to Black & White Episode I: The Dawn of Assault. He won the Best Actor award at the 16th Huading Awards for his performance.

Chao was then cast to play Hu Bayi in Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe (2015), adapted from the best-selling tomb raid novel series Ghost Blows Out the Light. The film, directed by Lu Chuan, was a box office hit but received mixed reviews regarding its faithfulness to the novel. The following year, he starred in the Chinese-French film The Warriors Gate, directed by Matthias Hoene.

Chao made his return to television after 8 years in fantasy romance drama Eternal Love (2017). Though Chao's casting as the beautiful male lead was originally met with criticism, he eventually won praise for his acting. After the series aired, he experienced an explosive rise in popularity and increased film offers.

In 2018, Chao starred in the romance film Till the End of the World, which was shot in Antarctica. He is also set to reprise his role in Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings. The same year, Chao was cast in Lou Ye's period drama film Saturday Fiction.

Personal life From 2009 to 2011, Chao dated his Black & White co-star Ning Chang. They did not acknowledge their relationship until 2014, when they promoted their film Black & White: The Dawn of Justice on talk show Kangsi Coming.

After meeting on the set of Caught in the Web, Chao married Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan in 2014. They welcomed a daughter, Rhea Chao, in June 2019, one month after announcing that Gao was pregnant.

Filmography

Film Year English title Chinese title Role 2010 Monga Zhou Yiwen 2012 Love 愛 Mark Na First Time 第一次 Gong Ning / Lu Xia Black & White Episode I: The Dawn of Assault 痞子英雄首部曲:全面開戰 Wu Yingxiong Caught in the Web 搜索 Yang Shoucheng I Love You to Love Me 爱在一起 2013 So Young 致我們終將逝去的青春 Cheng Xiaozheng Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon 狄仁傑之神都龍王 Di Renjie 2014 Black & White: The Dawn of Justice 痞子英雄之黎明升起 Wu Yingxiong 2015 Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe 九层妖塔 Hu Bayi 2016 The Warriors Gate 勇士之門 Warrior Zhao 2018 Till the End of the World 南极绝恋 Wu Fuchun Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings 狄仁杰之四大天王 Di Renjie 2019 Saturday Fiction 蘭心大劇院 Tan Na 2020 The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity 晴雅集 Qing Ming 2024 Her Story 好东西Wang Tiemei's ex-husband 2025 Resurrection 狂野时代 Commander

Television series Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 2009 Black & White 痞子英雄 Wu Yingxiong 2017 Eternal Love 三生三世十里桃花 Ye Hua / Mo Yuan / Zhao Ge Midnight Diner 深夜食堂 Customer Special appearance 2020 Ordinary Glory 平凡的荣耀 Wu Kezhi 2021 The Ideal City 理想之城 Xia Ming 2026Loving Strangers秋雪漫过的冬天Jiang Jiaqi

Discography Year English title Chinese title Album Notes2009 "Rogue Justice" 無賴正義 Black & White OST with Color Band "Ruffian and Hero" 痞子英雄 with Jason Zou 2010 "Tonight Tonight" Monga OST with Ethan Juan 2012 "Cry Like A Little Child" 哭得像小孩First Time OST "Stand By Me" "Rock n Roll Man" "Me and you" "Little Donkey" 小毛驢 "We Are Not Opponents" 我們不是對手

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2009 44th Golden Bell Awards Best Actor Black & White 2010 16th Shanghai Television Festival Best Actor 12th Taipei Film Festival Best Actor Monga Best New Actor 54th Asia-Pacific Film Festival Best Actor 5th Asian Film Awards Best Newcomer 2011 11th Chinese Film Media Awards Best New Actor 2013 15th Huabiao Awards Outstanding Chinese Actor Caught in the Web 2014 5th China Film Director's Guild Awards Best ActorSo Young 8th Asian Film Awards Best Supporting Actor 2015 16th Huading Awards Best Actor Black & White: The Dawn of Justice 15th Chinese Film Media Awards Most Anticipated Actor 7th China Image Film Festival Best Actor Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe 2017 23rd Shanghai Television Festival Best Actor Eternal Love 2017 China Quality Television Drama Ceremony Outstanding Star of the Year 202126th Asian Television AwardsBest Actor in a Leading RoleOrdinary Glory