Meng'er Zhang

Meng'er Zhang (; born April 22, 1987) is a Chinese actress. She made her Hollywood debut in 2021, in which she is best known for portraying Xu Xialing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and reprised her voice role in the third and final season of What If...?.

Early life and education Zhang is the daughter of an actor and a stage designer. She grew up heavily-devoted to theater arts in order to follow in her mother's footsteps. Prior to becoming a professional actress, she starred in stage and musical productions in Nanjing, where she was born and raised, and Shanghai. In 2009, she graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts with a bachelor's degree. She attended the East 15 Acting School in Essex and the Russian Institute of Theater Arts in Moscow.

Career

Early career In 2009, Zhang participated in China's Super Girl TV singing contest and was amongst the top 20 participants nationwide before withdrawing as her parents had arranged further schooling overseas for her. She later starred in numerous theatre productions. In 2017, she starred in the Chinese musical adaptation of The Street of Dawn (黎明之街) where she played Nakanishi Akiba (仲系 秋叶), During production of Shang-Chi, she took advice from co-star Ben Kingsley on the distinction between stage- and camera-acting, and director Destin Daniel Cretton also coached her in on-screen acting as she had little experience working with camera framing. Her casting in the film was revealed at the Disney Investor Day 2020 in December of that year. Zhang joined the cast of The Witcher for its third season as a human hunter named Milva.

Personal life On May 10, 2021, Zhang married Yung Lee, an action designer on Shang-Chi, whom she met on the set of the film. The Shang-Chi cast and crew, including her costars Simu Liu and Awkwafina, hosted a surprise wedding reception for them at Disneyland.

Filmography +Film Year Title Role Ref 2021 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Xu Xialing 2024 What If...? Xu Xialing (voice) Episode: "What If... 1872?"

+Theatre Year Title Roles Notes Ref 2013 Finding Destiny 《寻找初恋》 Luo Yan 骆颜 2014 The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane 2016 The Moon and Sixpence 2017 The Street of Dawn 《黎明之街》 Nakanishi Akiba 仲系 秋叶 2017 Oliver Twist Dodger 2019 In The Mood For Sorrow 《马不停蹄的忧伤》 Lin Baosheng 林宝笙 Nominated for Best Leading Actress Award at 13th Daegu International Musical Festival