Ying Da

Ying Da (; born July 7, 1960) is a Chinese actor and director with Manchu origin. He is known for film roles as Louie Wang in Big Shot's Funeral, for which he won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor, Ni Zhengyu in The Tokyo Trial (2006) and Jin Shenghuo in The Message (2009), as well as for his television performances as Zhao Xinmei in Fortress Besieged (1990) and Leng Zixing in The Dream of Red Mansions (2008). As a director, Ying is credited with introducing the sitcom genre to China with I Love My Family (1993). His other directorial works include Idler: Sister Ma (1999), Sister Ma and Her Neighborhoods (2000), and We Are A Family (2013).

Early life and education Ying was born in Beijing on July 7, 1960, to Ying Ruocheng, a director, actor, playwright and vice minister of culture from 1986 to 1990, and Wu Shiliang , a translator and interpreter of Zhou Enlai. In 1973, after his parents were released from jail, Ying resumed studies at the Beijing No. 72 Middle School, where he studied alongside Jiang Wen. After completing his bachelor's degree in science from Peking University in 1983, he was assigned to Beijing Normal School in Dongcheng District as a teacher. Ying received a master's degree in literature and art from the University of Missouri in 1987, that same year he returned to Beijing.

Career

Ying made his film debut in Xie Jin's The Last Aristocrats, playing Zhou Daqing.

In 1990, he was director of the People's Arts Theatre of Beijing. That same year, for his role as Zhao Xinmei in Fortress Besieged, he was nominated for the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 13th Hundred Flowers Awards.

In 1993, Ying had a cameo appearance in Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine, a drama film starring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi and Gong Li.

In 1997, Ying starred with Ng Man-tat, Eric Tsang, Zhao Benshan, Song Dandan in the comedy film Family Harmony. It earned good ratings nationwide. That same year, he starred opposite Ge You, Xu Fan, He Bing, Liu Bei in Feng Xiaogang's comedy film The Dream Factory.

In 2001, he starred in the comedy film Big Shot's Funeral, alongside Rosamund Kwan, Paul Mazursky, Donald Sutherland. The film marked the second collaboration between Ying Da and Feng Xiaogang. He received a Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 25th Hundred Flowers Awards for the role.

In 2005, he appeared in Waiting Alone, a romantic comedy starring Xia Yu, Gong Beibi and Li Bingbing.

In 2006, Ying portrayed Ni Zhengyu in the historical film The Tokyo Trial, directed by Gao Qunshu.

In 2008, Ying participated in Chen Kaige's Forever Enthralled as Feng Ziguang, a friend of Leon Lai and Zhang Ziyi's characters. That same year, he made a guest appearance as Leng Zixing in The Dream of Red Mansions, adapted from Qing dynasty novelist Cao Xueqin's classical novel of the same title.

In 2009, he starred in an espionage thriller called The Message with Zhou Xun, Li Bingbing, Zhang Hanyu, Huang Xiaoming, Alec Su, and Wang Zhiwen. The film was directed by Chen Kuo-fu and Gao Qunshu and based on Mai Jia's novel. That same year, he had a minor role in Huang Jianxin and Han Sanping's historical film The Founding of a Republic.

In 2010, Ying co-starred with Guo Tao, Hu Jing, Ada Choi and Kingdom Yuen in the romantic film The Love Clinic. That same year, he had key supporting role in East Wind Rain, a spy drama starring Liu Yunlong, Fan Bingbing and Li Xiaoran. He co-starred with Zhu Shimao, Chen Peisi, Vivian Wu and Qiao Renliang in the comedy film Under the Influence. Ying also hosted the Chinese version of Family Feud from October 2010 to January 2011.

In 2011, he had a supporting role in the horror thriller film The Devil Inside Me. The film was directed by Zhang Qi and starred Tony Leung Ka-fai, Kelly Lin, Huang Weide and Anya Wu. He had a minor role in the romantic comedy Dear Enemy, which starred Xu Jinglei, Stanley Huang, Gigi Leung, Aarif Rahman, Christy Chung, Michael Wong, and Zhao Baogang.

In 2012, he played Mr. Ming, the lead role in Hu Qiang's You and Me, costarring Tarcy Su and Jeff Chang. He was nominated for Golden Lotus Award for Best Actor at the 2nd Macau International Movie Festival.

In 2014, Ying played the lead role in the comedy film Hot Blood Band, alongside Chen Xiang, Leon Dai, Anthony Wong, Kathy Chow and Cai Ming.

Personal life Ying has married three times. His first wife was his schoolmate at Peking University, Ge Xin. They married in 1985 and divorced in 1987.

He married for the second time in 1989 to actress Song Dandan. The couple have a son Ying Rubin, who goes by Batu. They divorced in 1997. His great-grandmother Shuzhong was a member of the Qing dynasty royal family. His great-maternal grandfather Cai Rukai (; 1867–1923) was president of National Beiyang University. His grandmother Cai Baozhen was president of Beijing Children's Library.

Filmography Film Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 1988 The Last Aristocrats Zhou Daqing 1991 Family Portrait Guest 1993 Farewell My Concubine Na Kun 1997 The Dream Factory Bookstore manager Family Harmony Manager 2001 Big Shot's Funeral Louie Wang 2005 Waiting Alone Television director 2006 The Tokyo Trial Ni Zhengyu 2008 Forever Enthralled Feng Ziguang The Good Luck is High to Shine on Hou Fei 2009 The Message Jin Shenghuo The Founding of a Republic Guest 2010 The Love Clinic Jiang Dong East Wind Rain Laoyi Under the Influence President Niu 2011 The Devil Inside Me Guest Dear Enemy Amy's father 2012 You and Me Mr. Ming 2014 Hot Blood Band Laotie 2018 21 Karat 2019 I'll Complete for the Top

TV series Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 1990 Fortress Besieged Zhao Xinmei 1991 Guest 1992 No Way to Love You Fang Bo 1998 Beijing Woman Guest 2003 Romantic Affairs Huang Xianwei The Marshal 2004 In the Age of Blooming Teen 2005 Guest 2007 Ishihara 2008 The Dream of Red Mansions Leng Zixing 2009 They Call Her Mom Yuan Hang Women in the Yard Mr. Lin 2010 Himself (host) Chinese version of Family Feud 2011 Be On The Sick List Yang Gong Secret War in Emei Mao Shuyi Confused Love Du Anze Hu Zongnan Legend of Wei Zhenguo Chen Kuangsi 2012 Tang Dynasty Romantic Hero Tao's father Editorial Department Story The producer Puzzle Chen Fanxiong

As director Year English title Chinese title Notes 1993 I Love My Family 1995 1996 1997 Story of the Waiting Room 1998 Psychological Clinic Chinese Restaurant 1999 Idler: Sister Ma 2000 Sister Ma and Her Neighborhoods 2001 A family in the Northeast of China The Joy of Spring 2002 The Family of Hu in Xi'an 2003 Stories of the Sales Office 2004 Family Harmony Legend of Brother Ba 2004 Stories of the Tourist Agency 2007 2013 We Are A Family 2016 Rocket of China

Film and TV Awards Year Nominated work Award Result Notes 1990 Fortress Besieged Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor 2002 Big Shot's Funeral Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor 2012 You and Me Golden Lotus Award for Best Actor