Zhou Dongyu

Zhou Dongyu (; born 31 January 1992) is a Chinese actress. She rose to fame for her role in Zhang Yimou's film Under the Hawthorn Tree. She is also known for her roles in Soul Mate (2016), for which she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress, Us and Them (2018), and Better Days (2019), for which she won both the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress and Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress.

Zhou was named by Southern Metropolis Daily as one of the "Four Dan actresses of the post-90s Generation". She ranked 71st on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2017, 7th in 2019, and 3rd in 2020.

Early life and education Zhou was born in Shijiazhuang, Hebei to an ordinary working family. When she was in the third grade of primary school, her father died in a car accident, and her mother later remarried. She practiced gymnastics as a child and joined the Shijiazhuang gymnastics team at the age of 12. In middle school, she studied in Shijiazhuang No. 27 Middle School Class 9 in 2004 and Shijiazhuang No. 12 Middle School in Class 2007.

Career 2010–2015: Rising recognition

In 2010, Zhou was picked by Zhang Yimou to star in his film Under the Hawthorn Tree, despite having no acting experience prior to taking on the role. She rose to fame for her appearance in the film and won several awards, including the Best Actress at the 56th Valladolid International Film Spain Festival, Outstanding New Actress at the 14th Huabiao Award and Best New Performer at the 20th Shanghai Film Critics Awards.

In 2011, she starred in Barbara Wong's romance film The Allure of Tears; and also featured in war film The Road Of Exploring, playing Yang Kaihui, the wife of political leader Mao Zedong.

In 2013, she starred in historical romance film The Palace, the fourth installment of the Gong series by Yu Zheng. Variety praised her performance saying, "Zhou holds the screen very well, turning an initially daft personality into an angsty but stoical heroine".

In 2014, she starred alongside Lin Gengxin in youth romance film My Old Classmate. The film topped China's box office and Zhou was praised for her "acting breakthrough". The same year, she featured in comedy Breakup Buddies. Opposite to her usual pure and fresh image, Zhou challenged the role of a "Smart" in the film. Breakup Buddies became one of the highest-grossing films of all time in China.

In 2015, she starred opposite Ethan Juan in suspense film The Unbearable Lightness of Inspector Fan and youth drama The Ark of Mr. Chow alongside Sun Honglei.

2016–present: Critical acclaim

Zhou achieved breakthrough with her performance in the film Soul Mate, based on the novel of the same name by Anni Baobei. Zhou received the Best Actress award at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards together with her Soul Mate co-star Sandra Ma, and also won Best Actress at the 28th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award. The same year, she won the Best Actress award at the 8th Macau International Movie Festival for her performance in the South Korean-Chinese romance film Never Said Goodbye.

In 2017, Zhou starred alongside Takeshi Kaneshiro in the romantic comedy This Is Not What I Expected. The film grossed over 100 million yuan and received an 8.9 out of 10 score on Maoyan. Along with the success of Soul Mate, Zhou was coined the representative of Chinese chick flicks. The same year, she starred in the coming-of-age romance drama Shall I Compare You to a Spring Day alongside Zhang Yishan; and featured in science fiction wuxia film The Thousand Faces of Dunjia directed by Tsui Hark. In 2018, Zhou starred in Rene Liu's romance film Us and Them alongside Jing Boran. It was a hit in China, earning $191 million over its first two weekends. In 2019, Zhou starred in the youth film Better Days helmed by Soul Mate director Derek Tsang, that tackles school bullying. The film topped box office and received positive reviews. Zhou won the Best Actress at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance. Zhou ranked seventh on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2019, the highest for female celebrities. In 2021, Zhou starred alongside Xu Kai in the series Ancient Love Poetry. In 2023, Zhou starred in the film The Breaking Ice by Singaporean director Anthony Chen, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and competed as part of the Un Certain Regard.

At the 2010 Hawaii International Film Festival, she apologized in Mandarin that she spoke no English; her co-star Shawn Dou who interpreted for her. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, however, she spoke fluent English.

Political views In March 2021, Zhou terminated her contract with Burberry as brand ambassador after the company announced that they would discontinue cotton purchases from the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang amidst allegations of forced labor, human rights violations and persecution of the Uyghur ethnic minority population in China by the US State Department. Widely seen as a pro-nationalist move, her actions were replicated by other Chinese celebrities.

Filmography

Film

Television series Year Title Role Notes 2016 Sparrow Xu Bicheng2017 Love & Life & Lie Liu Xintong Mo Du Feng Yun Xiao Yao Shall I Compare You to a Spring Day Xiao Hong Also producer 2019 Behind The ScenesBu Xiaogu 2020 New World Jia Xiaoduo Cameo 2021 Ancient Love Poetry Shang Gu / Hou Chi

Variety show

Discography Singles Year English title Chinese title Album Notes/2016 "Little Windchime" Mr. Nian OST "Imperfect Girl" Promotional song for We Are In Love 2017 "If I Love You" Shall I Compare You to a Spring Day OST with Zhang Yishan 2018 "Strong Country Generation I Am Here" Promotional song for CCYL 2019 "China Happy Events" 中国喜事 Performance for CCTV Spring Gala with Phoenix Legend, Wallace Chung, Dilraba Dilmurat, & Lay Zhang "My Motherland and I" For People's Republic of China's 70th anniversarywith Wei Daxun, Ma Tianyu, Guan Xiaotong, Xu Weizhou & Ju Jingyi "My Motherland and I" My People My Country OST with Chen Feiyu, Liu Haoran, Ou Hao & Zhu Yilong "Starry Sea"For China Movie Channel Young Actors Projectwith 31 other actors 2020 "Hello 2020" 你好2020 Performance for CCTV Spring Galawith Li Xian, Li Qin, Ma Sichun & Zhu Yilong

Accolades Awards and nominations YearAwards CategoryNominated workResult 201123rd Harbin Ice and Snow Film FestivalMost Commercially Valuable NewcomerUnder the Hawthorn Tree 5th Asian Film Awards Best Newcomer 20th Shanghai Film Critics Awards Best Newcomer 15th Chinese Film Media Awards Most Anticipated Actress 2016 8th Macau International Movie Festival Best ActressNever Say Goodbye 53rd Golden Horse Awards Best Actress (with Ma Sichun)Soul Mate 24th Beijing College Student Film Festival 8th China Film Director's Guild Awards 2nd Brics Film Festival 17th Chinese Film Media Awards 2nd Golden Screen Awards 36th Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Actress 31st Golden Rooster Awards Best Actress 22nd Huading AwardsBest Actress (Revolutionary-Era Drama)Sparrow 8th Macau International Television Festival Best Actress Shall I Compare You to a Spring Day 14th Guangzhou Student Film Festival Most Popular Actress This Is Not What I Expected 2018 12th Asian Film Awards Best Actress 9th China Film Director's Guild Awards Best Actress 34th Hundred Flowers AwardsBest ActressSoul Mate 18th Chinese Film Media Awards Most Popular ActressUs and Them 12th Tencent Video Star Awards Most Popular Film Actress 201910th China Film Director's Guild AwardsBest Actress 32nd Golden Rooster Awards Best Actress 6th The Actors of China Award Ceremony Best Actress (Emerald Category)Behind The Scenes Golden Bud - The Fourth Network Film And Television Festival Best Actress Cosmo Glam Night Person of The Year (Dream) 4th Macao Film Festival AwardsBest ActressBetter Days Tencent Entertainment White Paper Film Actress of the Year Jinri Toutiao Awards Ceremony Brand Value Star of the Year 2020Weibo Awards CeremonyInfluential Actor of the Year 26th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best ActressBetter Days 31st Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Awards 39th Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Actress 11th China Film Director's Guild AwardsActress of the Year 27th Huading AwardsBest Actress 35th Hundred Flowers Awards 14th Asian Film Awards 33rd Golden Rooster Awards Best Actress

Forbes China Celebrity 100 YearRank 201771st 20197th 20203rd

Honours

Jury member at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival for its main competition section 'New Currents Award'.