Fan Bingbing (, born 16 September 1981) is a Chinese actress. After gaining recognition for the costume drama My Fair Princess (1998–1999), Fan's breakthrough came with Feng Xiaogang's blockbuster film Cell Phone (2003), which won her the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress. She collaborated with Li Yu on films such as Lost in Beijing (2007), Buddha Mountain (2011) and Double Xposure (2012), and reunited with Feng in I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016), which won her the Silver Shell for Best Actress and Asian Film Award for Best Actress. She also starred in Charles de Meaux's film Stretch (2011), Bryan Singer's film X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), and Renny Harlin's film Skiptrace (2016). From 2013 to 2017, she was included as the highest-paid celebrity in the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006. She appeared on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in 2017. In 2018, Fan was involved in a tax evasion scandal, resulting in a CN¥883 million (US$127 million) fine and her blacklisting in mainland China. She returned to acting with a cameo in Korean TV show Insider (2022), followed by a starring role in film Green Night (2023).

Early life

Fan was born and raised in the coastal city of Yantai, Shandong. Her grandfather, Fan Jie, was a general in the naval air force, and her grandmother gave her the Chinese character bing, or “ice,” to honor the family’s ties to the sea. Fan grew up watching her father, Fan Tao, a pop singer, perform at regional competitions. Her mother, Zhang Chuanmei, was a dancer and an actress. Both were party committee members and served as cadres in the cultural division of the local port authority. Fan has a younger brother Fan Chengcheng, who was a member of boy group Nine Percent and NEXT. In 1995, during her second year at high school, Fan was involved a car accident and spent three months recuperating in a hospital, where she watched the Taiwanese drama The Empress of the Dynasty, starring Angela Pan as Wu Zetian. The drama gave Fan the dream of becoming an actress. Unable to advance to her senior year due to the accident while unwilling to repeat the second year, Fan applied to a performance school, Shanghai Xie Jin-Hengtong School of Arts.

Career

1996–2006: Early work and breakthrough

Fan debuted in the television series Powerful Woman and played minor roles for two years, before gaining recognition in 1999 for her supporting role as Jin Suo in the first two seasons of the Chinese television series My Fair Princess, adapted from the novel by Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao. Fan was recommended by Hong Kong actress Leanne Liu to join the cast. In 2003, she starred in Cell Phone, which became China's highest-grossing film of the year and earned her the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress. Fan signed an eight-year contract with Chiung Yao's company, which produced My Fair Princess. However, as the company had yet to establish any branches in mainland China, many mainland Chinese television advertising firms had to make calls to Taiwan for negotiations, resulting in a waste of time and effort. When Fan and her mother tried to contract, Chiung Yao's company asked for CN¥1 million in compensation; eventually the court ordered Fan to pay CN¥200,000 because the contract was illegal due to her age. Fan appeared in The Lion Roars (2002), The Twins Effect II (2004), A Chinese Tall Story (2005), and A Battle of Wits (2006). She received a nomination for Best Actress at the 12th Golden Bauhinia Awards for her role in the Chinese-South-Korean-Japanese epic film A Battle of Wits. In 2006, Forbes China awarded her the Star of the Year.

2007–2017: Heyday

Fan left Huayi Brothers in February 2007 and started her own Fan Bingbing Studio. She starred in eight films in 2007, winning Best Supporting Actress at the 44th Golden Horse Awards for her role in The Matrimony. That year, her studio made its first television production, Rouge Snow (2008), adapted from the novel of the same name. Fan played the starring role in the production, portraying a poor girl who fights for freedom against fate after being sold to a wealthy and influential clan. In the same year, Fan starred in crime drama film Shinjuku Incident and was praised by critics for her performance. Fan featured in historical action film Bodyguards and Assassins, which earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards. In 2010, Fan starred in Chen Kaige's historical epic, Sacrifice. On 24 October, Buddha Mountain starring Fan premiered at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival, and earned her the Best Actress Award. In April 2010, Fan was ranked first on the "50 Most Beautiful People in China" list by the newspaper Beijing News. In 2011, Fan starred in the martial arts film Shaolin alongside Andy Lau and Jackie Chan and The Founding of a Party, which was released to mark the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. In May, she appeared at the 64th Cannes Film Festival to promote My Way together with director Kang Je-gyu and actors Jang Dong-gun and Joe Odagiri. In October, she became a member of the International Competition Jury of 24th Tokyo International Film Festival. For the first half of 2012, Fan attended many fashion shows in Paris. On 16 May, she attended the opening ceremony of the 65th Cannes Film Festival as the only East Asian global spokesperson on behalf of L'Oréal Paris. Forbes ranked Fan third on the 2012 Forbes China Celebrity 100 List based on her success in that year. In the film Double Xposure, which was released in China on 29 September, she portrays a girl who, after suffering trauma during childhood, experiences visual hallucinations after witnessing her father kill her mother. Most film critics praised Fan's performance, and she won Best Actress at the 2013 Huading Awards. The film was a financial success, with a domestic gross of more than CN¥100 million, which broke the box office record for a domestic art film in China. On 12 December, Fan appeared in Lost in Thailand, in which she did an unpaid cameo so as to "help" her first-time filmmaker friend, Xu Zheng. The film broke the box office record for Chinese films in China to become one of the highest-grossing Chinese films of all time. In 2013, Fan appeared as Dr. Wu's assistant, Wu Jiaqi, in the mainland Chinese version of Iron Man 3, which was released on 1 May. The same year, she starred alongside Aarif Rahman in the romantic comedy One Night Surprise, which aired on Chinese Valentine's Day. The low-budget film became a commercial success and received positive reviews. On 9 December 2013, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group's B2C business Taobao announced that Fan topped the list of the most valuable celebrities for boosting online business and said that Fan influenced approximately US$74 million in sales on its ecommerce website. On 22 December, Fan received the Best Actress Award and the Hottest Figure Award at the Baidu Hot Ceremony. In 2014, Fan portrayed the mutant Blink (Clarice Ferguson) in the American superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past. She also announced that she has a four-film contract with 20th Century Fox, yet she has not appeared in another X-Men film since. The film was released globally and resulted in increased international fame and recognition for Fan. On 31 May, Barbie announced the launch of the Fan Bingbing Celebrity Specialty doll in Shanghai. Louis Vuitton also chose Fan as the first Asian actress to be provided with a specially tailored dress for their red carpet. In the series The Empress of China, Fan portrays the titular character Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. The 82-episode TV series was broadcast on Hunan Television from 21 December 2014 to 5 February 2015, and recorded the highest ratings for the year. The same year, she starred in wuxia fantasy film The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom. In 2015, Fan joined the China Central Television (CCTV) variety show as a judge in Amazing Chinese and as a contestant in the reality television show Challenger's Alliance. Fan won the Best Actress award at the 1st Berlin Chinese Film Festival for her role in the film. She was ranked fourth on Forbes World's Highest-Paid Actresses list for 2015. In 2016, Fan featured in the action comedy Skiptrace alongside Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville, which won her Best Supporting Actress at the 1st Golden Screen Awards. Fan then starred in Guo Jingming's L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties. The film, which was released on 30 September, is China's first computer-animated motion film. Fan won the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the 64th San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress for her performance in I Am Not Madame Bovary, directed by Feng Xiaogang. Fan was honored at the 2017 Time 100 Gala in Manhattan, recognized on Time magazine's list of the one-hundred most influential people of 2017. In April 2017, Fan was announced to serve as a jury member at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The same year, she starred in Sky Hunter, China's first aerial warfare film. She also starred in the 2017 French film The Lady in the Portrait (Le Portrait interdit), co-starring Melvil Poupaud. In June 2017, Fan was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

2018–present: Hiatus and overseas comeback

Since 2018, Fan's career has been derailed by a tax evasion scandal. On May 10, 2018, Feng Xiaogang posted on Weibo a concept poster for Cell Phone 2, a sequel to Fan's breakout film Cell Phone (2003). On May 27, former CCTV host Cui Yongyuan, who has a feud with Cell Phone (2003) due to its insinuations about his real life, posted on Weibo photos of a contract where Fan is paid CN¥10 million. On May 28, Cui further alleged that another actor had signed two contracts for a four-day film shoot—one for CN¥10 million and the other for CN¥50 million—pocketing a total of CN¥60 million. Due to the smaller contract's amount matching Fan's revealed contract from the previous day, many incorrectly believed Cui referred to the same person with two days' revelations and was thus accusing Fan of tax evading. On May 29, Fan's studio denied the "yin-yang contracts" accusation. On June 3, China's tax authorities announced that they would investigate Fan's suspected case of tax evasion in light of Cui's posts. Cui offered his help to the investigation, but clarified that the CN¥60 million contract did not involve Fan. He also apologized to Fan for subjecting her to the investigation, stating that his targets were Feng Xiaogang and Liu Zhenyun, the director and the writer of Cell Phone. Questions, concerns, and rumors about Fan's whereabouts grew when she was not seen after a last public appearance on 1 July 2018, and a lack of activity on social media after 23 July. In August 2018, Fan's manager Jersey Chong refuted the widely spread rumor that Fan had been arrested. On October 3, Xinhua News Agency announced that Fan was ordered to pay about CN¥883 million in taxes and penalties for her tax evasion. On the same day Fan broke her months-long silence with an apology statement on social media. Fan's case also triggered a tax audit crackdown and reforms in China's entertainment industry. In December 2018, a group of cultural and film industry representatives anonymously issued an open letter to Premier Li Keqiang, questioning the State Taxation Administration's taxation methods. According to Xinhua News Agency, from October 2018 to the end of the year, taxpayers in the entertainment industry "conducted self-inspections," and CN¥11.747 billion in taxes were declared. Since the tax scandal, Fan has been effectively blacklisted in mainland China, where her films and television works are prohibited from being released, such as the crime film The Perfect Blue, directed by Cao Baoping, and the costume drama The Legend of Ba Qing (aka Win the World). Fan made attempts at a comeback in Mainland China with varying degrees of success, with her publicity sometimes censored or shadowbanned on the Chinese internet. On April 22, 2019, she attended the IQIYI Ninth Anniversary Gala in Beijing, with photos posted on her Instagram the next day. This was her first public event after the tax scandal; however, by the time she arrived, the media session had already ended. Her closed-door session included only industry VIPs, with no journalists present. Fan was in attendance at the Shanghai Beauty Summit on 12 July and the 12th China Cosmetic Summit on 22 July. On 27 September, Fan posted on Weibo photos of her attending a promotional event for FAW Hongqi E-HS9. However, she was conspicuously missing from the list of celebrity guests in the car company's publicity. She later deleted the post about Hongqi. On November 17, Fan presented an award at the "2020 Ellemen Film Hero Awards Ceremony" for the animated film Legend of Deification (2020). Unlike many other convicted celebrities in China, after the tax scandal, Fan was allowed to maintain a social media presence, which she parlayed into a successful career running her personal brand, Fan Beauty. Founded not long before her tax scandal, Fan Beauty's GMV surpassed 300 million RMB in 2021, 850 million RMB in 2022, and 1.1 billion RMB in 2023. In 2022, two Hollywood films starring her, The 355 and The King's Daughter, both had cast her before the tax scandal, were released. Her performances received negative notices and earned her a nomination for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. In the same year, Fan had a cameo role in the Korean TV series Insider. In 2023, she officially returned to acting with the Hong Kong-produced, South Korea-set film Green Night, which premiered at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section. In September 2023, she served as a jury member at the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival. She received the Cinema Icon Award at the 2023 Singapore International Film Festival.

Media image

Fan has been on the covers of Grazia (Korea, Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia, International), L'Officiel (Italy, India, Liechtenstein, Russia, Singapore), Vogue (Czechoslovakia, Singapore), Wonderland (China, UK), Marie Claire (Malaysia), Harper's Bazaar (Serbia), T (Singapore), Numéro (Netherlands), Schön! and more. On 13 May 2010, Fan wore a "Dragon Robe" on the red carpet of the 63rd Cannes Film Festival. The dress, co-designed by Chinese designer Laurence Hsu and Fan herself, features two leaping dragons and crashing waves on the hem, in the bright yellow color that was exclusively used by emperors in ancient China. The dress was collected by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London on 12 March 2012. Laurence Hsu announced that the dress shown at the museum is a modified version of the original, which was bought by Madame Tussauds. On 11 May 2011, Fan wore a crane dress on the red carpet at the opening ceremony of the 64th Cannes Film Festival. On the red carpet of the opening ceremony of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, Fan wore an elegant pale strapless gown designed by her friend Christopher Bu, decorated with bright floral designs and stories about the Four Beauties of ancient China. Inspired by a porcelain vase, the ancient vibe of her dress was complemented by her hairstyle, which made her look like a young maiden in the Tang dynasty. In recent years, Fan received various invitations from fashion brands such as Valentino, Giorgio Armani S.p.A., Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., Atelier Versace, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton, to attend fashion shows in Paris, Beijing and Shanghai. On 3 July 2012, she closed the Stéphane Rolland's Haute Couture show in Paris, and was featured in the fashion show's finale. On July 31, 2012, she was ranked number nine on Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed list 2012. On 19 September, she was honoured with the Personal Style Award by Elle (USA Edition). On December 2, 2012, she became the Asian ambassador of Louis Vuitton "Epi Alma" series of handbags. On 5 December, she was awarded "The Most Beautiful Woman of the Year" by the magazine Esquire (China Edition). Fan topped the 2013 Forbes China Celebrity 100 List. She became the first Asian celebrity ambassador for the Champagne House Moët & Chandon, and also the brand ambassador for Chopard. On May 18, 2013, she was honoured as the International Artist of the Year in Cannes by The Hollywood Reporter. Fan joined the opening ceremony of 2013 Cannes Film Festival premiere, wearing a custom Louis Vuitton gown, and that was the first time the French fashion house had created a gown especially for an Asian actress. In April 2013, Fan became the Greater Chinese face of Louis Vuitton's "Chic on the bridge" advertising campaign, promoting the classic "Alma" handbag launched in 1934, shot by American fashion photographer Steven Klein. In December 2013, Fan starred as the global face of the Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2014 collection, which marked Marc Jacobs's final advertising campaign for the brand, featuring alongside Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Gisele Bündchen, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell. Fan was ranked on Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed list 2015 and 2016. Fan was named global ambassador of several brands such as ReFa Beauty Care Tools, De Beers, King Power, and Montblanc. In August 2020, French luxury beauty house Guerlain announced that Fan as the brand's global spokesperson. On July 3, 2023, Fan closed the Georges Hobeika's Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2023 show at Paris Haute Couture Week. On October 2, 2023, Fan closed the closed out the catwalk for the Mugler's Spring/Summer 2024 womenswear show. In April 2024, Fan was invited as a special guest at the Songkran Festival in Thailand. On 27 May 2024, it was announced that Fan was appointed as Malacca's tourism ambassador, she toured the Malaysian state from 14 June till 16 June.

Personal life

Relationships

From 2004 to 2006, Fan dated actor Wang Xuebing after co-starring in the 2004 TV drama Jian Lin Tian Xia. Fan took a nine-month hiatus from acting for him. In 2013, romantic rumors surfaced about Fan and Aarif Rahman after they filmed One Night Surprise. In August 2014, while working together again on The Empress of China, the TV series produced by Fan, the two were photographed sharing the same hotel room at night. Fan suggested on Kangsi Coming that they broke up around the end of 2014, while Rahman indirectly confirmed on S-style Show with Dee Hsu that Fan and he had been in a relationship. On 29 May 2015, it was announced on Li Chen's social media that he and Fan were dating. On 16 September 2017, they were engaged after he proposed to her at her birthday party. They announced their separation on 27 June 2019. Fan explained in 2020 that she left him to protect him from the fallout of her tax scandal, which had affected both Li's career and her brother Fan Chengcheng's. In 2022, Fan began a relationship with Guo Yanfeng, a former PLA officer who served as vice chairman of Gaosheng Wealth Group, a Zhongzhi-affiliated firm, before becoming a business partner in her brand Fan Beauty. The two parted ways at the end of 2023.

Others

In 2024, Fan moved to Hong Kong after reportedly acquiring residency through an investment immigration program.

Filmography

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards and nominations