The Most Famous

ACTORS from China

This page contains a list of the greatest Chinese Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 91 of which were born in China. This makes China the birth place of the 15th most number of Actors behind Mexico, and Sweden.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Actors of all time. This list of famous Chinese Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Actors.

1. Toshiro Mifune (1920 - 1997)

With an HPI of 72.66, Toshiro Mifune is the most famous Chinese Actor. His biography has been translated into 119 different languages on wikipedia.

Toshiro Mifune (三船敏郎, Mifune Toshirō, April 1, 1920 – December 24, 1997) was a Japanese actor and producer. A winner of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, Mifune is best known for starring in Akira Kurosawa's critically-acclaimed jidaigeki films such as Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and Yojimbo (1961). He also portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy (1954–1956), Lord Toranaga in the NBC television miniseries Shōgun, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films. He is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time.

2. Jet Li (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 71.28, Jet Li is the 2nd most famous Chinese Actor. His biography has been translated into 109 different languages.

Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean martial artist, former wushu champion, film actor, film producer, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most iconic Chinese film stars and one of the most renowned martial arts stars of his generation.After three years of training with acclaimed wushu teacher Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. Between 1974 and 1979, he won the title of Men's All-Around National Wushu Champion five times. After retiring from competitive wushu at age 18, Li went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor, making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982), which instantly catapulted him to stardom in East Asia. The sequel Kids From Shaolin became 1984's highest-grossing film in China. He went on to star in many critically acclaimed films, most notably as the lead in Zhang Yimou's Hero (2002), Fist of Legend (1994), the first three films in the Once Upon a Time in China series (1991–1993), in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung, and Fearless (2006), which is loosely based on the life of Huo Yuanjia. He starred in his directorial debut film Born to Defence (1986). His movie career in China is credited with reviving wushu in Hong Kong martial arts films during the 1990s, and revitalising the Shaolin Temple. Li is also noted for his contribution to making new wuxia films popular internationally during his career.His first role in a non-Chinese film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), and his first leading role in a Hollywood film was as Han Sing in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many international action films, including in French cinema with the Luc Besson-produced films Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and Unleashed (2005). He co-starred in The One (2001) and War (2007) with Jason Statham, The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) with Jackie Chan, the first three of The Expendables films with Sylvester Stallone, and as the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). He continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema, appearing in The Warlords (2007), by which he became the highest paid actor in a Chinese-language movie, previously holding the record for his part in Hero. In 2020, he portrayed The Emperor of China in the live-action fantasy drama Disney film Mulan. After a long movie career, in 2007 Li turned to philanthropy. He founded the One Foundation, an independent fundraising foundation in mainland China which mainly focuses on natural disaster relief, environmental protection, medical treatment, education and poverty problems. Since the start of the foundation, Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the 2008 Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan, and the 2013 Lushan earthquake in Ya’an, Sichuan. Li also subsequently founded Taiji Zen, an online health and wellness program providing instruction in meditation and tai chi.

3. Bolo Yeung (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 64.63, Bolo Yeung is the 3rd most famous Chinese Actor. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Yeung Sze (simplified Chinese: 杨斯; traditional Chinese: 楊斯; pinyin: Yáng Sī; Jyutping: Yeung4 Si1; born July 3, 1946), better known as Bolo Yeung, is a Hong Kong former competitive bodybuilder, martial artist, and martial arts film actor. Primarily cast as the villain in the movies he stars in, Sze is globally known for his performances as Bolo in Enter the Dragon (1973), starring Bruce Lee, and as Chong Li in Bloodsport (1988), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, as well as other numerous appearances and a long career in Hong Kong martial arts films.

4. Donnie Yen (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 63.65, Donnie Yen is the 4th most famous Chinese Actor. His biography has been translated into 62 different languages.

Donnie Yen Ji-dan (Chinese: 甄子丹; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and action director best known for his martial arts films. He is one of the highest paid actors in Asia.Born in Guangdong, Yen developed an interest in martial arts at a young age, and began experimenting with various styles, including tai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. At age 18, he auditioned for action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in Hong Kong. He landed his first starring role in the 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action film Drunken Tai Chi. He made his breakthrough role as the antagonist General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), opposite Jet Li. In 1997, he made his directorial debut in the action-martial arts film Legend of the Wolf. Yen made his American debut in Highlander: Endgame (2000), followed by a cameo in Blade II (2002). He continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, appearing in the critically acclaimed wuxia film as the antagonist Long Sky in Hero (2002), opposite Li once again. In 2003, Yen played the antagonist Wu Chow in the American action comedy film Shanghai Knights, opposite Jackie Chan. He later appeared in the American films Rogue One (2016), XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), Mulan (2020), and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). In television, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series Fist of Fury. He later reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He portrayed Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, starring in Ip Man (2008), Ip Man 2 (2010), Ip Man 3 (2015), and Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019).

5. Gong Li (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 61.65, Gong Li is the 5th most famous Chinese Actor. Her biography has been translated into 63 different languages.

Gong Li (Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses in China today, she is known for her versatility and naturalistic performance. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, and grew up in Jinan, Shandong. She enrolled at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, from where she graduated in 1989. While a student at the Academy, she was spotted by director Zhang Yimou and debuted in Zhang's Red Sorghum in 1987. Gong and Zhang's professional and personal relationship received much media attention in the Chinese-speaking world, as they continued to collaborate on a string of critically acclaimed movies, including the Oscar-nominated features Ju Dou (1990) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991). For her role in the Zhang-directed The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), Gong won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. Gong also starred in the Chen Kaige-directed Oscar-nominated Farewell My Concubine (1993), for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. In English-language films, she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), directed by Rob Marshall. Other notable appearances include Flirting Scholar (1993), To Live (1994), Chinese Box (1997), The Emperor and the Assassin (1998), Breaking the Silence (2000), Zhou Yu's Train (2003), Eros (2004), Miami Vice (2006), Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) and Saturday Fiction (2019). Gong was head of jury at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival and the 2002 Venice Film Festival, the first Asian person to hold such position at both events. Over the course of her career, Gong has won three Hundred Flowers Awards, two Golden Rooster Awards, a Hong Kong Film Award, and honorary awards at the Berlin and Cannes film festivals. She was appointed as a Commander (Commandeur) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France in 2010.

6. Yoshiko Yamaguchi (1920 - 2014)

With an HPI of 59.82, Yoshiko Yamaguchi is the 6th most famous Chinese Actor. Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Yoshiko Yamaguchi (山口淑子, Yamaguchi Yoshiko, February 12, 1920 – September 7, 2014) was a Japanese singer, actress, journalist, and politician. Born in China, she made an international career in film in China, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. Early in her career, the Manchukuo Film Association concealed her Japanese origin and she went by the Chinese name Li Hsiang-lan (李香蘭), rendered in Japanese as Ri Kōran. This allowed her to represent China in Japanese propaganda movies. After the war, she appeared in Japanese movies under her real name, as well as in several English language movies under the stage name, Shirley Yamaguchi. After becoming a journalist in the 1950s under the name Yoshiko Ōtaka (大鷹淑子, Ōtaka Yoshiko), she was elected as a member of the Japanese parliament in 1974, and served for 18 years. After retiring from politics, she served as vice president of the Asian Women's Fund.

7. Hou Hsiao-hsien (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 59.31, Hou Hsiao-hsien is the 7th most famous Chinese Actor. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Hou Hsiao-hsien (Chinese: 侯孝賢; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hâu Hàu-hiân; born 8 April 1947) is a retired Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. He won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1989 for his film A City of Sadness (1989), and the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 for The Assassin (2015). Other highly regarded works of his include The Puppetmaster (1993) and Flowers of Shanghai (1998).Hou was voted "Director of the Decade" for the 1990s in a poll of American and international critics by The Village Voice and Film Comment. In a 1998 New York Film Festival worldwide critics' poll, Hou was named "one of the three directors most crucial to the future of cinema." A City of Sadness ranked 117th in the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll of the greatest films ever made. In 2017, Metacritic ranked Hsiao-hsien 16th on its list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century.

8. Yuen Biao (b. 1957)

With an HPI of 58.60, Yuen Biao is the 8th most famous Chinese Actor. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Yuen Biao (born Ha Lingchun; 26 July 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist and stuntman. He specialises in acrobatics and Chinese martial arts and has also worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer. He was one of the Seven Little Fortunes from the China Drama Academy at the Peking Opera School along with his "brothers" Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. Yuen Biao has appeared in over 130 films. He has played roles in eight television series for the Hong Kong channel TVB.

9. Run Run Shaw (1907 - 2014)

With an HPI of 58.43, Run Run Shaw is the 9th most famous Chinese Actor. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Sir Run Run Shaw (19 November 1907 – 7 January 2014), also known as Shao Yifu and Siu Yat-fu, was a Hong Kong businessman, filmmaker, and philanthropist. He was one of the foremost influential movie moguls in the East Asian and Hong Kong entertainment industry. He founded the Shaw Brothers Studio, one of the largest film production companies in Hong Kong, and TVB, the dominant television company in Hong Kong. A well-known philanthropist, Shaw donated billions of Hong Kong dollars, HKD, to educational institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China. More than 5,000 buildings on Chinese college campuses bear his name, as does Shaw College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also established the Shaw Prize for Astronomy, Life Science & Medicine and Mathematical Sciences.

10. Shih Kien (1913 - 2009)

With an HPI of 58.30, Shih Kien is the 10th most famous Chinese Actor. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Shek Wing-cheung (1 January 1913 – 3 June 2009), better known by his stage name Shih Kien, Sek Kin, Sek Gin or Shek Kin (Chinese: 石堅; pinyin: Shí Jiān; Jyutping: Sek6 Gin1), was a Hong Kong actor and martial artist. Shih is best known for playing antagonists and villains in several early Hong Kong wuxia and martial arts films that dated back to the black-and-white period, and is most familiar to Western audiences for his portrayal of the primary villain, Han, in the 1973 martial arts film Enter the Dragon, which starred Bruce Lee.

People

Pantheon has 112 people classified as Chinese actors born between 1901 and 1999. Of these 112, 87 (77.68%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Chinese actors include Jet Li, Bolo Yeung, and Donnie Yen. The most famous deceased Chinese actors include Toshiro Mifune, Yoshiko Yamaguchi, and Run Run Shaw. As of April 2024, 21 new Chinese actors have been added to Pantheon including Na Moon-hee, Roy Chiao, and Jimmy Wang Yu.