Liao Fan

Liao Fan attended the inauguration of "Eyes on Berlin" at the French Institute of China in Beijing on February 9, 2017. /CFP Photo

Liao Fan was crowned Silver Bear at the 64th Berlin Film Festival for Best Actor, one of the most-coveted prizes in the European film industry, for his stunning performance in the movie "Black Coal, Thin Ice." The actor, born in 1974 in Hunan Province, described the 2014 award as the "best present" as the day he won the prize fell on his birthday, Valentine's Day.

However, back then Liao was not as well-recognized as he is today. After graduating from Shanghai Theatre Academy, one of the most well-known Chinese universities for performing arts, in 1997, he started his career in stage plays, including Rhinoceros In Love and Eighteen Springs. Liao at the age of 27 made his debut as a supporting actor in famous Chinese director Meng Jinghui's low-budget movie Chicken Poets in 2001.

In 2004, he took the leading role in the movie Green Hat and won Best Actor at the 18th Singapore International Film Festival. He was nominated for Best Actor in 2008 for the movie Ocean Flame at the 45th Golden Horse Award in Taipei. With his great perseverance and performance, he starred in more and more big-hit movies as Let the Bullets Fly (2010), Beginning of the Great Revival (2011) and Jackie Chan's CZ12 (2012).