Wu Yanshu (Chinese: 吴彦姝; born 1938) is a Chinese actress. Wu is considered a National Class-A Actor in China.[1][2]

Wu Yanshu
吴彦姝
Born1938 (age 85–86)
OccupationActress
Years active1960s–present
AgentShanxi Drama Theatre
Children1
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese吳彥姝
Simplified Chinese吴彦姝
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWú Yànshū

Wu first garnered recognition for her acting in 2016, when her performance in Finding Mr. Right 2 and earned her a Golden Horse Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her film breakthrough came in 2017 with her performance as the grandmother in the drama film Love Education, for which she received Best Supporting Actress nominations at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, 37th Hong Kong Film Awards and 12th Asian Film Awards. For her role in Relocate, she won a Best Supporting Actress at the 31st Golden Rooster Awards, the Chinese equivalent of the Academy Awards.

Early life

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Born in 1938, Wu worked at Shanxi Drama Theatre since the 1960s. Premier Zhou Enlai invited her to perform Liu Hulan in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. She retired in 2003. In 2011 she moved to Beijing, living with her daughter.[citation needed]

Career

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Wu's first major film credit was Stream Is Singing, playing the role of Gao Xiaoling. The drama film was produced by Changchun Film Studio.

In 1982, she guest-starred on Men of a Certain Age, a drama film starring Da Shichang and Pan Hong.

Wu had a supporting role in the comedy television series The Story of Xi Gengtian (2006), which starred Lin Yongjian as Xi Gengtian.

In 2011, Wu had a cameo appearance in Journey to the West, adapted from Wu Cheng'en's classical novel of Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature.

Wu appeared as Yu Lan in Love is Not Blind (2013), a romance drama starring Yao Di and Zhang Mo.

In 2016, Wu played the role of Tang Xiuyi in Xue Xiaolu's film Finding Mr. Right 2, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.[3]

Wu had key supporting role in the 2017 Love Education, directed by Sylvia Chang.[4][5] She was praised for her role and earned critical acclaim for her performance. And she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, 37th Hong Kong Film Awards and 12th Asian Film Awards.[6][7] At the same year, Wu's performance in the feature film Relocate which garnered her a Best Supporting Actress at the 31st Golden Rooster Awards.[8]

Personal life

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Wu's husband was a composer and chairman of Shanxi Provincial Musicians Association.[citation needed] Her daughter is a screenwriter.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Film

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Year English title Chinese title Role Notes
1959 Stream Is Singing 流水欢歌 Gao Xiaoling
1982 Men of a Certain Age 人到中年 Aunt Bai
2011 The Faithful Brothers 信义兄弟 Mother
2016 Finding Mr. Right 2 北京遇上西雅图之不二情书 Tang Xiuyi
2017 Relocate 搬迁 Old Mrs. Ma
Love Education 相爱相亲 Grandmother (Yue Zengshi)
2018 Last Letter 你好,之华 Chen Guizhi
Animal World 动物世界 Old woman
2019 温暖之城之红日亭 Grandma Jin
Fagara 花椒之味 Grandmother
The Whistleblower 吹哨人 Gao's wife
2020 旦后 Lin Bo'er (old)
2021 Embrace Again 穿过寒冬拥抱你 Xie Yongqin
Tracing Her Shadow 又见奈良 Chen Huiming
A Hustle Bustle New Year 没有过不去的年 Song Baozhen
All About My Mother 关于我妈的一切 Grandmother
The Bamboo Hat 红尖尖 Grandmother
不老奇事 Su Lingfang
2022 Only Fools Rush In 四海
请别相信她
Song of Spring 妈妈 Mother

TV series

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Year English title Chinese title Role Notes
2002 Love of Life and Death 生死之恋 Mother Wang
2006 The Story of Xi Gengtian 喜耕田的故事 Mother of Xuan Zhu
2009 At Middle Age 人到中年 Aunt Bai
2010 Cellphone 手机 Mother of Wu Yue
2011 Journey to the West 西游记 Pilanpo Bodhisattva
2012 Police Story of Yingpan Town 营盘镇警事 Mother of Dang Yu
2013 Raise Children to Provide Against Old Age 养儿防老 Grandma
Love is Not Blind 失恋三十三天 Yu Lan
2014 Government Audit 国家审计 Mother of Zhou Weihai
2017 Seeking Mr. Right 北京遇上西雅图 Grandma
2018 When We Were Young 人不彪悍枉少年 grandmother of Hua Biao
Madhouse 疯人院 Zhao Yi
2019 My True Friend 我的真朋友 Chen Bijun
2020 My Best Friend's Story 流金岁月 Jiang Nansun's grandmother
Shichahai 什刹海 Aunt Zhong
2021 Faith Makes Great 理想照耀中国 Yan Hongying (old)
美好的日子 Mrs. Jiang

Theater

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Year English title Chinese title Role Notes
1960s Liu Hulan 刘胡兰 Liu Hulan
Sentinels Under Neon Lights 霓虹灯下的哨兵 Lin Yuanyuan

Awards and nominations

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Year Nominated work Award Result Notes
Beijing International Film Festival
2022 Song of Spring Best Actress Won [9]
Golden Horse Awards
2016 Finding Mr. Right 2 Best Supporting Actress Nominated
2017 Love Education Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Golden Rooster Awards
2017 Relocate Best Supporting Actress Won
Hong Kong Film Awards
2018 Love Education Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Asian Film Awards
2018 Love Education Best Supporting Actress Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Tang Jingting (唐静婷) (2022). 84岁影后吴彦姝,岁月组成了我的人生故事 [84-year-old film queen Wu Yanshu, time has made up my life story]. Culture and History Vision (in Chinese). 640. Yuhua District, Changsha, Hunan: Integrated Media Center of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference: 68–69. ISSN 1672-8653.
  2. ^ 这四位年龄加一起超315岁 却优雅的让人敬佩. 163.com (in Chinese). 2016-05-08.
  3. ^ 2016年第53届金马奖完整入围名单公布. Sohu (in Chinese). 2016-10-27.
  4. ^ Elizabeth Kerr (2017-10-23). "'Love Education': Film Review, Filmart 2018". Hollywoodreporter. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. ^ Maggie Lee (2017-10-16). "Busan Film Review: 'Love Education'". variety. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  6. ^ Conan Altatis (2018-01-12). "12th Asian Film Awards nominations announced". conandaily.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  7. ^ 79岁吴彦姝金马奖再次陪跑. iFeng (in Chinese). 2017-11-25.
  8. ^ 第31届中国电影金鸡奖获奖名单 [List of winners of the 31st Golden Rooster Awards]. sina (in Chinese). 2017-09-16.
  9. ^ Guo Guanhua (郭冠华) (21 August 2022). 第十二届北影节闭幕 “天坛奖”获奖名单揭晓. people.com.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 13 November 2022.
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