Chinese actress Li Xiaoran

Chinese actor-director Liu Yunlong's film "East, Wind, Rain" will hit the cinemas in China on April 21st. Actresses Fan Bingbing and Li Xiaoran lead the cast and act against each other in this espionage thriller set during the Second World War. On today’s the List, we'll take a look at the career of Li Xiaoran.

Li Xiaoran and Liu Yunlong last worked together playing a couple in the TV series "Grace". In this latest suspense film "East, Wind, Rain", Li and Liu both take on the role of undercover agents like two lonely boats floating in a sea of wartime espionage. Trust is the bond between the two spies. Set in Shanghai before and after the attack of Pearl Harbor, the film is Liu’s directorial debut.

Li Xiaoran

Li Xiaoran has never played an undercover role, but now"Hao Birou" is one of the actresses most favorite characters. During filming, Li devoted herself completely to the part, so much so, that she didn’t even talk to Liu Yunlong off camera, just as their characters dare not in the film.

Born in Beijing, Li Xiaoran graduated from Beijing Dance Academy. At the age of 17, Li was the only dancer who recruited into the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe from Beijing.

During her nine-years as a professional dancer, Li also worked on a few commercial films, which brought her more offers to perform on screen. However, without any professional acting training, Li never thought she could quit her simple life to be an actress. She didn’t audition for any role until until 1996. Her first attempt was a guest performer in the TV series "Jade Baby of Body Guard".

Despite only appearing twice, Li fell in love with the rich life of acting. In the following three years from 1997 to 2000, Li shuttled back and forth between 9 TV series and films. Almost without any time to rest, Li tried to improve her acting skills through practice. Finally, her efforts paid off. In 2001, Li embraced her big success in the popular TV drama "Love Story In Shanghai" as Anqi, the girl who sells flowers.

Following that success, her filming invitations never stopped. In 2002, Li marched onto the big screen. She challenged herself with two horror films by director Liu Xiaoguang, better known as 'A Gun', the ghost director of China.

In 2006, Li Xiaoran played a straight forward girl who lost her life to save her lover in the action film "Dragon Tiger Gate". In 2009, Li joined China’s famous director Zhang Yang’s urban romance film "Unmanned Driving".

On the small screen, Li Xiaoran interpreted different types of women in shows like "Farewell, Vancouver", "Night of Harbin" and "The Old Dream", just name a few. Li Xiaoran never stops chasing her acting dream, to create more memorable characters for the audience.