Yao Di

Biography

Yao Di was born on March 17, 1982, in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China, to working-class parents. She developed independence from a young age and began earning her own living at 18, recalling that her first salary in 1999 was 2000 yuan from a commercial shoot, of which she spent 1800 yuan buying a massage chair for her parents. She graduated from the Yue Opera department of Hangzhou Arts School and later enrolled at the Beijing Film Academy. In 2006, she participated in the "Dream of the Red Chamber" casting competition launched by Beijing Television and advanced to the finals in the Baochai group. In June 2007, she won first place in the Baochai group, but after the director changed from Hu Mei to Li Shaohong, she underwent a series of role changes—initially cast as Lin Daiyu, she ultimately settled on the role of Wang Xifeng, sparking widespread speculation and controversy about her background. In 2008, she appeared in director Lu Chuan's film "Nanjing! Nanjing!", and in 2010 she starred in "Midnight Heartbeat," which broke domestic horror film box office records. She also co-starred with Lin Chi-ying in "Gender Switch," released in early 2012. Her career took a major leap in 2011 when she played the lead in the family drama "Naked Marriage Era," one of the hottest TV series of the year, which rapidly boosted her popularity. In 2012, she appeared in "Beijing Youth" and won the 2012 Most Popular Online Actress (Mainland) award at the National TV Drama Awards ceremony. She continued her success in 2013, starring in the lead role of "New Era of Relationships," which premiered on Jiangsu TV and Dragon TV. In 2014, she filmed "Love Spy" in Shenzhen. In 2019, she married mainland businessman Gao Jie.