Xi Meijuan

Biography

Xi Meijuan is a Chinese actress from Shanghai, born on April 20, 1955 in Chuansha County, Jiangsu Province (now part of Pudong New Area, Shanghai). She grew up in an ordinary family; her father was a toy designer and her mother was a textile worker. After graduating from high school in 1973, she worked in Yangsi Township before enrolling in the Acting Department of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Upon graduation in 1976, she was assigned to the Shanghai People's Art Theatre, where she became a stage actress and performed in notable plays including "Dead Wood Blooms," "In a Place Without Sound," "Save Her," "Romeo and Juliet," "The Crucible," and "The Lady Who Stayed Behind." In 1988, she won the Chinese Plum Blossom Theatre Award for the play "Chinese Dream." She began her film and television career in 1990 with "A Fake Daughter's True Love," which earned her the Best Actress award at the 11th Golden Rooster Awards. In 1997, she won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 15th Golden Eagle Television Awards for her role in "Children's Longing." She won the Best Actress award at the 7th Huabiao Film Awards in 2000 for "Full Moon Tonight," and in 2001 won the Best Actress award at the 21st Feitian Television Awards for "Red Carnation," where she played a villain for the first time. In 2004, she won the Most Popular Actress award at the 22nd Golden Eagle Awards for "Market Manipulation." She became known as the "Cixi specialist" for repeatedly portraying Empress Dowager Cixi in productions such as "Zuo Zongtang," "Sun Yat-sen," "The Great Qing Pharmacist," and "When Flowers Bloom That Year and the Moon Was Full." She was also dubbed the "Mom specialist" for frequently playing mother roles in the 2000s. In 2022, she won the Best Actress award at the 35th Golden Rooster Awards for the film "Mom!" In addition to her artistic career, she has held prominent academic positions as Chief Professor at the Shanghai University Shanghai Film Academy and Chairperson of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles.