Wang Baoqiang

Wang Baoqiang (; born 29 May 1984) is a Chinese actor, martial artist and director. His debut role was that of Yuan Fengming in the movie Blind Shaft, for which he shared the Best New Performer prize at the 2003 Golden Horse Awards. Early life Wang Baoqiang was born in Nanhe County, Xingtai, Hebei, on May 29, 1984, to Wang Yinsheng and Liu Huan, both his parents are peasants. When Wang Baoqiang was 8 years old, his village showed the movie Shaolin Temple starring Jet Li, which inspired him to become a martial arts star in movies like Jet Li or Jackie Chan. Wang insisted on going to a Shaolin Temple though his family opposed it, in the same year. He trained in Shaolin martial arts. Career Prior to entering the film industry, Wang was an unskilled labourer who was paid 25 yuan a day; he had not been home for over two years as he was unable to afford the railway ticket. Wang was initially rejected from acting due to his height, but got his start working as an extra in Beijing. In 2003, he was cast in the independent film Blind Shaft as a "down-to-earth" guy. For his role in Blind Shaft, Wang received the Best Newcomer award at the Golden Horse Film Festival. Wang then starred in Feng Xiaogang's 2004 film A World Without Thieves as a naïve village boy, a performance which received critical acclaim.