Xia Yu

Xia Yu (; born 28 October 1976) is a Chinese actor. At the age of 18 years, he rose to international prominence after winning the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival in 1994 for his leading role in the film In the Heat of the Sun and became the youngest actor to win that award in the history of the Venice Film Festival. Biography Xia Yu was born on 28 October 1976 in Qingdao, Shandong Province. His father was once an actor and then became a painter. Xia was initially discovered by Jiang Wen who cast him in his semi-autobiographical film In the Heat of the Sun (1994). Despite being chosen partly because of his facial resemblance to a young Jiang, Xia's spirited and moving performance as a renegade youth conquered audiences. He was rocketed to international stardom after he won the Best Actor award from the Venice Film Festival (the youngest actor to win that award in the history of the festival), Singapore International Film Festival and Golden Horse Awards. Xia wanted to study drama after his first film, he was accepted into the Central Academy of Drama. After completing his studies there, Xia remained an active force in Chinese cinema as well as television, appearing in many films and television series. Xia's second film Shadow Magic demonstrated his talent as an actor and earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the Tokyo International Film Festival. His earlier film credits also includes Roots and Branches (2001) and Where Have All the Flowers Gone (2002). Xia's subsequent films, The Law of Romance (2003) won him a Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor and Waiting Alone (2005) earned him Best Actor at the Beijing College Student Film Festival. With five best actor titles at international film festivals, Xia Yu has been named one of the top 4 hottest young actors in China.