Welcome to Liu Haoran International, an English fansite for young Chinese actor Liu Haoran! As one of the prominent and fastest rising young actors in China today, this blog and Twitter account (@liuhaoran_intl) is dedicated to chronicling his growth as an actor and star via translations, updates, and more!
Haoran, as he likes to be called, was open casted by actor turned director Chen Sicheng in 2013 for the anthology film Beijing Love Story, and has since had a number of notable works and memorable roles.
He is best known for the Detective Chinatown film franchise, as well as Nirvana In Fire 2‘s Xiao Pingjing, Legend of the Demon Cat‘s Bai Long, With You‘s Yu Huai, Novoland: Eagle Flag‘s Asule/Lv Guichen, and more!
His main arena is in film, and he’s the first post-95er (and became just the ninth overall) actor to reach 10 billion RMB in box office gross for films where he had a starring role.
On this page, you will find a table of his works, accomplishments, magazine covers, endorsements list, and more to come! (If you have any suggestions on what to add, or if I missed something, drop me a CC!)
You can also read up more on Haoran here! And a megapost on his story here.
ABOUT LIU HAORAN
Artist Name: Liu Haoran 刘昊然
Real Name: Liu Yuan 刘源
Birthday: October 10, 1997 (Age 22)
Height: 185cm
Hometown: Pingdingshan, Henan Province, China
Management Company: As One Production
Debut Date: February 14, 2014 (but took a year off afterwards to focus on school/prepare for college entrance exams)
Schools: Central Academy of Drama, acting major (graduated); Beijing Dance Academy (middle school/high school, performance major)
MAIN WORKS
| Project Name | Type | Filming Age | Role | Project Notes | Acting Awards |
| Beijing Love Story (2014) | Film | 15 | Song Ge (lead) | Anthology film; open casted for the film as a high school student; 406 million RMB at the box office | 21st Beijing College Student Film Festival – Best New Actor Nom |
| Detective Chinatown (2015) | Film | 17 | Qin Feng (lead) | Top 10 at the box office for 2015 films; 819 million RMB at the box office; 7.6 on Douban | 20th Huading Awards – Best New Actor Win; 24th Shanghai Film Critic Awards – Best New Actor Nom; 19th Shanghai Intl Film Festival – Best New Actor Nom |
| With You (2016) | Webdrama (TV broadcast in 2018) | 18 | Yu Huai (lead) | Picked up for two primetime runs two years after webdrama broadcast; 8.9 on Douban | |
| The Founding of An Army (2017) | Film | 18 | Su Yu (supporting) | Govt commissioned commemoration film; won Outstanding Picture at the 34th Hundred Flower Awards; 404 million RMB at the box office | |
| Legend of the Demon Cat (2017) | Film | 18/19 | Bai Long (supporting) | Directed by Chen Kaige; 530 million RMB at the box office | |
| Nirvana In Fire 2 (2017) | Drama | 19 | Xiao Pingjing (lead) | Daylight Entertainment production; nominated for Best Drama at the 24th Magnolia Awards; 8.5 on Douban | |
| Detective Chinatown 2 (2018) | Film | 19/20 | Qin Feng (lead) | 2nd highest grossing Chinese film of 2018; top 10 highest grossing film in China of all time (as of Oct 2020); nominated for Best Picture at the 34th Hundred Flowers Awards; 3.398 billion RMB at the box office | 34th Hundred Flowers Awards – Best Actor Nom (youngest nominee in the history of the category) |
| Great Expectations: Twin Dragons (2018) | Mini webdrama | 19 | Huo Zhenxiao (lead) | Mini webdrama spinoff for Great Expectations; 7.4 on Douban | |
| Twins (2019) | Film | 18 | Li Ping (lead) | Filmed in February 2016; Was heavily delayed/revised due to the Hallyu Ban (Korean director/production team) without the knowledge of the director | |
| Novoland: Eagle Flag (2019) | Drama | 20 | Asule/Lv Guichen (lead) | Broke the ratings record for Zhejiang TV’s 10pm slot; also holds highest single episode ratings for a ZJTV 10pm drama; broke the record for TV ratings of a drama that aired online first, then TV; 0.956 average TV ratings | |
| My People My Country (2019) | Film | 21 | Wo Dele (lead) | Anthology film; govt commissioned commemoration film (Chen Kaige’s part); top 10 highest grossing film in China of all time (as of Oct 2020); National Day 2019 slot; 3.171 billion RMB at the box office | |
| My People, My Homeland (2020) | Film | 22 | Xiao Qin (lead) | Chen Sicheng’s part of the anthology film; executive producer Zhang Yimou; National Day 2020 slot | |
| Coffee or Tea? (2020) | Film | 22 | Wei Jinbei (lead) | Directed by Derek Hui; executive producer Peter Chan; National Day 2020 slot; 312 million box office gross | |
| Detective Chinatown 3 (2021) | Film | 22 | Qin Feng (lead) | Directed by Chen Sicheng; box office at 4.1 billion and counting; holds multiple all time Chinese box office records, including single day sales, first day presale, first day sales, and overall presales; box office gross of 4.52 billion RMB; 5th in Chinese box office history | |
| Flowers Bloom In the Ashes (Youth) (2021) | Film | 21 | TBA (lead) | Chen Kaige film; completed filming in July 2019 but not officially announced yet | |
| Moses On the Plains (2021) | Film | 22 | Zhuang Shu (lead) | Filming originally slated to begin late January 2020 but was delayed to late March due to COVID-19 outbreak ; Filming wrapped May 2020 | |
| 1921 (2021) | Film | 22 | Liu Renjing | Commemoration film; premiered July 1, 2021 | |
| Four Seas (2022) | Film | 23 | Wu Renyao | Directed by Han Han; Chinese New Year’s Day 2022 premiere |
Other notable appearances:
Variety shows (fixed cast) – It Takes A Real Man (2015), Give Me Five (2017, also credited as a creative producer as he was the one who proposed the idea to Zhejiang TV execs)
Host – The 5th China Film Director’s Guild Awards, The 2016 TMALL Double 11 Concert
Image ambassador for the 35th Hundred Flowers Awards in Zhengzhou, 2020
MAGAZINE COVERS
*Most important issues for magazines (by month): inaugural issues, anniversary issues, September/October issues, March/April issues, first issue of the year
*Haoran already has 9 of the Big 10 magazine covers, including two complete rounds on the Men’s 2+3
| Magazine Name | Cover | Month/Year | Interview Trans | Notes |
| ELLE China |  | January 2021 | 2021 | Women’s Big 5; first issue of the year |
| Cosmopolitan China (2x) |   | October 2019 October 2018 | 2019 2018 | Women’s Big 5; both October issues |
| Marie Claire China |  | June 2019 | 2019 | Women’s Big 5 |
| Harper’s Bazaar China |  | October 2017 | N/A | Women’s Big 5; October cover; with Chun Xia, photographed by Chen Man; 150th anniversary cover |
| Esquire China (3x) |    | February 2020 June 2019 December 2016 | 2020 2019 | Men’s 2+3; Dec 2016 was the 20th anniversary issue, annual group cover (New Artist of the Year) |
| GQ China (2x) |   | August 2020 November 2018 | 2020 2018 – P1, P2 | Men’s 2+3 |
| ELLE MEN China (3x) |    | October 2020 July 2019 December 2017 | 2019 | Men’s 2+3; 3 covers for 2019 issues – first time ELLE MEN has given 3 regular (not Mook) covers for the same artist; October issue in 2020 |
| Harper’s Bazaar Men China (3x) |    | March 2019 March 2018 December 2015 | 2019 2018 | Men’s 2+3; December 2015 cover (with Chen Sicheng and Wang Baoqiang) was first fashion magazine cover; 3 covers for March 2019, which was also the season opener issue; March 2018 cover shoot by Chen Man |
| L’Officiel Hommes China (2x) |   | January 2020 April 2018 | 2020 | Men’s 2+3; 2020 cover was the first issue of the year |
| L’Officiel China |  | November 2018 | 2018 | Second tier women’s magazine (after Big 5) |
| T China |  | September 2019 | 2019 | Photographed by the acclaimed Yoshihiko Ueda (first magazine shoot for a Chinese artist) |
| WSJ China |  | September 2020 | 2020 | |
| VogueMe (2x) |   | April 2019 April 2018 | 2019 2018 | Both were anniversary (2nd and 3rd) covers |
| Men’s Uno China (2x) |   | August 2018 January 2018 | Aug 2018 Jan 2018 – P1, P2 | Also covered Men’s Uno Young in Aug 2018 |
| LEON China (3x) |    | March 2019 March 2018 September 2017 | 2019 | Appeared on LEON Young! as well for March 2019; 2019 issues were season openers |
| Grazia China (2x) |   | January 2, 2019 July 12, 2017 | 2019 | 2017 cover photographed by Chen Man; 2019 cover was the first issue of the year |
| OK! China (3x) |    | March 1, 2020 October 8, 2018 September 20, 2017 | 2020 2018 | 2018 issue was for his birthday; 2020 was season opener |
| SuperELLE ELLEidol |   | August 2017 February 2019 | 2019 | Cover star of inaugural (first) issue for both |
Other magazine covers: Madame Figaro Hommes, Nylon China, SoFigaro, YOHO!, Ceci China, Modern Weekly
ENDORSEMENTS
- Alexander McQueen – Brand spokesperson in the China region
- Qeelin – Brand spokesperson
- Xiaohongshu – Brand spokesperson
- Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum – brand spokesperson
- Vivo – S6, S7, S9, S10 Spokesperson
- Be & Cheery – Brand spokesperson
- Pizza Hut – Brand spokesperson
- Kiehl’s – Brand spokesperson
- Momchilovtsi – Brand spokesperson
Special endorsements of note:
- In January 2019, Haoran was one of four international stars (alongside Sophie Turner, Justin Theroux, and model Liya Kebede) to star in Louis Vuitton’s global ad campaign for both the new Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon Watch and Louis Vuitton Horizon Earphones.
- In September 2019, Haoran became the face of Tod’s new No_Code Shoeker 03 ad campaign in China. In November 2019, Tod’s launched the limited edition Tod’s x Liu Haoran No_Code Shoeker 03. Haoran also fronted the S/S 2020 ad campaign in China.
- In October 2019, Haoran was one of the stars chosen (alongside Steven Spielberg, Zhang Yimou, and Li Bingbing) to front the new Universal Studios’ Beijing Resort reveal campaign