ABOUT LIU HAORAN

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 NameTypeFilming AgeRoleProject NotesActing Awards
Beijing Love Story (2014)Film15Song 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) Film17Qin Feng (lead)Top 10 at the box office for 2015 films; 819 million RMB at the box office; 7.6 on Douban20th 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)18Yu Huai (lead)Picked up for two primetime runs two years after webdrama broadcast; 8.9 on Douban
The Founding of An Army (2017)Film18Su 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)Film18/19Bai Long (supporting)Directed by Chen Kaige; 530 million RMB at the box office
Nirvana In Fire 2 (2017)Drama19Xiao Pingjing (lead)Daylight Entertainment production; nominated for Best Drama at the 24th Magnolia Awards; 8.5 on Douban
Detective Chinatown 2 (2018)Film19/20Qin 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 webdrama19Huo Zhenxiao (lead)Mini webdrama spinoff for Great Expectations; 7.4 on Douban
Twins (2019)Film18Li 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)Drama20Asule/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)Film21Wo 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)Film22Xiao Qin (lead)Chen Sicheng’s part of the anthology film; executive producer Zhang Yimou; National Day 2020 slot
Coffee or Tea? (2020)Film22Wei Jinbei (lead)Directed by Derek Hui; executive producer Peter Chan; National Day 2020 slot; 312 million box office gross
Detective Chinatown 3 (2021)Film22Qin 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)Film21TBA (lead)Chen Kaige film; completed filming in July 2019 but not officially announced yet
Moses On the Plains (2021)Film22Zhuang 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)Film22Liu Renjing Commemoration film; premiered July 1, 2021
Four Seas (2022)Film23Wu RenyaoDirected 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 NameCoverMonth/YearInterview TransNotes
ELLE ChinaJanuary 20212021Women’s Big 5; first issue of the year
Cosmopolitan China (2x)undefinedOctober 2019
October 2018
2019
2018
Women’s Big 5; both October issues
Marie Claire ChinaJune 20192019Women’s Big 5
Harper’s Bazaar ChinaOctober 2017N/AWomen’s Big 5; October cover; with Chun Xia, photographed by Chen Man; 150th anniversary cover
Esquire China (3x)
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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)

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August 2020
November 2018
2020
2018 – P1, P2
Men’s 2+3
ELLE MEN China (3x)
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October 2020
July 2019
December 2017
2019Men’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)undefined
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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
2020Men’s 2+3; 2020 cover was the first issue of the year
L’Officiel ChinaNovember 20182018Second tier women’s magazine (after Big 5)
T ChinaSeptember 20192019Photographed by the acclaimed Yoshihiko Ueda (first magazine shoot for a Chinese artist)
WSJ ChinaSeptember 20202020
VogueMe (2x)undefined
April 2019
April 2018
2019
2018
Both were anniversary (2nd and 3rd) covers
Men’s Uno China (2x)undefined
August 2018
January 2018
Aug 2018
Jan 2018 – P1, P2
Also covered Men’s Uno Young in Aug 2018
LEON China (3x)undefined
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March 2019
March 2018
September 2017
2019Appeared on LEON Young! as well for March 2019; 2019 issues were season openers
Grazia China (2x)undefined
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January 2, 2019
July 12, 2017
20192017 cover photographed by Chen Man; 2019 cover was the first issue of the year
OK! China (3x)
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March 1, 2020
October 8, 2018
September 20, 2017
2020
2018
2018 issue was for his birthday; 2020 was season opener
SuperELLE
ELLEidol
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August 2017
February 2019
2019Cover 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

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