The dramatic ups and downs of the life of Chinese actress Vicki Zhao Wei

In 1996, Zhao Wei enrolled into the Beijing Film Academy’s School of Performing Arts. Other notable alumni of the school include Chen Kun, Huang Xiaoming (both were her cohort mates), Liu Yifei, Yang Mi, Gulnazar and Guan Xiaotong. Zhao Wei returned to the university in 2006 to pursue postgraduate studies in directing.

In another life, we would never have known who Zhao Wei was if she remained a kindergarten teacher in her home province of Anhui. She fell in love with acting after getting an extra role when the film Hua Hun (1994) starring Gong Li came to her hometown. Zhao Wei then left her job and studied at the Beijing Film Academy.

“I thought actresses had to be beautiful, and I thought I was ordinary.”

In 1997, while still in university, Zhao Wei scored the role of Xiao Yan Zi in the Chinese-Taiwanese production My Fair Princess (1998-1999). The show was such an immense hit across East and Southeast Asia that it propelled the stars Zhao Wei, Ruby Lin and Fan Bingbing into some of the biggest names in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Zhao Wei talked about the tough filming conditions for My Fair Princess in a 2004 interview. “We shot 18 to 20 hours a day. There were two groups of actors. One shot during the day, one at night. Frequently I’d have to do both. A few times I worked so hard that I actually threw up from the exertion. But I was young then. I didn’t get tired easily. And I never complained about the working conditions. I thought that’s just how it was supposed to be. Now I know that’s wrong. But at the time I had no clue. Whatever they’d give me, I’d do. And as soon as I was done working I could just fall asleep. They’d say, ‘Go to sleep,’ and I’d go right to sleep.”

After the success of My Fair Princess, Zhao Wei was named one of the Four Dan Actresses alongside Xu Jinglei, Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi. The title was given to the actresses regarded as having significant star power then.

Since then, Zhao Wei has gone on to be nominated and win multiple major awards at the likes of Golden Rooster Awards, Hundred Flowers Awards and Golden Eagle Award.

Did you know that Zhao Wei also has a successful music and directing career under her belt too? Between 1999 and 2009, she released seven albums and scored multiple top 10 hits on the Chinese music charts. She even won an MTV Asia award as Favourite Artist from Mainland China.

In 2013, Zhao Wei released her directorial debut film So Young. The youth romance movie was a commercial hit raking in USD 118 million at the Chinese box office and earned Zhao Wei a Hundred Flowers Award for Best Director and a Golden Rooster Award for Best Directorial Debut.

Zhao Wei has participated actively in fundraising drives and has donated to organisations such as the China Youth Foundation’s Hope Project and China Red Cross. Another key moment was when Zhao Wei was appointed the National Goodwill Ambassador of UNDP China in 2016 in recognition of her philanthropy supporting issues such as childhood leukaemia, earthquake and drought relief, among many others.

Once dubbed “China’s show-business Buffett”, Zhao Wei’s fortunes number in the billions. Besides having a successful career in television and film, her income also includes lucrative endorsement deals reported in over 120 products, real estate and investment moves that paid off immensely. Her biggest windfall came when she and her husband, Huang Youlong, purchased a 9.18 per cent stake in Alibaba Pictures. After the Hong Kong stock price rose significantly, Alibaba Pictures’ market cap soared, resulting in their stock being worth $762 million.

Zhao Wei’s portfolio includes a vineyard in Bordeaux, France. In 2011, she spent €40 million to purchase Château Monlot, a Saint-Emilian Grand Cru winery over 8.5 hectares in size. She later expanded as she purchased more wineries in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange announced in November 2018 that Vicki was barred from taking on key positions at listed companies for five years. This was in relation to a failed takeover bid by Tibet Longwei, a company controlled by her and her husband. Tibet Longwei attempted to buy a 29.1 per cent stake in a little-known animation studio Zhejiang Wanjia (now known as Zhejiang Sunriver Culture) in 2016.

The Exchange said due to “the celebrity effect”, the company had “severely misled the market and its investors”, and the move has “seriously disrupted normal market operations and order”. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) had previously punished the pair with a fine and a five-year ban from trading on the Shanghai market for the same offence.

Zhao Wei and her husband Huang Youlong have also been in multiple legal tussles regarding their investments in the Chinese entertainment industry.

In 2021, Zhao Wei’s presence and name were mysteriously scrubbed off the Chinese Internet. An online forum dedicated to her was shut down and her work was removed from online streaming platforms. While the reasons have not been made known, it has been speculated that the reasons for her “disappearance” were due to the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown and attempt at correcting moral oversights that are not in line with current leader Xi Jinping’s standards.

In March 2023, 19 months after she disappeared from the Chinese Internet, Zhao Wei resurfaced on social media. Two photos of the actress were posted, reportedly by a member of her staff, along with an audio recording from Zhao Wei that thanked fans for their birthday well-wishes.

“I feel it’s like any other day even though it is my birthday. Every day is a good day if we live happily every day. I wish you all the best, good health and happiness. Love you.”

ICYDK, Zhao Wei’s previously mentioned husband Huang Youlong is a Singaporean citizen. The two married in 2008 and had a daughter born here in 2010. Other notable stars who are/were permanent residents include Jet Li, Gong Li, Jackie Chan and Cecilia Cheung.

Vicki is a loving mother to her daughter April (also known as Huang Xing). In a 2015 press conference Tiger Mum, Zhao Wei revealed that her daughter was the one who called the shots at home. “My daughter’s position in our household is definitely higher than mine. I listen to her a lot. I guess you can say that’s my parenting style. Whenever we plan for an outing, she’s the one who decides on the places to go.”