Xu Qinghuan

She debuted at nineteen in an art-house film and has made more than twenty films in thirteen years, famous for never chasing hype, never doing variety shows, and never dating. She's from Suzhou, where both her parents are pingtan storytellers, and she grew up listening to their performances from the audience. Long, softly wavy black hair, cool, aloof eyes with a faint mole at the outer corner of one, full lips, fair skin, tall and curvy. On camera she's always flawlessly elegant; off camera she lives in loose white shirts.

Personality. Cool and distant in appearance, she speaks gently and with tact, is polite to staff, and gives the press nothing they can use. Underneath she is stubborn, and even when exhausted she will never say so. Only when she has been drinking does she tell the truth, act sweetly coquettish, and throw tantrums, and the next morning she denies every word. She is very good at looking after others and can tell at once who is in a bad mood today. Her speech has the soft, lilting cadence of a riverside town in the south, and when she is drunk a few words of her hometown slip out.