Guan Xiaotong

In this Chinese name, the family name is Guan.

Guan Xiaotong (Chinese: 关晓彤; born 17 September 1997) is a Chinese actress and singer of Manchu descent. She is known for her roles in films The Left Ear and Shadow; and the television series To Be a Better Man. From an early age, her family encouraged a passion for the arts, and she first starred in Nuan at the age of four. Forbes China listed Guan under their Asia 2017 list which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.^[1]

Guan Xiaotong
Guan in 2016
Born	(1997-09-17) 17 September 1997 (age 27) Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese
Other names	Gabrielle Guan
Alma mater	Beijing Film Academy
Occupations	Actress singer
Years active	2001–present
Parents	Guan Shaozeng (father) Li Jun (mother)
Relatives	Guan Xuezeng (grandfather)
Family	Gūwalgiya Hala
Musical career
Origin	Beijing, China
Genres	Mandopop
Instrument	Vocals
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	關曉彤
Simplified Chinese	关晓彤
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guān Xiǎotóng

Known as the "Nation's Daughter"^[2] in China, Guan is regarded as one of the "Four Dan Actresses of the post-90s Generation"^[3] and as one of the "New Four Dan actresses of the "post-'95s" Generation" by CCTV.^[4]

Biography

Guan was born to a family of actors in Beijing. Her father, Guan Shaozeng, was an actor, and her grandfather, Guan Xuezeng was the founder of Beijing Qinshu.^[5] From an early age, her family encouraged a passion for the arts, and she first starred in Nuan at the age of four.

In 2016, Guan was admitted into the Beijing Film Academy after placing first in both the practical and written section of the Chinese College Entrance Examinations.^[6]

Career

Guan first gained attention when she starred in Nuan,^[7] adapted from author Mo Yan's short story, The White Dog and the Swing. The film garnered positive reception from both China and Japan.^[8]

Guan rose to prominence as a child actress through Chen Kaige's film The Promise, playing the younger counterpart of Cecilia Cheung's character. She continued to build up her filmography, starring in television series and films.^[8]

Her popularity rose as she starred in the 2014 television series May December Love, which received high ratings in China. She also starred in One Servant of Two Masters, which won her the Best Supporting Actress award at the Hengdian Film and TV Festival of China.^[9] Following the airing of these dramas, Guan was dubbed as the "Nation's Daughter" by the Chinese media.^[10][2]

In 2015, Guan starred in coming-of-age film The Left Ear,^[11] and won the Most Promising Actress award at the inaugural Gold Aries Award held by Macau International Movie Festival.^[12] The same year, she also released her first solo album, Eighteen.^[13]

In 2016, Guan starred in the family drama Papa Can You Hear Me Sing, a remake of the classic Taiwanese film of the same name.^[14] She then starred in the romance drama To Be A Better Man.^[15] Both series earned high ratings in China, and Guan won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Shanghai Television Festival for her performance in To Be a Better Man.^[16] She also starred in her first adult leading role in the fantasy drama Novoland: Castle in the Sky,^[17] and won the Best Actress award at the 7th Macau International Television Festival for her performance.^[18]

In 2017, Guan played the female lead in fantasy action drama Xuan-Yuan Sword: Han Cloud and romance comedy series Love of Aurora.^[19][20]

In 2018, Guan starred in the historical romance drama Untouchable Lovers as well as sports romantic comedy series Sweet Combat.^[21][22] The same year, Guan starred in Zhang Yimou's wuxia film Shadow,^[23] receiving positive reviews for her portrayal of a double-faced princess.^[24] The same year, she was cast in the fantasy romance film The Story of Turandot alongside Dylan Sprouse.^[25] Forbes China listed Guan under their 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.^[26]

In 2020, Guan starred in the female-centric youth modern drama Twenty Your Life On.^[27] The same year, she starred in the romance comedy film Oversize Love.^[28]

Social activities

In 2017, Guan became the ambassador for "World Life Day", a joint campaign by the United Nations Environment Programme, International Fund for Animal Welfare and The Nature Conservancy.^[29]

Personal life

On 8 October 2017, Guan and Lu Han, her co-star in Sweet Combat, admitted that they were dating.^[30][31]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2003	Profoundly Affecting	Shuang Shuang
	Nuan	Ya
2005	Electric Shadows	Jiang Lingling
	The Promise	Young Qing Cheng	Supporting role	[8]
2006	Only Promises Keeps My Heart	Young Han Xueting
2008	Uptown Girl and Donetown Girl	Xiao Tian
	Save Me	Xiao Xue	Supporting role
2009	The Treasure Hunter	Young Lan Ting		[32]
2010	Spring Buds Blossoms	Nong Xiaomei		[33]
	If You Are the One 2	Chuan Chuan	Supporting role	[34]
2011	Summer's Latte Art	Young Girl	Cameo
2012	Painted Skin: The Resurrection	Young Princess Jing	Supporting role	[35]
2013	Switch	Xiao Yueyue	Main role
	Flash Play	Middle School Girl	Cameo
	The Dance of the Summer	The girl
	Personal Tailor	Adult Dream Girl
2015	The Left Ear	Jiang Jiao	Supporting role	[11]
	Love of Magic	Princess An Jiexi	Main role	[36]
	Roco Kingdom 4	Princess Keli		[37]
	Romance Out of the Blue	Sha Sha	Main role	[38]
2016	Bad Guys Always Die	Chinese Girl	Cameo
2017	Robosaur Wars	Long Po		[39]
	The Founding of an Army	Deng Yingchao	Supporting role	[40]
2018	Always Be with You	Cosmetic Doctor
	A Paper Marriage	Wang Xiaoxiang	Main role	[41]
	Shadow 2018	Princess Qingping	Supporting role	[24]
	Surrender to Innocent Girls	Yao Lan	Main role	[42]
2019	Lost in Love	Meng Li	Cameo	[43]
	The Captain		Supporting role	[44]
2020	Oversize Love	Lin Xiaotong	Main role	[28]
2021	The Curse of Turandot	Princess Turandot	Main role	[25]
2024	Inside Out 2	Joy	Chinese dub	[45]
TBA	The Dream of Red Mansions	Jia Yuanchun	Cameo	[46]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2004	True Love Forever	Jiang Aili	Supporting role
2007	Another Lifetime of Fate	Young Meng Lijun
	The Shadow of Empress Wu	Huaji Nana
	Beautiful Life	Young Yan Yang	Cameo
2009	Da Li Princess	Young Hexi		[47]
2010	Bridge of Life and Death	Young Dan Dan		[48]
2011	The Vigilantes in Masks	Chai Yan		[49]
	Confucius	Young Xiao Jiang		[50]
2012	Ocean Espionage	Zhou Tingting	Supporting role
	Mazu	Young Lin Moniang		[51]
2013	101 Times Confession	Zhu Beibei	Main role	[52]
	Flowers in Fog	Young Xue Hua	Cameo
	Aftershock	Su Xi	Supporting role
2014	Romance of our Parents	An Yi
	May December Love	Ouyang Miaomiao
	One Servant of Two Masters	Yang Shumiao
	Love at Jurrasic	Ge Jingjing
2015	The Wife's Lies	Chen Puyu		[53]
	Legend of Ban Shu	Jiang Xiu		[54]
	Pretty Wife	Visa		[55]
	Joy Fans	Princess An Jiexi	Cameo	[56]
	Seventeen Blue	Kui Zhi	Supporting role	[57]
2016	Papa Can You Hear Me Sing	Ah Mei	Main role	[14]
	Hello Mr. Right	Lin Xia		[58]
	Paper Restaurant	Ku Gua	Supporting role	[59]
	Mr Hahaha	Nurse	Cameo	[60]
	To Be A Better Man	Peng Jiahe	Main role	[15]
	Novoland: The Castle in the Sky	Yi Fuling		[17]
2017	Stairway to Stardom	Herself	Cameo
	Xuan-Yuan Sword: Han Cloud	Ye Yaxi	Main role	[19]
	Love of Aurora	Han Xingzi		[20]
2018	Untouchable Lovers	Liu Chuyu		[21]
	Sweet Combat	Fang Yu		[22]
	Huotoujun Inn	Guan Tongtong	Cameo	[61]
	Dagger Mastery	Shui Lian	Main role	[62]
2019	I Am The Head Teacher	Xiao Guan	Cameo	[63]
2020	Shi Cha Hai	Zhuang Xiaoxiao	Main role	[64]
	Twenty Your Life On	Liang Shuang		[27]
	Nothing But Thirty	Liang Shuang	Cameo	[65]
2021	A Girl Like Me	Ban Hua	Main role	[66]
	Dreams and Glory	Liu Siqi	Supporting role
2022	Twenty Your Life On 2	Liang Shuang	Main role	[67]
	Hu Tong	Lin Yue
TBA	Once a Youth	Xie Qiao
	Mr. and Mrs. Chen	Chen Jiaping
	Skating Boy	Ji Xing
	The Brightest of Us	Xu Man	Guest role

Discography

Albums

Year	English title	Chinese title	Notes/Ref.
2015	Eighteen		[13]

Singles

Year	English title	Chinese title	Album	Notes/Ref.
2015	"Princess An Jie Xi"	安洁西公主		[68]
	"The Story Between You and Me"	关于你和我的故事		[69]
2017	"Slow Movement"	漫动作		with Will Pan[70]
	"Twenties"	都二十了		[71]
2018	"Flower Day"	花期	Music Diary	[72]
	"Kite"	风筝		[73]

Soundtracks

Year	English title	Chinese title	Album	Notes
2015	"Song of Air Stewardess"	空姐之歌	Romance Out of the Blue OST
2016	"Music Dream"	音梦	Novoland: The Castle in the Sky OST	[74]
2017	"Bright Moon"	明月	Xuan-Yuan Sword: Han Cloud OST	[75]
	"For My 17-year-old Self"	给17岁的自己	Secret Fruit OST	[76]
	"Where you want to go"	想要去的地方	Dahufa OST	[77]
	"Once Again"	二次初恋	Once Again OST	with Wang Yibo[78]
	"You Have Never Left Before"	你从来没离开	Love of Aurora OST	[79]
	"Don't Fall For Me"	别对我动情		with Zhu Xiaopeng[80]
2018	"Lesson of Love"	爱情教会我什么	Surrender to Innocent Girls OST	[81]
2020	"Us"	我们	Twenty Your Life On OST
	"Tree"	树
2021	"Wind Flower", "Drunk Happiness"	花信, 醉清欢	A Girl Like Me OST

Other appearances

Year	English title	Chinese title	Notes/Ref.
2016	"Sunshine in the Eyes"	瞳孔里的太阳	Theme song of 29th World AIDS Day[82]
2017	"Bringing Moonlight on the Road	带上月光上路	Performance for CCTV Spring Gala[83]
	"Embracing You"	拥抱你	Theme song of 30th World AIDS Day[84]
2018	"The Future Me"	未来已来	Theme song for China's Communist Youth League[85]
2019	"Unlimited Imagination of Youth"	青春畅想	Performance for CCTV Spring Gala[86]
	"My Motherland and I"	我和我的祖国	Project for People's Republic of China's 70th anniversary[87]
	"Dream"	梦想	Theme song for China Student Television Festival[88]

Bibliography

Year	Title	Notes/Ref.
2015	用时间换天分 越努力越幸运
2017	不知愁滋味	[89]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2014	High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University	Star of the Arts	—	Won	[90]
	1st Hengdian Film and TV Festival of China	Best Supporting Actress	One Servant of Two Masters	Won	[91]
	3rd iQiyi All-Star Carnival	Television Newcomer of the Year		Won	[92]
2015	7th China TV Drama Awards	Best New Actress		Won	[93]
	17th Huading Awards	Best Newcomer		Nominated
2016	19th Huading Awards		My Wife is Born After the 80s	Nominated
	1st Gold Aries Award	Most Promising Actress	The Left Ear	Won	[12]
	Mobile Video Festival	Audience's Favorite New Actress	—	Won	[citation needed]
	Sohu Fashion Awards	Most Popular Female Star	—	Won	[94]
	7th Macau International Television Festival	Best Actress	Novoland: The Castle in the Sky	Won	[18]
2017	22nd Huading Awards	Best Actress (Ancient Drama)		Nominated	[95]
		Best Supporting Actress	To Be a Better Man	Nominated
	23rd Shanghai Television Festival	Best Supporting Actress		Won	[16]
	Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL)	"May 4th Medal"	—	Won	[96]
	11th Tencent Video Star Awards	Young Artist Award	—	Won	[citation needed]
	9th Macau International Movie Festival	Best Supporting Actress	A Paper Marriage	Nominated	[97]
2018	3rd China Television Drama Quality Ceremony	Most Marketable Young Actress	—	Won	[98]
	Weibo Movie Awards Ceremony	Most Anticipated Actor	—	Won	[99]
	5th The Actors of China Award Ceremony	Best Actress (Emerald Category)	—	Nominated	[100]
	7th iQiyi All-Star Carnival	Movie Breakthrough Artist	—	Won	[101]
2019	Next Generation Influencers for Global Philanthropy	Young Philanthropy Star	—	Won	[102]
	6th The Actors of China Award Ceremony	Best Actress (Emerald Category)	—	Won	[103]
	Jinri Toutiao Awards Ceremony	Trendy Artist of the Year	—	Won	[104]

Forbes China Celebrity 100

Year	Rank	Ref.
2017	80th	[105]
2019	81st	[106]
2020	71st	[107]