Zhang Jiayi (Chinese: 张嘉益; born 8 April 1970) is a Chinese actor. He rose to fame with his role in Dwelling Narrowness (2009). In 2014, he became the fourth Chinese actor to achieve the television "Grand Slam", having won Best Actor at China’s three most prestigious television awards, the Feitian Award, the Golden Eagle Award and the Magnolia Award.
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Early life and education
Zhang was born and raised in Xi'an, Shaanxi. Zhang was a student with merit on wrestle when he was in high school. After graduated from high school, he planned to be a professional wrestler. However, on the advice of his uncle, who worked at the Xi’an Film Studio, he decided to take the entrance examination for the Beijing Film Academy and was subsequently admitted. After graduating from the academy in 1991, he was assigned to Xi'an Film Studio.
Career
Zhang played his first role as Kang Bosi in film Rubilks-clock in 1990, which is his first film. One year later, he graduated from Beijing Film Academy and changed his name from Zhang Xiaotong to Zhang Jiayi.
In 1995, Zhang played Zhang Jianguo in television series Daobei People which is his first time to appear in small screen.
Zhang in 1999 participated in film Xian's Finest and won Society Award at 7th Golden Phoenix Awards.
Zhang came back to Beijing from Xi'an in 2000. And he played Wu Dengyun in television series Dr. Wu in Pamir which was adapted from a true story and won the First Prize of television series at 21st Flying Apsaras Awards.
In 2004, Zhang played main role Song Chao in television series National Mission cooperated with actress Wang Haiyan.
Zhang gained attention and popularity and rose to fame with his role as Song Siming in television series Dwelling Narrowness in 2009.
Zhang won the Best Actor(Contemporary Drama) at 4th Huading Awards in 2010 due to television series I Am the Proprietor.
In 2011, Zhang won the Best Actor at 17th Magnolia Awards for his performing in television drama Borrow Gun. In hit film Love Is Not Blind, Zhang played as a supporting role.
In 2012, Zhang participated in television drama The Brink as main actor and artistic director. In May, he played as Liu Chenxi in hit television drama Angel Heart which was adapted from writer Liu Liu's novel. In September, he played as a police in television series Story of Police in Yingpan. Zhang won the Best Actor at 8th Huading Awards, 3rd Golden Lotus Awards and 4th China TV Drama Awards for his performing in The Brink. And he won the Best Actor at 29th Flying Apsaras Awards, 27th China TV Golden Eagle Award due to Story of Police in Yingpan. At 8th Huading Awards, he also won 10 Most Popular TV Celebrities of the year award.
Personal life
Marriage
In 2004, during filming the television series National Mission, Zhang had a romance with actress Wang Haiyan. Three years later, in 2007, Zhang married Wang in his hometown Xi'an. This is his second marriage. On September 19, 2010, their first daughter was born, and was named Zhang Yixin.
Disease
In the beginning of 2018, a video about Zhang Jiayi in television series Wonderful Life went viral because of his unique walking posture. In fact, his unique walking posture is one of the symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis. The disease limits his actions so that sometimes he is unable to straighten his back. When he was 22, he felt the back pain, but did not pay much attention and still endured the pain to work, which made his illness more serious. According to his speech in CCTV program Voice, he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis when he was 25.
