IO – As the new Mulan trailer airs, Yifei Liu’s name is being discussed. Before known as an actress, Liu was famous as a model. Various brands appointed her as a brand ambassador. One of them was Armani.
The actress, who also goes by the name of Crystal Liu, is a cat lover. In some of her social media posts, there are pictures of her with her cats.
One of the photos she uploaded was her first experience touching a bald sphinx cat. She didn’t stop smiling while holding the cat that seemed bored.
“The first time touching a bald cat. I feel happy hahaha,” wrote Liu Yifei on her Weibo account, June 2, 2019.
Liu and her mother reportedly work with a non-profit organization to find cats new homes, and at one point she was sheltering more than 30 cats in her Beijing apartment. In any case, it’s clear from her Instagram posts that Liu is an animal lover.
She may be a new face to many Western fans, the 31-year-old is already a popular actress in China with numerous credits to her name.
According The Hollywood Reporter as quoted by EW, Liu beat out nearly 1,000 actresses to play Mulan.
Casting directors embarked on a year-long search and saw nearly 1,000 candidates across five continents. The part required an ethnically Chinese young woman to have credible martial arts skills, the ability to speak English, and of course, star quality. Liu certainly fit the bill as a popular actress in China with many action roles under her belt and training from the Beijing Film Academy.
The actress has been nicknamed “fairy sister” (shenxian jiejie) for her ethereal and sweet looks and was grouped among the most successful young actresses in China. “Dan” traditionally referred to male actors who played vibrant young women in Peking opera, but in modern times it describes actresses who fit the same characteristics. Other popular stars who have earned the label include Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Fan Bingbing (X-Men: Days of Future Past). (rp)