1. Deng Chao later shifted his focus to films, starring in the box office hits Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, American Dreams in China, The Dead End, for which he won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor, The Mermaid, Duckweed, and Shadow.
Deng Chao directed and starred in The Breakup Guru, Devil and Angel and Looking Up.
Deng Chao was a cast member of variety show Keep Running from 2014 to 2019.
Deng Chao has been a cast member of web show HAHAHAHAHA since 2020.
Deng Chao was born into a second marriage family in Nanchang, Jiangxi, on 8 February 1979.
Deng Chao's father was a museum secretary, and his mother was a factory cadre.
Deng Chao's father has a son and a daughter, and Deng Chao's mother has a daughter.
Since 1995, Deng Chao studied in the theater program at the Jiangxi Vocational Academy of Art for three years.
Deng Chao rose to fame with the 2003 historical drama The Young Emperor and further gained popularity with director Gao Xixi's military drama romance Happiness as Flowers, co-starring Sun Li.
Deng Chao earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Deng Chao next starred in fantasy film Mural, directed by Gordon Chan and adapted from the renowned ghost novel "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio".
In 2013, Deng Chao starred as one of the three male leads in Peter Chan's film American Dreams in China, about three young men from poor backgrounds who achieved success by establishing an English teaching school.
Taipei Times called the movie a "a well-executed work of entertainment that preaches about China's growing power" and praised Deng Chao for "delivering a focused performance as an idealist with a defeated ego".
Deng Chao made his directorial debut with The Breakup Guru, a romantic comedy co-created by him and Yu Baimei.
That year, Deng Chao was chosen as the Most Valuable Chinese Actor.
Deng Chao then starred in crime film The Dead End directed by acclaimed director Cao Baoping, and was praised by critics for "breathing life into the role with riveting performances", as well as his chemistry with co-star Duan Yihong.
Deng Chao shared the Best Actor award with co-stars Duan and Guo Tao at the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival, and won another Best Actor trophy at the Golden Rooster Awards.
Deng Chao teamed up again with Yu Baimei for the comedy film Devil and Angel, following the success of The Breakup Guru.
In 2016, Deng Chao starred in Stephen Chow's film The Mermaid, where he plays a playboy businessman who falls in love with a mermaid that had been sent to assassinate him.
In 2017, Deng Chao starred in Han Han's sleeper hit Duckweed, playing a rebellious car racer who thinks that his parents misunderstood him.
Deng Chao next starred in the suspense crime film, The Liquidator, based on the bestselling crime novel series Evil Minds: City Light and directed by acclaimed TV director Xu Jizhou.
In 2018, Deng Chao starred in Zhang Yimou's historical film, Shadow.
In 2019, Deng Chao starred in the family drama film Looking Up, which he co-directed.
Deng Chao dated Nie Ning since they were both students at the Jiangxi Vocational Academy of Art.
From 2002 to 2005, Deng Chao dated his The Young Emperor co-star Hao Lei.
Deng Chao has been married to actress Sun Li since 2010.