Nie Yuan's parents named his elder brother and him "Zhen" and "Yuan" respectively to remind them not to forget their hometown.
16 Facts About Nie Yuan
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Nie Yuan later enrolled in the Shanghai Theatre Academy after completing his service in the army.
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Nie Yuan first started acting when he was still in the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
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Nie Yuan did not receive much acclaim for his performance while in contrast, Huang Yi was very successful.
5.
In 2001, Nie Yuan worked on Tianxia Liangcang with director Wu Ziniu, and was noted for his outstanding performance.
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In 2004, Nie Yuan was named by the Chinese media as one of the "Mainland's New Four Young Actors", along with Huang Xiaoming, Tong Dawei and Yin Xiaotian.
7.
Nie Yuan was a popular choice for "Yang Guo" and he participated in the audition as well, but eventually lost the role to Huang Xiaoming, who was not as popular as him then.
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Huang Xiaoming's performance in The Return of the Condor Heroes propelled him to fame, while in contrast, Nie Yuan did not advance much in his career.
9.
In 2006, Nie Yuan starred in the wuxia drama Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain.
10.
From 2008 onwards, Nie Yuan's career took an upturn when he starred in the television series Three Kingdoms as military general Zhao Yun and Journey to the West as Tang Sanzang, adaptations of two of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
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Nie Yuan then acted in the films The Flowers of War as a soldier, The Last Supper as military general Xiang Zhuang, Avalokitesvara as Tang Emperor Li Yi, and Brotherhood of Blades as an eunuch.
12.
Nie Yuan gained renewed recognition with his portrayal of Qianlong Emperor in the hit palace dramas Story of Yanxi Palace.
13.
Nie Yuan later starred as Lu Buwei in the historical drama The Legend of Haolan.
14.
When he was in his third year at Shanghai Theatre Academy, Nie Yuan met actress Huang Yi and started a relationship with her.
15.
Around 2003, Nie Yuan started a new relationship, this time with Liu Yun, whom he first met when they were working together in the television series Hanxue Baoma.
16.
In early 2014, Nie Yuan married actress Qin Ziyue, who had a minor role in Journey to the West.