Liu Yifei trivia: 36 facts about the actress who will portray Mulan

Liu Yifei is a Chinese-American actress that landed the role of Mulan in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the Disney animated classic.

She is about to make a splash with this movie. So let’s dig into some trivia and facts about her life and career thus far.

1. Liu Yifei was born on August 25, 1987
2. She is also known as Crystal Liu
3. She is a Chinese-American actress, singer, and model
4. She is widely known as Fairy Sister in the entertainment industry
5. She was named as one of the New Four Dan Actresses of China in 2009
6. She plays the lead as Mulan in Disney’s live-action film Mulan
7. Liu was born in Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei
8. Her birth name was “An Feng”
9. She is an only child
10. Her father is An Shaokang, a 1st Secretary in the Chinese Embassy in France and a French language university professor
11. While her mother is Liu Xiaoli, a dancer and a stage performer
12. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old
13. She was raised solely by her mother
14. That same year, she adopted her mother’s family name and changed her name to “Liu Ximeizi”
15. She began modelling, along with training in singing, dancing and playing the piano
16. Her godfather is Chen Jinfei, the Chairman of Beijing Tongchan Investment Group
17. When she was 10 years old, Liu and her mother moved to New York City
18. There she attended Louis Pasteur Middle School 67
19. She lived in Queens before returning to China in 2002 to pursue an acting career
20. She, then, changed her name to “Liu Yifei”
21. While living in the United States, she gained her United States citizenship
22. Several weeks later after returning to China, Liu was accepted into the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy at the age of 15
23. She graduated in 2006
24. Liu started dating Song Seung-heon in 2015
25. They met in 2013 while filming The Third Way of Love
26. In January 2018, Song’s agency confirmed breakup reports by stating that both of them had been very busy and they naturally grew apart
27. In August 2019, Liu reshared an image posted by Chinese newspaper People’s Daily
28. The image included a quote from Chinese reporter Fu Guohao who worked for the Global Times and was subsequently assaulted by protesters during the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests: “I support Hong Kong police. You can beat me now. What a shame for Hong Kong”
29. This sparked international controversy, with Liu being accused of supporting police brutality
30. The hashtag, #BoycottMulan, has since started trending supporting a boycott of the movie
31. In response to the controversy, Liu was not present at the 2019 D23 Expo, which gave fans an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming film, Mulan
32. Liu signed with Sony Music Entertainment Japan in 2005
33. She released her first Japanese single “Mayonaka no Door” with Sony Music on July 19, 2006
34. Her debut album Liu Yifei was released the next month in various parts of Asia such as mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and throughout Southeast Asia
35. Featuring a diverse music repertoire including rap and soft rock
36. In the same year, Liu also released her Japanese album in which the single, “Mayonaka no Doa” was chosen to be an ending theme for the anime series Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z by TV Tokyo