Wang Yibo (, , born 5 August 1997) is a Chinese actor, dancer, singer, professional road motorcycle racer and racing driver. He debuted as a member of South Korean-Chinese boyband Uniq in 2014. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in television series Love Actually (2017), Gank Your Heart (2019), The Untamed (2019), Legend of Fei (2020), Luoyang (2021), Being a Hero (2022) and War of Faith (2024). He made his big screen lead role debut in 2023, starring in Hidden Blade, Born to Fly and One and Only. His performances have earned him multiple acting nominations at various film awards, including the Golden Rooster Awards, Huabiao Awards and Asian Film Awards. Wang was ranked 9th on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 in 2020, and 2nd in 2021.
Early life and education Wang Yibo was born on 5 August 1997 in Luoyang, Henan, China. He started dancing when he was young. During his second year in secondary school in 2011, Wang participated in IBD national dance competition and placed in the top sixteen in the hip-hop category, he then became a trainee of YH Entertainment (formerly Yuehua). Prior to his debut, Wang trained in South Korea and studied at Hanlim Multi Art School.
Career 2014–2017: Debut with Uniq and acting debut
Wang debuted in 2014 as a member of South Korean-Chinese boy band group Uniq with the song "Falling in Love". He served as the main dancer and rapper of the group. His acting debut was in the film MBA Partners. He then played the role of Red Boy in A Chinese Odyssey Part Three, and starred in the romance comedy drama series Love Actually as the second male lead character Zhai Zhiwei. From 2016 to 2021, Wang served as a co-host on the variety program Day Day Up.
In March 2017, Wang was cast in his first lead role in the youth xianxia drama series Private Shushan Gakuen. In April, he won the Best New Idol Award at the Top Chinese Music Awards. In August, Wang and Guan Xiaotong collaborated to sing "Once Again", the theme song of the movie with same name. In November, Wang released the theme song "Just Dance" for the 4th Xuan Wu Dance Festival. In the same year, Wang made a guest appearance in the youth campus drama series When We Were Young, and was cast in the science fiction drama series Super Talent, later named My Strange Friend.
2018–2019: Solo debut and breakthrough In celebration of the 2018 Lunar New Year, Wang performed a solo dance number at the Hunan Spring Festival by Hunan Television. He also performed an adaptation of Uniq's song "Happy New Year" along with other Hunan Television hosts.
In March 2018, Wang was confirmed to be a dance mentor in the reality survival show Produce 101. He gained an increased recognition for his dance skills on the show. In one of the show's episodes, Wang revealed that he had a disease called myocarditis during his childhood and had to give up dancing and undergo serious medication to recover. Eventually, he was cured and had to start learning how to dance from scratch. Wang further shared that after his recovery, he attended six hours of dance lessons daily.
In the same year Wang challenged voice acting, dubbed the character Qi Jingxuan in the animation movie Crystal Sky of Yesterday, which was released in China on 26 October 2018. He also sang the movie OST "Heart Affairs of the Youth".
In January 2019, Wang debuted as a solo singer by releasing his first digital single "Fire". In March, Wang released his second digital single "Lucky".
Wang starred in the esports romance drama series Gank Your Heart, playing a misunderstood professional gamer, which premiered on Mango TV on 9 June. He also sang the series' opening theme song, "Burning Adventure". With his portrayal of Ji Xiangkong, Wang took home his first major acting award for "Audience's Choice for Actor" at the 30th China TV Golden Eagle Award.
On 20 June, the skateboard reality show One More Try was broadcast on Tencent Video. Wang appeared as a team leader in this 10 episode skateboard sports competition show.
In the same year, Wang starred in the xianxia drama series The Untamed, based on the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi, which premiered on Tencent Video on 27 June. Wang also released the song "Won't Forget", the theme song for his character in The Untamed. He gained an increased recognition and popularity both in China and overseas for his portrayal of Lan Wangji. Wang later entered the Forbes China Celebrity 100 and 30 Under 30 list for the first time.
On 30 December 2019, Wang released his third digital single "No Sense", which is his first attempt in songwriting. He wrote it intermittently as he was busy shooting the drama series Legend of Fei. Wang shared that the song reflected his personal feelings and experiences. He intended for it to convey his wish that others, too, would overcome challenges and maintain a positive mindset. Six million digital copies of the song were sold within 20 minutes after its release, exceeding 30 million yuan in total sales. The song became the fastest digital single to sell over 10 million copies on NetEase Music. Wang then performed "No Sense" for the first time at Hunan Television's 2020 New Year's Eve Concert.
2020–2022: Mainstream popularity In May 2020, Wang was confirmed as one of the four captains in the dance competition show Street Dance of China Season 3 . Through this show, Wang got an increased recognition for his street dance background and skills. In October, Yang Kai, a member of his team Yi Bo Wang Zha won the competition.
On 19 August 2020, the TV series My Strange Friend premiered on iQIYI. Wang played the character Wei Yichen in this science fiction drama series.
In December 2020, Wang starred as the male lead character Xie Yun in the wuxia drama series Legend of Fei, based on the novel Bandits , was broadcast on Tencent Video. He also sang the OST "First Rays" for the series. The series was very popular both domestically and internationally. It not only reached a record of over 130 million views in eight hours after its release and 4 billion views in one month on Tencent Video, but also earned number one spot on WeTV Thailand and Philippines after one week of simultaneous release.
On 30 December 2020, Wang released his fourth digital single, "My Rules" . The song, composed by 24 and Vince from The Black Label with Wang participated in the lyrics writing, expresses his determination to follow his own path and find his self-worth. With this song, Wang broke a new record of the fastest digital single to sell 10 million copies on NetEase Music, which equals to 30 million yuan, within only 2 hours and 20 minutes. The single debuted at 14th on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales during the fourth week of January 2021. Wang performed "My Rules" for the first time at the Hunan Television's 2021 New Year's Eve Concert, where he also had a collaboration stage with Wang Leehom to the song "Descendants of the Dragon".
On 11 February 2021, Wang made his first appearance on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, singing and dancing in a creative show titled Ox Strut alongside Andy Lau and Guan Xiaotong to celebrate the Year of Ox, which is the zodiac of all three performers. In the same month, Wang also appeared for the first time on CCTV's Lantern Festival Gala, singing his song "Youth Comes in Time" for his individual stage. During the grand gala celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang performed the song "Walking With You" together with Karry Wang and Roy Wang, as part of the theatrical performance The Great Journey.
In June 2021, Wang played the role of Jiang Xianyun, a Chinese historical figure, in the episode The Choice of the movie series Faith Makes Great . In the same month, Wang was chosen as one of the nine individuals appearing in Youku's serial documentary My Legacy and I Season 2, which follows the life and work of nine Chinese outstanding performers in their fields over the past two and half years.
In August 2021, Wang returned as one of the captains of the dance competition show Street Dance of China Season 4. Ye Yin, a member of Wang's team, won the competition, making Wang's team's second win in the two seasons of the show. Wang starred as Baili Hongyi in the period mystery drama series Luoyang alongside Huang Xuan and Victoria Song, the series premiered on Iqiyi on 1 December.
On 30 December 2021, Wang released his fifth digital single "Standup" () which topped the QQ Music New Song Chart. He performed the song for the first time at the Hunan Television's 2021/2022 New Year's Eve Concert the next day.
On 11 August 2022, the TV series Being A Hero premiered on Youku. Wang played the character Chen Yu, an anti-narcotics policeman in this crime drama series directed by Fu Dongyu, headlining alongside Chen Xiao. In the same month he returned as one of the captains of the dance competition show Street Dance of China Season 5.
On 10 September 2022, Wang made his first appearance on CCTV's Mid Autumn Festival Gala, he and Zhou Dongyu performed the song "Moments of You in My Life". In December, Wang released his sixth digital single "像阳光那样" (Like the Sunshine). He performed an interpretive dance as a debut performance of the song on the Dragon TV 2022/2023 New Year's Eve concert. The single, released on midday 30 Dec became China's biggest selling single for 2022 before the year was out.
2023–2024: Film debut
Wang's first film in a leading role, Hidden Blade, a neo-noir spy thriller set mostly in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, was released in China on 22 January 2023. It also opened in selected theaters across the US and Canada on 17 February, and in Australia on 2 March. It opened in Hong Kong on 9 March, and New Zealand on 16 March. In the movie, he starred alongside veteran actor Tony Leung. The film's domestic box office exceeded ¥930 million (RMB). He got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as Mr. Ye in this film at the 36th Golden Rooster Awards.
In April, he played the character Lei Yu, a test pilot in the action drama film Born To Fly,. The film tells the story of a team of special elite pilots in the Chinese air force (PLAAF), who were tasked with testing out new fighter jets. The J-10C, J-16 and the J-20 made their big screen debut with the film. The film had a final domestic box office of ¥850 million (RMB).
In July, One and Only, a sports comedy starring Wang as a young break-dancer who dreams and struggles to enter a professional team and compete for the Asian Game trophy, was released. It also performed well at the box office and was listed in the top 20 grossing Chinese film list compiled by industry data website The Numbers in 2023. He got a Best Actor nomination at the 37th Golden Rooster Awards and an Outstanding Actor nomination at the 20th Huabiao Awards for his role as Chen Shuo in this film. Wang's short film All Tomorrow's Parties, directed by Zhang Dalei, was shortlisted for the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.
On 29 December 2023, Wang released his first personal EP Bystander (旁观者) consisting of two tracks "Bystander" (旁观者) and "Everything Is Lovely" (万物可爱) which won the first place in QQ Music Annual EP chart within two hours of its release. Wang participated in CCTV New Year's Eve gala and performed the song "Dragon Clan" with Wu Tong. At Hunan Television's 2023/2024 New Year's Eve Concert he performed his new song "Bystander" for the first time and also performed the song "I'll miss you" with Da Zhang Wei.
On 21 March 2024, the TV series War of Faith premiered on CCTV-8 and iQiyi. Wang played the character Wei Ruolai, a young patriotic man in this republican era spy finance drama. On 1 May, the movie Formed Police Unit in which he starred as Yang Zhen, a peacekeeping police man beside Huang Jingyu and Zhong Chuxi was released nationwide in China. The film tells the story of the Chinese United Nations Police were sent on an overseas mission at the request of the United Nations.