Liu Yuan (born 10 October 1997), known professionally as Liu Haoran, also known as Turbo Liu, is a Chinese actor. He is best known for his roles in the Detective Chinatown film series and Dead to Rights (2025), as well as the television series With You (2016) and Nirvana in Fire 2 (2017).
In 2025, Liu became the youngest actor to gross over ¥25 billion (~US$3.51 billion) at the Chinese box office.
Early life Liu was born in 1997 in Pingdingshan, Henan, and moved to Beijing at the age of 12 to attend the Affiliated Secondary School of Beijing Dance Academy. His father is a senior executive in a company, and his mother is a Peking opera performer. In 2013 when he was still a student, Liu was hand-picked by Chinese actor/director Chen Sicheng to star in Chen's directorial film debut, Beijing Love Story. In 2015, Liu enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama after receiving the highest yikao score in the university's acting department.
Career Liu made his acting debut in the 2014 romance film Beijing Love Story, and was nominated for Best New Actor at the 2015 Beijing College Student Film Festival.
In 2015, Liu starred in the comedy mystery film, Detective Chinatown, directed by Chen Sicheng, and won a Best New Actor Award at the Huading Awards for his performance. That same year, Liu starred in his first small-screen project, campus drama With You, which was adapted from the youth novel under the same title. The drama series earned positive reviews, and Liu won Most Popular New Actor at the 2016 iQiyi All-Star Carnival.
In 2017, Liu played Su Yu in the patriotic film, The Founding of an Army. He also featured in the historical mystery film Legend of the Demon Cat, which was directed by acclaimed director Chen Kaige. That same year, he starred in the historical drama, Nirvana in Fire 2, which was a Daylight Entertainment production directed by the famed director Kong Sheng and the sequel to Nirvana in Fire by written by Hai Yan. The series was critically acclaimed, and Liu received recognition for his acting.
In 2018, Liu reprised his role in the film Detective Chinatown 2, which premiered on Chinese New Year. The movie was a box office hit and grossed 3.4 billion RMB and is one of the top 10 highest-grossing film of all time in China (as of September 2022). Liu was nominated for Best Actor at the Hundred Flowers Awards for his role and became the youngest actor to be nominated in the lead actor category for this award. For Liu's accomplishments, Forbes China honored him as one of their 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list, which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.
In 2019, Liu filmed two movies with Chen Kaige, Flowers Bloom in the Ashes and My People My Country. His xuanhuan epic drama Novoland: Eagle Flag, adapted from novels by the same name written by Jiang Nan, aired on Zhejiang TV, becoming the channel's highest rated drama in the 10pm time slot.
In 2020, Liu graduated from the Central Academy of Drama and successfully auditioned into the China Coal Mine Art Troupe where he also received bianzhe (编制). He performed Xue Wo Zhong Hua with the Art Troupe at China's National Center for the Performing Arts. That same year, he also starred in the films My People My Homeland and Coffee or Tea.
In 2021, Liu's film Detective Chinatown 3 premiered during Chinese New Year and immediately grossed 1.01 billion RMB, 818 million RMB, and 749 million RMB for the first three days, respectively, and continues to hold the record for the top 3 single-day box office revenue in China's box office history. The box office success of Detective Chinatown 3 (totaling in excess of 4.5 billion RMB) catapulted Liu to become the youngest actor to gross over 15 billion RMB (approx. US$2.32 billion) at the Chinese box office for leading roles. He also starred as Liu Renjing in the film 1921, directed by famed director Huang Jianxin (making it their fourth collaboration). Also in 2021, Liu's film Fire on the Plain, produced by Diao Yinan, was invited to the main competition at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. That same year, Liu was invited as a representative to attend The 11th Congress of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, which occurs once every five years. At 24 years old, he was one of the youngest representatives out of over 2000 attendees.
In 2022, Liu's film Only Fools Rush In, directed by Han Han, premiered during Chinese New Year, making it his third Chinese New Year film. Liu earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 36th Hundred Flower Awards for his portrayal of Liu Renjing in the film 1921.
In 2023, The Breaking Ice, directed by Anthony Chen and starring Liu, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The Breaking Ice was also selected by the Singapore Film Commission as Singapore's submission to the best international feature category of the 2024 Oscars (96th Academy Awards).
In 2024, My Friend An Delie, the directorial debut of actor Dong Zijian and starring Liu and Dong, was selected to compete at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival. In the same year, Liu won the Golden Crane Award for best actor at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival China Film Week for his leading role as Rong Jinzhen in Decoded. Liu also served as a jury member for the Project Investment Competition at the 14th Beijing International Film Festival. Filmography Film Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 2014 Beijing Love Story 北京爱情故事 Song Ge 2015 Forever Young 栀子花开 Host Cameo Detective Chinatown 唐人街探案 Qin Feng 2017 Buddies in India 大闹天竺 Erlang Shen Cameo The Founding of an Army 建军大业 Su Yu Legend of the Demon Cat 妖猫传 Bai Long 2018 Detective Chinatown 2 唐人街探案2 Qin Feng Happiness Is Coming 幸福马上来 Ma Xiao Cameo 2019 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 驯龙高手3 Hiccup Voice; Chinese dub 双生 Li Ping My People, My Country我和我的祖国 Wo Dele Segment: "The Guiding Star"2020 My People, My Homeland 我和我的家乡 Xiao Qin Segment: "A Mystery of UFO" 一点就到家 Wei Jinbei 2021 Detective Chinatown 3 唐人街探案3Qin Feng 19211921 Liu Renjing Embrace Again穿过寒冬拥抱你Zhang ZheCameo 2022Only Fools Rush In四海Wu Renyao2023The Breaking Ice燃冬Hao Feng2024The Boy and the Heron你想活出怎样的人生Mahito MakiVoice; Chinese dubDecoded解密Rong Jinzhen2025Detective Chinatown 1900唐探 1900Qin FuFire on the Plain平原上的火焰Zhuang ShuDead to Rights南京照相馆Su Liuchang2026My Friend An Delie我的朋友安德烈Li MoIt's My Time 魔方小姐 Wu Youwei Flowers From the Ashes少年时代
Television series Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 2016 With You 最好的我们 Yu Huai 2017 Midnight Diner 深夜食堂 Music producer Cameo Nirvana in Fire 2 琅琊榜之风起长林 Xiao Pingjing 2018 Great Expectations: Meeting of the Two Dragons远大前程·双龙会 Huo Zhenxiao 2019 Novoland: Eagle Flag 九州缥缈录Lǚ Guichen 2022Bright Future:zh:县委大院Mei Xiaoge (young)CameoTBDTake A Nap海岛舒服日志Xie Yuyang
Variety shows Year English title Chinese title Role 2015 Takes a Real Man (Season 1) 真正男子汉 Cast member 2017 Give Me Five (Season 1) 高能少年团 2021Oh Youth!恰好是少年2024Game of Cubes: The New Utopia魔方新世界
Theater +YearEnglish titleChinese titleRole 2021Xue Wo Zhong Hua血沃中华Dong Cunrui2025The Smell of Warmth温暖的味道Sun Guangming
Discography Singles Year English Title Chinese Title Album Notes 2015 "Yearning for Glory" 渴望光荣 Takes a Real Man OST 2016 "Holy High" 猴厉嗨 Promotional song for Suning with Wu Mochou & Huang Cancan 2017 "Proud Youths" 骄傲的少年 Give Me Five OST with Zhang Yishan, Wang Junkai, Dong Zijian & Darren Wang 2018 "Pink Memories" 粉紅色的回憶 Detective Chinatown 2 OST with Wang Baoqiang, Zhang Zifeng, Xiaoshenyang & Xiao Yang 2019 "My Motherland and I" 我和我的祖国 My People My Country OST with Chen Feiyu, Zhou Dongyu, Ou Hao & Zhu Yilong "Starry Sea" 星辰大海 For China Movie Channel Young Actors Project "Dream" 梦想 Theme song for China Student Television Festival "Cool Doll" 酷你吉娃 Detective Chinatown 3 OST
Accolades Awards and nominations Year Awards Category Nominated work Result 201421st Beijing College Student Film FestivalBest New ActorBeijing Love Story201624th Shanghai Film Critics AwardsDetective Chinatown 19th Shanghai International Film Festival(Asian New Talent Award)20th Huading Awards16th Chinese Film Media AwardsMost Anticipated ActorMost Anticipated Performance201834th Hundred Flowers AwardsBest ActorDetective Chinatown 2202236th Hundred Flowers AwardsBest Supporting Actor192120242024 Tokyo International Film Festival Chinese Film Week Golden Crane AwardsBest ActorDecoded202520th Changchun Film Festival - Golden Deer Awardshttps://e.cflac.org.cn/News/202508/t20250829_1349803.html38th Golden Rooster Awards 202619th Asian Film AwardsNext Generation AwardsWon1st CMG Film AwardsBest ActorDead to RightsWon38th Hundred Flowers AwardsNominated
Forbes China Celebrity 100 YearRank201789th201919th202018th
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