My latest actor obsession after watching Strange Hero.
Ray Ma Tianyu - BFF of Liu Shi Shi and Yang Mi, inspiring rags-to-riches village-boy-made-good highly talented actor and Mandopop singer who rose to fame after winning sixth place and "most popular" at the 2006 My Hero Competition, a Chinese talent competition.
BACKGROUND
Ma Tianyu's mother died when he was five, and his father left the family in his early years. He lived with his grandparents and two older sisters until the age of sixteen. There, he helped his grandfather tend the family's cornfields. His two sisters both dropped out of school early so that he could attend school. Even then, he had to skip one year of middle school because of lack of money. For a year, he worked for RMB150 a month carrying water from one end of the town to the other.
After finishing middle school, at the age of sixteen, he went with his uncle to Beijing to sell meat. A year later, their marketplace was taken down, and they worked in various jobs. To avoid being a car mechanic, as his uncle wanted him to be, he ran away with seven jiao (one-tenth of 1 RMB). After spending four fen on a copy of his residence ID card, Ma Tianyu found a job at a restaurant cleaning dishes. During this period of his life, Ma worked in numerous jobs, including as a car washer, cashier, waiter, kitchen helper, and seller of shao bing, man tou, la mian, tofu, and soybean milk.
In 2006, while working as a clothing assistant for a magazine, Ma decided to apply for the Beijing Film Academy after suggestions by friends. To increase his courage in preparation for the tests, he signed up for the My Hero competition. He nabbed the sixth place and but won the "Most Popular" award at the 2006 My Hero Competition, a nationwide Chinese talent competition, and the rest is history!
Personal:
Name: Ma Tianyu (马天宇)
English Name: Ray Ma
Birthdate: July 12, 1986
Education: Beijing Film Academy
Place of Birth: Shandong, China
Height: 178cm
Weight: 63kg
Favourite Artists: Leslie Cheung, Theresa Teng
Hobbies/Interests: Photography, Singing
Talents: Singing, Swimming, Mountain climbing, Horse riding
Favourite food: Beef
Favourite city: Seoul
Television series:
2006:超级社区 (Chao Ji She Qu - Super Community)
2007:你是我的梦 (Ni Shi Wo De Meng - You Are My Dream)
2009:黛玉传 (Biography of Lin Daiyu - a character from Dream of the Red Chambers)
2010:青春网事 (Youth Network)
2010:怪侠一枝梅 (Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei)
2011:千山暮雪 (Qian Shan Mu Xue)
Discography:
Album - 2007: 宇光十色 (Beautiful Lights)
EP - 2008:飞 (Fly)
Single - 2008:世界的梦想 (The World's Dream)