Wang Yibo (Chinese: 王一博; pinyin: Wáng Yībó, [wǎŋ ípwǒ], 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's 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 (这!就是街舞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 (一波王炸) 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 (有翡), 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" (我的世界守则). 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 (抉择) of the movie series Faith Makes Great (理想照耀中国). 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…