The Yang Mi Effect

She wants to be seen. She wants to be a good actress. She wants to be seen as a good actress. That’s why Yang Mi has no qualms about putting in the hard work, and is set on moving forward

- Chelsea Tang

Yang Mi is as much a woman of power, as she is a powerful woman. She may be humble in the face of praise — very politely stating, in her lightly nasal lilt, that she’s still “taking baby steps” in her path as an actress — but let’s be real: being the main lead of China’s most-watched drama series and commercially brilliant Eternal Love does entitle one to some airs. After all, if art does mimic life, then Yang’s character, Bai Qian, a high goddess and female monarch who’s also a white nine-tailed fox, couldn’t have been more perfect for the actress.

The beauty of such casting lies in the fact that the vice versa truth remains uncontested. Never mind that she already possesses an inimitable pair of upturned fox eyes (how apt!), when introduced as an other-worldly being of a period drama, Yang looked like she was naturally a part of the Heavenly Realm. Heck, Chinese netizens have even gone so far as to nickname Yang “little fox” — an homage to her ethereally beautiful and sassy character; one that in winning hearts of even international folk heralded a new renaissance for not just the actress, not simply the 56 episode-strong series, but Chinese media in its entirety.

Now at a prime age of 35, the actress’ rise to widespread Chinese recognition actually started (more than) a decade ago in 2011, when she played a time-traveling actress in the drama Palace. Her character fell into the Qing dynasty, got embroiled in a love triangle and the political intrigue of the royal family.