Eleanor Lee (李凯馨)

Eleanor Lee’s career began with a dream-like start: at just 15, she was handpicked by acclaimed director Ann Hui to star in Apple‘s 2015 Chinese New Year micro-film Old Record. This made her an online sensation almost overnight, earning her the nickname “Apple Girl” and building early anticipation for her career. For a time, she was seen as one of the most promising young actresses of her generation.

• Breakthrough Role While the Apple ad was her launchpad, Lee’s first major acting role came in the 2017 youth campus web drama Class Monitor (Ban Zhang Da Ren). She played the lead role of Ye Muqi, a character she has described as being very similar to her real-life personality, allowing her to perform largely through improvisation. The series helped her gain a following and established her as a fresh new face in the industry. She further solidified her status by starring in the 2020 online film The Enchanting Phantom (Qian Nv You Hun: Ren Jian Qing) as the classic character Nie Xiaoqian, a role that brought her both wider recognition and intense scrutiny.

• Public Perception Lee’s public image is currently defined by a significant controversy. In May 2025, she was at the center of a firestorm after a leaked recording surfaced, in which she was alleged to have made derogatory remarks about her Chinese audiences. The fallout was immediate and severe: her scenes were deleted from upcoming productions like The Journey of the Sea (Fu Shan Hai), and she faced widespread calls for a boycott. Lee has vehemently denied the allegations, and in July 2025, she won a defamation lawsuit against her former assistant, who was found to have fabricated the recording. Despite the legal victory, the damage to her reputation has been substantial. While she has a dedicated fanbase, the general public’s perception remains divided, with the controversy continuing to overshadow her career achievements.