Yang Shuyi (杨舒伊)

Barely graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, 22-year-old rising star Yang Shuyi has already secured everything a newcomer could dream of — an official contract with Chen Kun and Zhou Xun's prestigious agency, Dong Shen Future, a role in Feng Xiaogang's directorial comeback film I Know Who You Are, and the top-tier platform of the 2025 CCTV-6 "Starry Sea" Young Actors Selection. Yet what truly sets her apart from other agency-backed newcomers is her fearless and nuanced portrayal of a "villainess who's equal parts evil, cowardly and heartbreaking" in the hit costume drama Mo Li. With her freshly graduated status and continuous high-quality projects, Yang has rapidly emerged as one of the most talked-about and promising new faces in the industry. Breakthrough Role Yang’s breakthrough arrived in June 2026 with the hit costume drama Mo Li, where she played the villainous second female lead, Ye Ying — the foolish but pitiable jealous half-sister of the heroine Ye Li. The character is designed to disrupt the plot, constantly scheming against her sister but failing spectacularly every time in an overconfident yet hilariously clumsy manner. Ye Ying rushes into a dark alley to hire a hitman, only to mistakenly stumble upon a bodyguard agency and get scared away; she pays a hefty sum to a man who turns out to be her sister's personal savior, too foolish to realize she’s playing into the heroine's hands. On her wedding night, her husband, Prince Li Wang, pours out their nuptial wine, drugs her, and leaves her unconscious, then returns in the morning accompanied by five newly installed concubines — a devastating humiliation. Yang’s performance, from the character's opening defiance to her hollowed-out breakdown after losing her child, captured Ye Ying's journey from arrogant villain to tragic prisoner. Rather than becoming a disposable antagonist purely hated by audiences, Ye Ying earned viewers' sympathy. As one online commentator put it, "I should hate her, but she's just too pathetic and too real". Through this complex dual showcase of campy comedy and stunning vulnerability, Yang elevated a typical "second female lead stock villain" into one of the year’s most unexpectedly gripping performances and leapt from unknown newcomer to a highly touted young actress with the industry's full attention. Public Perception In the eyes of industry insiders, Yang Shuyi is the textbook definition of a "well-signed, well-backed young seedling." Having secured major roles in a Feng Xiaogang-helmed film and being recommended personally by Hu Ge to the "Starry Sea" young actors’ program at just 20 years old, her rising trajectory appears nearly flawless. However, for a new face whose first credited drama has only just begun airing, the public remains in a "wait-and-see" phase. While audiences widely acknowledge the impressive nuance of her debut performance in Mo Li, she has not yet fully escaped the shadow of her secondary role or proven she can anchor a drama as the female lead. Yet this cautious anticipation is precisely what makes her story compelling: will she graduate from the "most promising supporting actress of her generation" and evolve into a true leading lady, or will she remain perpetually type-cast in smaller roles? To the many watchers now following her path, that very question is what makes her career so fascinating to track.