Kris Wu

Biography

Wu Yi Fan (born Li Jiaheng on November 6, 1990), known professionally as Kris Wu, is a Canadian former rapper and actor. He rose to fame as a member of K-pop boy group Exo and its subgroup Exo-M under SM Entertainment. Beginning in 2014, Wu pursued a solo career mainly in China, appearing in reality shows such as Challenger's Alliance (2015) and The Rap of China (2017–2020), and starring in films such as Mr. Six (2015), Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017), XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). Wu was ranked 42nd on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2015, 10th in 2017 and 2019, and 8th in 2020. Wu was arrested by Beijing police in 2021 and sentenced to 13 years in prison by Chaoyang District Court the following year for rape and group sex. He was also fined CN¥600 million (US$84 million) for tax evasion. After losing his appeal in November 2023, he is serving his sentence in China, after which he will be deported.

== Early life == Wu was born Li Jiaheng (Chinese: 李嘉恒; pinyin: Lǐ Jiāhéng) on November 6, 1990, in Guangzhou, Guangdong, to Stacey Yu Wu (Chinese: 吴雨; pinyin: Wú Yǔ; previously 吴秀芹; Wú Xiùqín) and Li Kaiming (Chinese: 李开明; pinyin: Lǐ Kāimíng). Soon after his birth, he was sent to Baiyin, Gansu and was brought up by his grandparents until 5, when he returned to Guangzhou to attend primary school. His parents divorced when he was 10, after which he adopted his mother's surname, Wu, in his Chinese name. The same year, he and his mother immigrated to Vancouver, Canada. In the following years, his mother traveled between Canada and China to manage her business, until she decided to close all her businesses to devote herself full-time to her son. In 2005, Wu returned to Guangzhou with his mother, who was there to finalize her business affairs. Wu attended Guangzhou No. 7 Middle School, where he was the basketball team captain. He wanted to be a professional player but his mother disagreed. After one year in Guangzhou, when his mother had closed all her business, she took him back to Vancouver against his wishes. He attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School before transferring to Point Grey Secondary School. During high school, he held a job as a server at an Asian karaoke parlour, in part to relieve his mother's financial pressure. In 2007, Wu, who was almost 17 years old at the time, attended SM Entertainment's Canadian global auditions in Vancouver along with a friend. After passing several rounds of selection, Wu traveled to Seoul, South Korea, with his mother that winter. The same year, he changed his legal name to Wu Yi Fan. In a later interview, Wu cited his increasingly tense relationship with his mother and the financial pressure of college tuition as the main reasons he chose to go to South Korea. In the summer of 2008, Wu went to Korea alone, living with dozens of trainees in the dorm next to SM's headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul. He was trained for four years, during which he became friends with American-Korean trainee Kevin Shin, who quit SM in 2010 after three years of training.

== Career ==

=== 2012–2014: Debut with Exo ===

On February 17, 2012, Wu was introduced as the eleventh member of Exo. In April 2012, Exo made their debut and quickly became one of the most popular K-pop groups in South Korea and internationally, achieving commercial success with their studio album XOXO and their hit song "Growl" in 2013. The album became the first album by a Korea-based artist in twelve years to sell over one million copies, and is the 12th best selling album of all time in Korea. Before leaving the group, Wu was featured on Exo's Overdose album, which was released in May 2014 and became the best selling album of 2014 in South Korea.

=== 2014–2016: Solo debut and other activities === Wu released "Time Boils the Rain" as part of the soundtrack for the Chinese box office hit Tiny Times 3 in July 2014. In the following year, he became the youngest celebrity to have a wax figure at Madame Tussauds Shanghai and was named "Newcomer of the Year" by Esquire China. Wu made his film debut in Somewhere Only We Know, directed by Xu Jinglei. The film was released on February 14, 2015, and debuted first place on the Chinese box office, grossing US$37.81 million in six days following its release. He won the "Best Newcomer Award" at the 3rd China International Film Festival London for his performance. He then starred in his second film Mr. Six, which closed at the Venice Film Festival. The film was a box office hit, grossing over US$137 million and becoming one of the highest-grossing films in China. The same year, Wu starred alongside Liu Yifei in So Young 2: Never Gone and romance melodrama Sweet Sixteen. He won the "Newcomer with the Most Media Attention" award at the Shanghai International Film Festival and "Best Actor" at the Gold Crane Award for his performance. Wu also starred in the blockbuster fantasy film L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties, directed and written by Guo Jingming.

=== 2017–2021: International appearances and Antares === Wu made his runway debut at Burberry's Fall 2016 Men's Show in London. He also took part in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game as a member of Team Canada, coached by Drake. In January 2017, Wu made his Hollywood film debut in D. J. Caruso's XXX: Return of Xander Cage. He released the single "Juice", featuring Vin Diesel in the music video, as part of the soundtrack on January 19. Wu then starred in Stephen Chow's film, Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, playing Tang Sanzang. In February 2017, Wu represented China at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The same month, Wu accepted his second invitation to play in the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. Forbes listed Wu their 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list which comprises 30 influential people under 30 years old who have made substantial effect in their fields. In July 2017, Wu appeared in Luc Besson's science fiction film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

In October 2017, Wu released "Deserve", featuring American rapper Travis Scott. Upon its release, "Deserve" placed No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes chart, making Wu the only Chinese artist to achieve the feat. At the end of 2017, Wu released a single, "B.M.". Kris released another single, "Miss You" featuring Zhao Liying on Christmas Day 2017. The music video was released on December 28. Wu starred in the 2018 Hong Kong-made action thriller Europe Raiders, alongside Tony Leung. As of April 2018, future music from Wu will be released internationally, excluding Japan and Korea, through a partnership of Universal Music China, Interscope in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom Wu's debut album Antares featuring the 2018 singles "Like That" and "Freedom" (featuring Jhené Aiko) was released on November 2, 2018. On April 19, 2019, Wu released a single, "Big Bowl, Thick Noodle", the music video for which was viewed over 90 million times on streaming site Miaopai. Wu then embarked on his Alive Tour, performing at cities across China. On November 6, 2019, his 29th birthday, Wu released a second single, "Eternal Love", along with an accompanying micro film starring himself and Japanese model Kōki. On April 22, 2020, Wu released the four-track EP Testing, preceded by the single "Aurora" on April 15. The EP was pre-ordered one million times just 87 minutes after being made available on Tencent streaming platform QQ Music, marking a new record for the platform. The EP features three Chinese songs and one in English.