Kris Wu is a Chinese-Canadian actor, singer, and model. Before departing the group in 2014, he was a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO and its subgroup EXO-M under SM Entertainment. He has acted in English-language films like xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017), in addition to numerous Chinese box office hits like Mr. Six (2015), The Mermaid (2016), Sweet Sixteen (2016), and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017). Wu was the subject of a Chinese government investigation in 2021 following the appearance of rape claims on Chinese social media. After being found guilty by Chinese courts of forcing three inebriated women to have sex with him on November 25, 2022, he was sentenced to 13 years in jail. In addition, he was fined CNยฅ600 million (US$84 million) for tax fraud. He lost his appeal of the rape trial in November 2023.
Bio, Education and Family
On November 6, 1990, Li Jiaheng was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, to parents Stacey Yu Wu and Li Kaiming. When he was a toddler, his parents were divorced, thus his mother reared him alone. He and his mother relocated to Vancouver, Canada, when he was ten years old. At the age of 14, he traveled back to China and briefly attended Guangzhou No. 7 Middle School. He then returned to Vancouver with his mother, where he studied under the name Kevin Li at Point Grey Secondary School and Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. Wu Yi Fan became his legal name after he was 17 years old. Wu applied to the Canadian worldwide auditions for SM Entertainment when he was eighteen years old. Wu passed the auditions and joined the business as a trainee before receiving an opportunity to star in Exo in 2012.
Career
Wu was unveiled as the eleventh member of Exo on February 17, 2012. Exo made its debut in April 2012 and soon rose to prominence as one of the most well-liked K-pop acts both domestically and abroad. Their 2013 hit single “Growl” and studio album XOXO helped them achieve financial success. The album is now the 12th best-selling album in Korean history and became the first record to sell over a million copies for an artist headquartered in Korea in twelve years. Wu was a featured artist on Exo’s Overdose album before he left the group. The album was released in May 2014 and went on to become the best-selling album in South Korea that year. In July 2014, Wu released “Time Boils the Rain” as a part of the soundtrack for Tiny Times 3, a blockbuster film in China. The next year, he won “Newcomer of the Year” from Esquire China and became the youngest celebrity to own a wax figure at Madame Tussauds Shanghai. Xu Jinglei’s film Somewhere Only We Know marked Wu’s cinematic debut. After being released on February 14, 2015, the movie earned US$37.81 million in the six days that followed, taking the top spot at the Chinese box office. For his performance, he was given the “Best Newcomer Award” at the 3rd China International Film Festival in London.
Subsequently, he acted in the film Mr. Six, his second feature, which ended the Venice Film Festival. The movie was a box office success, taking in over US$137 million and ranking among the highest-grossing Chinese productions. Wu costarred with Liu Yifei in the romantic melodrama Sweet Sixteen and So Young 2: Never Gone that same year. For his performance, he was named “Best Actor” at the Gold Crane Award and “Newcomer with the Most Media Attention” at the Shanghai International Film Festival. In addition, Wu appeared in Guo Jingming’s critically acclaimed fantasy film L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties.
Wu debuted on the Burberry Fall 2016 Men’s Show runway in London. Along with that, he participated in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game as a member of Drake’s Team Canada. Wu debuted in a Hollywood motion picture in January 2017 with XXX: Return of Xander Cage, directed by D. J. Caruso. On January 19, he made the song “Juice” available as a part of the soundtrack. Vin Diesel appears in the music video. Wu then played Tang Sanzang in Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back. Wu was the China representative at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February 2017. Wu accepted his second invitation to participate in the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans that same month.
Forbes included Wu in their 2017 list of 30 Under 30 Asia, which includes 30 significant under-30 individuals who have had a significant impact on their areas. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, a science fiction movie directed by Luc Besson, featured Wu as a co-star in July 2017. Wu released “Deserve” in October 2017; the song features American rapper Travis Scott. Wu became the first Chinese artist to reach the top of the U.S. iTunes list when his song “Deserve” debuted. Wu released a single titled “B.M.” at the end of 2017. On Christmas Day of 2017, Kris dropped another track, “Miss You,” starring Zhao Liying. On December 28, the music video was made available.
Alongside Tony Leung, Wu appeared in the 2018 action film Europe Raiders, which was produced in Hong Kong. Except for Japan and Korea, Wu’s upcoming songs will be distributed globally as of April 2018 thanks to a collaboration between Universal Songs China, Interscope in the US, and Island Records in the UK. On November 2, 2018, Wu’s debut album Antares, which includes the 2018 singles “Like That” and “Freedom” (with Jhenรฉ Aiko), was released. Wu released “Big Bowl, Thick Noodle” on April 19, 2019, and the music video for the song has been seen over 90 million times on the streaming platform Miaopai. Wu subsequently set off on his Alive Tour, making stops in several Chinese cities.
Wu, who is 29 years old, released a video featuring himself and Japanese model Kลki accompanied with his second song, “Eternal Love,” on November 6, 2019. Wu’s four-track EP Testing was released on April 22, 2020; the song “Aurora” was published on April 15. Within 87 minutes of the EP’s release on Tencent’s streaming service QQ Music, one million preorders were placed, setting a new record for the platform. Three Chinese tracks and one English song make up the EP.
Movie
- L.O.R.D 2 (2020)
- Journey to the West (2019)
- Eternal Love (2019)
- Europe Raiders (2018)
- Journey to the West 2: The Demons Strike Back (2017)
- L.O.R.D 1 (2016)
- Sweet Sixteen (2016)
- So Young 2: So You’re Still Here (2016)
- The Mermaid (2016)
- Mr. Six (2015)
- Somewhere Only We Know (2015)
Special
- The Miracle (2013)
TV Show
- Praise the Program Season 1 (2021)
- The Rap of China Season 4 (2020)
- Produce Camp (2020)
- Fourtry Season 1 (2019)
- Let’s Call It a Day (2019)
- The Rap of China Season 3 (2019)
- Back to Field Season 3 (2019)
- The Next Top Bang (2018)
- Super Penguin League (2018)
- The Rap of China Season 2 (2018)
- Come Sing with Me Season 3 (2018)
- The Rap of China Season 1 (2017)
- 72 Floors of Mystery (2017)
- Star Talk (2016)
- Challenger Alliance Season 2 (2016)
- Ace vs Ace Season 1 (2016)
- Challenger Alliance Season 1 (2015)
- XOXO EXO (2014)
- EXO’s First Box (2014)
- EXO Oven Radio (2013)
- EXO’s Showtime (2013)
- A Song for You Season 1 (2013)
- After School Club (2013)
- Cool Kiz on the Block (2013)
- Weekly Idol (2011)
- Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend (2011)
- Hello Counselor Season 1 (2010)
- Running Man (2010)
- Let’s Go! Dream Team Season 2 (2009)
- Day Day Up (2008)
- Infinite Challenge (2005)
- A Date with Lu Yu (2002)
- Happy Camp (1997)
