Chen Xiao is a Chinese actor and model, born to a family of civil servants in Hefei of Anhui Province. Because he was a very active child, his mother signed him up for calligraphy class to calm him down. At aged 10 while performing calligraphy, he was spotted by TV drama director and selected to star in his first TV drama "Our Class Song". However, his mother nurtured him on his painting and sketching talent and sportsmanship instead of acting.
Due to his love for performance, he decided to embark on the road of film and television. In 2005, he was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy and Nanjing Academy of Arts at the same time in the college entrance examination. He finally chose Chinese opera. From the third year of his junior year, he served as a substitute teacher for the performance class of art school in his hometown Hefei, helping art candidates to remediate performances.
After graduating from Central Academy of Drama in 2009, he signed with Huayi Brothers. He made his debut appearance in the 2010 movie "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame". In 2012, he began to garner popularity and won the "Most Popular Film and Television Image among Teenagers" in the Chinese Youth Literature and Art List. In 2013, he became well-known for his roles in the wuxia drama "Swordsman" and the ancient costume drama "Legend of Lu Zhen" with which he won the "The Actor Award with Great Youthful Appeal" at the 4th Anhui Satellite TV National Drama Festival. He went on to win the "Most Promising Actor at the Asian Idol Festival" and the "Most Popular Actor in China at the Youth's Choice Annual Ceremony”.
Chen ranked 93rd on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2014, and 74th in 2015.
In July 2016, Chen married Chen Yan Xi, his costar in the popular TV series “Romance of the Condor Heroes”. Their son Chen Mu Chen arrived in December.
In 2017, Chen won two awards, namely the Watch drama online for free.
