Mark Chao

Zhao You-ting, male, was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1962. His father, Zhao Shuhai, is a well-known Taiwanese entertainer involved in multiple fields including acting and singing. His family was initially reserved about his entertainment career; his parents disciplined him strictly and seldom praised him. When Zhao was ten, he emigrated to Canada with his family and subsequently grew up and was educated there. In 1984, he was born in Taipei, Taiwan Province; there are inconsistencies in sources about his exact birth year—some information indicates 1962, while other records state 1984.

He graduated from the University of Victoria in Canada in 2007, majoring in economics. While studying in Canada, his parents still opposed his entry into the entertainment industry, but after graduation he received a filming opportunity and decided to return to China to pursue an acting career. At first, he and his mother agreed that if he had no success within two years, he would consider leaving the entertainment industry.

Zhao rose to prominence in 2009 for his role as Wu Yingxiong in the TV series Black & White, for which he won the Best Actor in a Drama Program award at the 44th Golden Bell Awards in Taiwan. He went on to appear in multiple film and television works, such as starring in the 2010 film Monga as Zhou Yiwen; he won the Best New Actor award at the 5th Asian Film Awards for that film. The film’s opening-week box office in Taiwan exceeded NT$60 million, setting a record at the time.

Afterward, Zhao starred in several films and TV series, including 2012’s LOVE, 2013’s So Young, and 2017’s Eternal Love (Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms), in which he played Ye Hua and Mo Yuan, drawing wide attention. In 2018 he starred in the film Romance of the Antarctic and participated in other productions such as Ordinary Glory and Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings. His acting career has steadily developed, earning him numerous award nominations and honors, including the China TV Drama Quality Ceremony’s “Outstanding Performance Actor of the Year.”

In his personal life, Zhao married Gao Yuanyuan—who is five years his senior—in 2014. The couple met while filming the movie Search, later registered their marriage in Beijing, and welcomed a daughter, Rhea, in 2019. His family background and career development have long attracted public attention, but throughout his professional life he has maintained a pragmatic and professional approach to his work in the entertainment industry.