Liu Xueyi recently achieved a major breakthrough with Against the Current, in which he stars alongside Tan Songyun. During its broadcast in September, the drama’s popularity index surpassed 33,000 points, the highest recorded on its streaming platform among dramas airing during the same period in 2026. Chinese media have also noted that the drama’s growing popularity is drawing increased attention to Liu Xueyi.
Since Against the Current premiered on September 11, Liu Xueyi has gained more than 520,000 followers across three platforms. The actor appears to have finally reached a new turning point in his career. It took him 15 years to find the right timing, the right script and the right kind of character to push beyond his previous limits.
Born in 1990 in Qingdao, Shandong, Liu Xueyi was discovered during an admissions recruitment event for the Beijing Dance Academy when he was 14 and later enrolled in the academy’s affiliated school. It was an early turning point in his life, but one that also required considerable sacrifice.
Unlike many of his classmates, Liu Xueyi had not been trained as a dancer from an early age, forcing him to adapt to an extremely demanding training environment that included flexibility exercises, shoulder stretches and intensive physical conditioning. For five years, his schedule was packed with classes from Monday through Saturday. He would wake before dawn to train, and by the time practice ended and he returned to the dormitory with his classmates, his entire body would be aching with exhaustion.
Those years did not ultimately turn him into a professional dancer, but they left a clear mark on his physique and body control. Looking back at Liu Xueyi’s performances in costume dramas, that training can be seen as part of the foundation that helped him develop his polished posture and composed physical presence in front of the camera.
After completing his studies at the dance school, Liu Xueyi shifted his focus to acting. His next challenge was academics. Having spent years concentrating on performing arts, returning to academic studies became a race against time. Nevertheless, after just three months of intense preparation, he achieved his goal of being admitted to the Central Academy of Drama.
Liu Xueyi began working in film and television in the early 2010s. For many years, he primarily appeared in supporting roles, an uncomfortable position in an industry where an actor’s popularity is often measured by whether they stand at the center of the poster, have their name listed first in the credits and can attract viewers to a project. Yet the irony of Liu Xueyi’s career was that the more supporting roles he played, the more memorable he became. In dramas such as Noble Aspirations, Love and Redemption, Ancient Love Poetry and The Blood of Youth, he portrayed characters with distinctive personalities. His role as Emperor Lord Bailin in Love and Redemption, in particular, helped audiences begin remembering his character. Yet his recognition often stopped there. Viewers might have thought Liu Xueyi was handsome and visually striking in costume dramas, but many still struggled to remember much about the actor himself.
Audiences might remember a villain, an emperor or an ancient-costume character with a distinctive aura without immediately recalling the actor’s name. In other words, Liu Xueyi lacked the kind of star power that could make his own identity stand out. He had a face well suited to costume dramas, a physique shaped by years of training and a tendency to portray cold, reserved or emotionally burdened characters. Yet those very strengths gradually became a box that limited him.
Just as his career was facing an uncertain future, a family crisis unexpectedly transformed the way he viewed acting. His mother was diagnosed with kidney failure and needed a kidney transplant, leaving Liu Xueyi to shoulder enormous medical expenses. In an interview, he recalled sitting alone outside the hospital and breaking down in tears under the overwhelming pressure. Until then, acting had represented an ideal, a passion and a career through which he could prove his abilities. From that point onward, however, it took on a much more practical meaning: acting became his livelihood, a way to earn money for medical expenses and a source of stability for his family.
To earn enough money for his mother’s surgery, Liu Xueyi adjusted his criteria for accepting roles and stopped placing as much importance on billing or screen time. As long as a project was legitimate and offered reasonable compensation, he would seriously consider it. Fortunately, his mother’s surgery went smoothly, and the experience gave him a clearer understanding of his profession. Making money was necessary, but maintaining professional ethics and avoiding overwork for short-term gain became equally important.
Those who know Liu Xueyi have described him as someone without strong material ambitions. He does not deliberately chase fame, rarely appears on variety shows, does not actively stir up scandals and keeps his distance from romantic speculation involving co-stars. After filming, he generally returns to a quiet life, while most of his social media activity centers on promoting his projects. He has denied previous rumors about himself. Faced with what he considers unfounded speculation, he has generally chosen to remain silent and focus on acting, an approach that can seem unusual in China’s highly competitive entertainment industry. At the end of 2024, Liu Xueyi ended his partnership with his former agency, stepped away from the fantasy costume dramas he had worked in for years and began exploring a wider range of genres.
After years of supporting roles, Liu Xueyi gradually began receiving opportunities to play leading characters, but success still proved elusive. Despite starring opposite well-known actresses such as Wu Jinyan in Kill Me Love Me and Tang Yan in A Moment But Forever, it took him considerable time to find a role that truly suited him. Some criticism of his performances also centered on the similarities between his characters: calm, reserved, introspective and reluctant to express emotions directly. While this was one of his strengths, it also led to criticism that his performances could feel one-dimensional.
Tan Songyun may have helped bring attention to the drama, but it was up to Liu Xueyi to keep audiences invested in Against the Current. The pairing has managed to hold viewers’ attention thanks to the natural chemistry between their performances.
It was with Lin Jinqi, a character with a more complex personality, that Liu Xueyi finally had the opportunity to showcase a broader range of acting skills. Lin Jinqi is neither an immortal with extraordinary powers nor the kind of male lead who can solve every conflict simply by appearing. He is a man burdened by family responsibilities and constrained by his identity, social conventions and difficult choices. He has feelings but cannot freely express them. At times, he wants to protect someone but must weigh that desire against other interests. At other times, he stands before the woman he loves only to be held back by family rules and social status. It is the kind of character that requires restraint. Rather than relying on repeated emotional explosions, the role allows Liu Xueyi to convey the character’s inner world through his eyes, silences, rhythm of speech and subtle movements.
Chinese media have described Lin Jinqi as a character bound by multiple layers of family obligations and social identity. His relationship with Lan Xiang is also built around misunderstandings, secrets and emotions that are difficult to put into words.
Against the Current centers on Shen Jialan, a young woman from a prestigious family whose life is overturned by an unexpected crisis, forcing her to assume a new identity and enter a household that once had ties to her own. Lin Jinqi therefore does not remain on the sidelines but becomes a crucial part of the conflicts involving family, identity and romance. In a story like this, the male lead’s purpose is not simply to look good alongside the heroine. He must have a life and story of his own.
Sources: kenh14