Meng'er Zhang

Meng'er Zhang (; born April 22, 1987) is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Xu Xialing in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Early life and education Zhang is the daughter of an actor and a stage designer. She grew up heavily devoted to theatre arts in order to follow in her mother's footsteps. Prior to becoming a professional actress, she starred in stage and musical productions in Nanjing, where she was born and raised, and Shanghai. In 2009, she graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts with a bachelor's degree. She attended the East 15 Acting School in Essex and the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts in Moscow. Career Early career In 2009, Zhang participated in China's Super Girl TV singing contest and was amongst the top 20 participants nationwide before withdrawing as her parents had arranged further schooling overseas for her. She later starred in numerous theatre productions. In 2013, in a Chinese stage adaptation, titled Finding Destiny (寻找初恋), of the Korean musical, Finding Mr. Destiny, Zhang played the female lead Luo Yan. In 2017, she starred in the Chinese musical adaptation of The Street of Dawn (黎明之街) where she played Nakanishi Akiba (仲系 秋叶), and in Oliver Twist where she played Dodger. In 2019, she was in In The Mood For Sorrow (马不停蹄的忧伤) where she was nominated for the Best Leading Actress Award at 13th Daegu International Musical Festival.