Zhang was born in
Beijing. He graduated from the
Central Academy of Drama in 1988. He started his career as a voice actor for the Chinese dubbings of films such as
Shark Tale,
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and
Troy. Zhang played minor roles in television series before gaining recognition as a recurring supporting actor in films directed by
Feng Xiaogang, such as
Sorry Baby,
Cell Phone, ''
Big Shot's Funeral, and A World Without Thieves''. Zhang's breakthrough came with his first lead role in Feng's war film
Assembly in 2007
. The film propelled Zhang to fame and earned him the Best Actor Awards at the
Hundred Flowers Awards, the
Huading Awards and the
Huabiao Awards, among others. Zhang followed with films such as
Cao Baoping's crime drama
The Equation of Love and Death; the espionage thriller
The Message; and the action film
Bodyguards and Assassins. Zhang also played
Zhang Liang in the historical film
White Vengeance. In 2012, Zhang teamed up again with
Feng Xiaogang in the disaster film
Back to 1942, playing a priest. In 2013, Zhang teamed up with actors
Liu Ye and
Huang Bo in the comedy film
The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel directed by
Guan Hu, where he plays an opera actor. In 2014, Zhang starred in
Tsui Hark's wuxia film
The Taking of Tiger Mountain. Playing an undercover PLA soldier, he won the
Golden Rooster Awards for Best Actor. He next starred in the crime film
Mr. Six directed by
Guan Hu; and had a supporting role in
Zhang Yimou's fantasy historical epic
The Great Wall. In 2016, Zhang headlined the crime thriller film
Operation Mekong alongside
Eddie Peng. The film received critical acclaim, and is the highest grossing Chinese cop film to date. In 2017, Zhang starred in
John Woo's police thriller film,
Manhunt. He also starred in
Wine War, the directorial debut of
Leon Lai. ==Filmography==