Vogue‘s US edition has selected 14 “global actors who know no limits” for its April cover story, putting Doona Bae and Deepika Padukone on either side of Scarlett Johansson in one version of the cover itself, and Adesua Etomi-Wellington and Angelababy flanking Elizabeth Debicki and Léa Seydoux on another.
Angelababy is one of China’s most recognizable celebrity faces (especially since Fan Bingbing has disappeared from view) and is described by Vogue as “the Kim Kardashian of China” — yet she’s far from a household name outside of the country. Here are six quick facts to help you get up to speed on the star:
She has 100,376,984 fans (and counting) on Sina Weibo
How Weibo celebrated Angelababy breaking the “Fans Hundred Million” barrier last month
And a not-too-shabby 7 million on Instagram. Followers are treated to make-up tips, adidas promotions, and lots and lots of cute selfies.
She was in Independence Day: Resurgence
While she’s been in a host of movies and TV shows in China, if you’ve seen her in anything it’s likely the Independence Day reboot from 2016. That same year Forbes name her one of their inaugural 30 under 30 Asian celebrities in the music, film and sport category.
Her husband is Huang Xiaoming, also a super famous actor in China
He’s not as iconic as Angelababy, leading some people to ask the question “why did she marry him?” (He’s also — gasp! — 11 years her senior.) He’s still a pretty big deal in his own right however.
Huang courted controversy last year when he seemingly admitted in an interview that Angelababy’s acting has room for improvement. “This is nothing to be ashamed of,” he told a reporter, “Bad is bad.”
Their wedding banquet reportedly cost $31 million
When Angelababy (real name Yang Ying) wed long-time beau Huang in her home city of Shanghai in 2015, the power couple supposedly spent almost as much the cost of Kate and Williams’s royal nuptials (about 34 million USD). Appropriately given that royal reference point, Huang and Angelababy turned the Shanghai Exhibition Centre into a cutesie princess fantasyland.
The wedding was also attended by a host of celebrities, including the TFBoys, Vicky Zhao, and many more. Here’s a recap if you’re interested:
Her son’s name is Little Sponge（小海绵）
Angelababy and Huang Xiaoming became nicknamed “sponge couple” online after she pointed out the similar sounding Cantonese pronunciations of “sponge cake” and “big brother Xiaoming”. They owned it — and passed the name down to their son. Nickname that is — thankfully the kid has a more normal-sounding legal name.
So… why “Angelababy”?
Might sound a bit odd, but it’s fairly simple: her English name is Angela and after picking up the nickname “Baby”, she elected to combine the for her stage name. It’s certainly memorable at least.
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Cover photo: Angelababy’s Instagram
