Fan Bingbing (, born 16 September 1981) is a Chinese actress. From 2013 to 2017, she was included as the highest-paid celebrity in the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006. She appeared on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in 2017. Fan's early work was in East Asian cinema and television, notably appearing in drama series My Fair Princess (1998–1999). Her breakthrough came with the film Cell Phone (2003) which was China's highest-grossing film of the year. She went on to star in several Chinese films, which include Lost in Beijing (2007), Buddha Mountain (2011) and Double Xposure (2012). For headlining the film I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016), Fan won awards from the Golden Horse Film Festival, the Tokyo International Film Festival, the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Golden Rooster Awards. Her foreign film roles include the French film Stretch (2011), the Korean film My Way (2011), the American superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and the Hong Kong-Chinese-American film Skiptrace (2015). In 2018, Fan disappeared for three months, reportedly during an investigation into her tax affairs by the Chinese authorities. She was reportedly fined a sum greater than her net worth. She subsequently appeared on social media, offering a public apology over tax evasion, for which she was fined more than (). Early life Fan was born in Laixi, Yantai (now Qingdao) and raised in Yantai. She graduated from Shanghai Xie Jin Film and Television Art College and Shanghai Theatre Academy. Career 1996–2006: Early roles and Cell Phone Fan debuted in the television series Powerful Woman and played minor roles for two years, before gaining attention in 1999 for her supporting role as Jin Suo in the first two seasons of the Chinese television series My Fair Princess, adapted from Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao's story. She was recommended by Hong Kong actress Leanne Liu to join the cast. The comedic period drama enjoyed widespread success in Asia, making Fan a household name in the region. She rose to fame in East Asia in 1998–1999 with the TV costume drama series My Fair Princess. In 2003, she starred in Cell Phone, which became China's highest-grossing film of the year and received critical acclaim at the Hundred Flowers Awards. Fan signed an eight-year contract with Chiung Yao's company, which produced My Fair Princess. However,