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Jia Hongsheng
Born	March 19, 1967 (1967-03-19) (age 42) Beijing
Other name(s)	Jia
Years active	1988-present

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Jia.

Jia Hongsheng (simplified Chinese: 贾宏声; traditional Chinese: 賈宏聲; pinyin: Jiǎ Hóngshēng; born March 19, 1967 in Beijing) is a Chinese actor.

Early life

Jia Hongsheng was born near Beijing, China, to Jia Fengsen and to Chai Xiuling, both who are retired theater actors from northeast China. Hongsheng also has a younger sister, Wang Tong.

Life and career

He began acting in the late 1980s and still acts today. He is probably best remembered in the 2001 Chinese drama film, Quitting, a movie that chronicles his life and his story, in which he struggles to overcome drug and alcohol addiction. He has also appeared in other Chinese films.

He graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing in 1989, and soon gained fame in the late 80s and early 90s as an actor in films such as The Case of the Silver Snake and A Woman from North Shaanxi. While rehearsing for a stageplay titled Kiss of the Spider Woman (also directed by Zhang Yang) in the fall of 1992, Jia first became exposed to marijuana and eventually became addicted, while also experimenting occasionally with heroin. Then, in 1995, after filming Weekend Lovers, Jia quit acting completely and lived off his younger sister Wang Tong. He is an avid fan of The Beatles. He enjoys listening to their music obsessively and begins to fantasize himself as the son of Beatles lead singer, John Lennon.

In late 1995, his parents Jia Fengseng and Chai Xiuling, who are both retired theatre actors from Northeast China, decide to move to Beijing in order to help their son quit drugs. Wang Tong also comes back to live with her parents and brother in the same apartment. Several efforts made by his parents to penetrate their son's inner world are met with indifference, sometimes even hostility. Over time, however, Jia begins to open up gradually. He starts to take regular walks with his father, usually buying a bottle or two of beer along the way. Jia Fengsen also buys his son cassette tapes by The Beatles.

In early 1996, Jia relapses after being off drugs for almost six months. On March 19, 1996, after drinking several bottles of beer for the celebration of his twenty-ninth birthday, Jia slaps his father, saying to teach him the "meaning of life". Jia's family are upset and feel he needs to learn a lesson due to his actions. They then contact the police, who arrive the next day. Three officers arrive at their house and Jia is taken into custody and sent to a mental institution.

Upon arriving at the mental institution, Jia is given medication and his condition improves greatly. He also has stopped fantasizing and starts to see himself as just an ordinary human being. The doctor then determines that Jia is not suffering from schizophrenia but recommends that Jia stays in the institution for a longer time to completely quit drugs. He is finally discharged on his thirtieth birthday, on March 19, 1997.

Filmography

• 1988 - The Case of the Silver Snake, Hao Feiyu
• 1988 - Samsara
• 1991 - Good Morning, Beijing!
• 1993 - A Woman from North Shaanxi
• 1993 - Hei huo, Zhao Mengyu
• 1994 - Suicides
• 1995 - Weekend Lover, A Xi
• 1997 - Frozen, Qi Lei
• 2000 - Suzhou River, Mardar
• 2001 - Quitting, Jia Hongsheng, himself

Awards

Singapore International Film Festival-2002 Silver Screen Award, Won for Best Actor in Zuotian (2001).

Trivia

• He is an avid Beatles fan. He listens to the British band more than any other. In fact, he likes their music so much, he spent almost one year in his apartment listening to their music, according to his life story in the 2001 independent drama/biography film Quitting.
• He enjoys to spend time with his family. More notably, he enjoys spending time with his father and drinking beer together on a grass area underneath a freeway somewhere in China. This was his father's original idea, in order to help his son, Jia, to become non-dependent of drugs, which were having a major impact on his acting career at the time.
• He is a size 27 waist, and his father, Jia Fengsen is a size 31 waist.

External links

• Jia Hongsheng at the Internet Movie Database
• Yahoo! Movies

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