Mo Tzu-yi | |
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莫子儀 | |
 Mo in July 2022 | |
| Born | Mo Tzu-yi (1981-06-23)23 June 1981 (age 43) Wanli District,Taipei County, Taiwan |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Mo Tzu-yi | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 莫子儀 | ||||||||
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Morning Mo Tzu-yi[1][2] (Chinese:莫子儀; born 23 June 1981) is a Taiwanese actor. He debuted as a stage actor and began his on-screen career in 2005, landing a starring role in the romance filmThe Most Distant Course (2007). He then expanded his career internationally, appearing in the multinational filmSnowfall in Taipei (2010), the Hong Kong filmCross (2012), and the Australian-Singaporean filmCanopy (2013). He also co-wrote and starred asLu Ho-jo in the autobiographical dramaRoseki 1914 (2018), winningBest Writing and receiving a nomination forBest Male Lead in the53rd Golden Bell Awards.
Mo delivered his breakout performance withCheng Yu-chieh'sDear Tenant (2020), for which he won bothBest Leading Actor in the57th Golden Horse Awards and Best Actor in the22nd Taipei Film Awards. Following the critical recognition, Mo also starred inGoddamned Asura (2021) andThe Embers (2024), for which he received another nomination forBest Supporting Actor in the61st Golden Horse Awards with the latter.
Mo was born on 23 June 1981,[3] inWanli District,New Taipei City.[4] His father worked in private security,[5] while his mother was ahawker.[6] He spent his childhood in the mountainous regions of Wanli.[4] When he was young, he moved toYonghe District, New Taipei City, living near the Fuhe Grand Theatre.[7] His father took him to watch movies there during his childhood, sparking his interest in film, and he often skipped classes in the future to watch films at that theater.[7] Mo attended theNational Overseas Chinese Experimental Senior High School [zh],[8] where he described his school years as "rebellious" and was nearly expelled after failing eight subjects in his first year.[8][9] However, he was invited to join the school's drama club in the second semester, which ignited his passion for acting, and he cited the "sense of freedom" he felt on stage as a key reason for his newfound interest.[8] At the age of 15,[10] he starred in the short filmWild Sparrow written byYang Ya-che.[4]
After discovering his passion for acting, Mo enrolled atTaipei National University of the Arts to pursue studies in performing arts.[4][8] He was mentored by stage directorMa Tin-ni [zh],[11][12] and took on an overloaded course curriculum,[4][13] graduating with aBachelor of Fine Arts in 2003 after five years.[14] During his university years, he developed an appreciation for literature,[8][15] and worked part-time atEslite Bookstore onDunhua South Road inTaipei, often reading books there even when he was off duty.[16][17] Due to his dislike of commercial activities and dealing with the press, Mo chose to work as a stage actor after graduation,[18][19] and he continued to be labeled by the media as leading a "low-profile life".[20]
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Mo began his stage acting career while still in high school in 1996, debuting inChefboy and Handmaid,[8][21] and starred inOne Hundred Years of Solitude,Dream Hotel, andFallen Leaves in the following years.[17][21] He gained prominence with the 2006Water Margin,[14][17] directed byEdward Lam [zh] and co-starringJoseph Chang.[22] He also appeared inPTS television films,[10] and received two nominations forBest Male Lead in a Television Series in the35th Golden Bell Awards andBest Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film in the37th Golden Bell Awards for his roles inThe Pact of Choshui River [zh] andWatan's Wine Bottle [zh] respectively.[23] Mo had a supporting role as a journalist in the 2002 drama filmSomewhere Over The Dreamland [zh], but he returned to stage acting after that performance.[24]
In 2005, after completing hismandatory military service, Mo began his on-screen acting career.[14] He described his on-screen career as "unproductive", as he typically took on only one role at a time and often requested extensions of several months for pre-production to prepare for his characters, which led him to reject many offers.[25][26] Before turning 30, he worked part-time at various restaurants to make a living, including nearly a year as a dishwasher.[7] He debuted withCheng Yu-chieh's 2006 drama filmDo Over [zh], as he had been acquainted with Cheng since 18 years old.[7] In 2007, he landed a starring role in the romance filmThe Most Distant Course alongsideGwei Lun-mei.[14][27] In 2008, Mo was cast in a leading role in the television filmArtemisia [zh], earning him another nomination forBest Leading Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film in the43rd Golden Bell Awards,[23] as well as a minor role in the drama filmCandy Rain.[28] The following year, he starred inGiddens Ko's segment of the romance anthologyL-O-V-E [zh],[14] and played Mozi, a washed-up bandleader, in the drama filmA Place of One's Own [zh].[29]
In 2010, Mo had a supporting role as a gangster in the drama filmTears [zh],[30] and appeared in the Singaporean romance filmForever [zh] alongsideJoanna Dong.[31] He also took on a leading role as Jack, a journalist searching for a missing singer played byTong Yao, in the Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese-Japanese co-productionSnowfall in Taipei.[32] In 2011, Mo starred in main roles in theHakka TV seriesJiong Ien Sen [zh] and the family dramaSon, My Love Forever [zh].[33][34] In 2012, he participated in another international project, the Hong Kong filmCross.[35] He also took on a leading role in the romance seriesAn Innocent Mistake [zh], alongsideWang Shih-hsien andZaizai Lin,[36] which earned him his second nomination for Best Lead Actor in the48th Golden Bell Awards.[37] In 2013, Mo starred as Seng, a Singaporean-Chinese resistance fighter, in the Australian-Singaporean war filmCanopy.[38] Australian directorAaron Wilson, who had seen one of Mo's previous works, tried to inquire about him at theHong Kong Film Market to invite him to join the project, recalling that he found Mo "standing right behind [him]".[39] Nicole Herrington ofThe New York Times described Mo's performance inCanopy as "more convincing" than that of his co-starKhan Chittenden;[40] while Todd Brown ofScreen Anarchy characterized Mo's performance as "stellar" and "engaging", also noting that it kept the audience captivated despite Chittenden's shortcomings.[41]
In 2014, Mo made a cameo appearance alongsideBlue Lan inApple in Your Eye, aTTV series and the latest project ofAn Innocent Mistake's writerMag Hsu [zh], as lead actressAmber An's colleague.[42] He also landed a lead role as Bazi, the head of a design company in a romantic relationship withTiffany Ann Hsu's character, in the romance filmDesign 7 Love [zh].[43] After starring inDesigner 7 Love, Mo returned to stage acting and participated in Edward Lam'sDream of the Red Chamber, which was performed in Taiwan that same year and continued its run in Hong Kong the following year.[44][35] In 2015, he starred in another romance filmElena [zh], which features a love triangle involvingTammy Chen [zh] andKaiser Chuang.[45] He also made a cameo appearance alongsideShih Ming-shuai as special agents from the 1980s in the period dramaThe Best of Youth [zh].[46] In 2016, Mo took on another main television role in theCTV seriesNie Xiaoqian [zh], a modernized version ofthe folktale of the same name, where he played a surgeon who falls in love with the reincarnation of Nie Xiaoqian, portrayed byAnnie Chen.[47]
In 2018, Mo starred as playwrightLu Ho-jo in the autobiographical dramaRoseki 1914 [zh], which he also co-wrote with directorLou Yi-an.[48][18] However, in an interview withThe News Lens, Mo noted that most of the script was completed by Lou and that he "only played a small part".[18] He won Best Writing for a Television Series and a nomination for Best Male Lead in the53rd Golden Bell Awards with his work.[49][50] In the same year, he was approached by Cheng Yu-chieh at a wedding and offered the chance to collaborate on a project that he and Yang Ya-che were developing, which Mo accepted before the screenplay was finished.[18] This project evolved into the drama filmDear Tenant, which premiered in 2020.[51] In it, Mo played Lin, a tenant suspected of murdering the landlord (played byChen Shu-fang) to take over the property.[52] Tay Yek Keak ofToday stated that Mo "practically carries" the film with his "greatly restrained, sensitive, and highly nuanced" performance;[53] while Han Cheung ofTaipei Times described his performance as "delicate, nuanced", and "hitting just the right notes for his role".[54] His performance also won him both Best Actor in the22nd Taipei Film Awards andBest Leading Actor in the57th Golden Horse Awards.[55][56] Also in 2020, he took on the lead role of Kuo Wei-chiang, a police detective, in the mystery thriller web seriesKill for Love [zh],[57] which earned him another nomination for Best Leading Actor in the55th Golden Bell Awards.[58]
In 2021, Mo appeared as Mold, an investigative journalist and one of the sixensemble cast members, in the crime drama filmGoddamned Asura.[59] Allan Hunter ofScreen Daily collectively praised the leads as "a strong ensemble",[60] while Lu Hao-ping ofGlobal Views Monthly particularly commended Mo's portrayal of the journalist, highlighting his "exquisite performance" and acknowledging that he adequately captured the character's complexity.[61] He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the24th Taipei Film Awards with the role in the following year.[62] Mo was then cast as Cheng-hsiu, an astronomer experiencing amidlife crisis, in the drama filmMurmur of Memories, which premiered in 2023.[63] In 2024, Mo received a co-leading role alongsideChang Chen inChung Mong-hong'sThe Embers,[64] which earned him a nomination forBest Supporting Actor in the61st Golden Horse Awards.[65] Estella Huang ofMirror Media lamented the film's narrative thinness but called Mo's performance "competent within a limited scope".[66]
In 2017, Mo published a prose anthology titledThe Person with Insomnia,[67][68] citing playwrightChen Ming-chai [zh] as his inspiration for the book.[69] He adapted it into a stage play in 2018, in which he also starred alongsideHuang Yu-siang [zh],[70] and the play continued its run until May 2022.[71] Mo got married in July 2022.[72][73]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Spring Cactus [zh] | Cheng-chen (承真) | [28] |
| 2002 | Somewhere Over The Dreamland [zh] | Hsiao-mo (小莫) | [24] |
| 2006 | Do Over [zh] | Li-hsiang (立翔) | [74] |
| 2007 | The Most Distant Course | Hsiao-tang (小湯) | [27] |
| 2008 | Candy Rain | Summer's husband | [28] |
| 2009 | L-O-V-E [zh] | Hsiao-lu (小路) | [14] |
| A Place of One's Own [zh] | Mozi (莫子) | [29] | |
| Pinoy Sunday | Husband in apartment | Cameo[75] | |
| 2010 | Tears [zh] | Black Eyes (黑目) | [30] |
| Forever [zh] | Gin Lee | [31] | |
| Snowfall in Taipei | Jack | [76] | |
| 2012 | Cross | Woo (葉永禾) | [35] |
| 2013 | Canopy | Seng (阿盛) | [38] |
| The Losers [zh] | Hsiang (阿祥) | Cameo[77] | |
| 2014 | Design 7 Love [zh] | Bazi (霸子) | [78] |
| 2015 | Elena [zh] | Kevin | [45] |
| 2020 | Dear Tenant | Lin Jian-yi (林健一) | [52] |
| 2021 | Goddamned Asura | Mold (黴菌) | [59] |
| 2023 | Murmur of Memories | Cheng-hsiu (葉承修) | [63] |
| 2024 | The Embers | TBA | [64] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Pact of Choshui River [zh] | Li Ming-nan (李明南) | Main role; television film[79] |
| 2002 | Watan's Wine Bottle [zh] | Hsiao-mo (小莫) | Main role; television film[79] |
| 2003 | Wintry Night II [zh] | Liu Ming-ji (劉明基) | Main role[28] |
| 2006 | Mico, Go! [zh] | Shih Yuan (石原) | Main role[80] |
| 2008 | Artemisia [zh] | Sung Hai (宋海) | Main role; television film[79] |
| 2011 | Jiong Ien Sen [zh] | Wan Tsun-pin (萬俊斌) | Main role[33] |
| Son, My Love Forever [zh] | Hsiao Chi-chien (蕭智謙) | Main role[34] | |
| 2012 | An Innocent Mistake [zh] | Cheng Yu-en (鄭予恩) | Main role[36] |
| 2014 | Apple in Your Eye | Chang Chi-hsun (張志勳) | Cameo[42] |
| 2015 | The Best of Youth [zh] | 1980s special agent | Cameo[46] |
| 2016 | Nie Xiaoqian [zh] | Ling Cheng-hsi (凌承熙) | Main role[47] |
| 2018 | Roseki 1914 [zh] | Lu Ho-jo | Main role;[48] also as writer[18] |
| 2020 | Kill for Love [zh] | Kuo Wei-chiang (郭偉強) | Main role[57] |