In December 2020开云登录入口登录APP下载(中国)官方网站, Zhou Xun and Gao Shengyuan ended their six-year marriage with a simple wish for well-being. At the time, the public was full of speculation about the breakup. Some blamed Gao Shengyuan for being irresponsible, while rumors spread that he had abandoned his wife and fled alone to the United States.

Four years later, what has become of Gao Shengyuan—the man once known mainly as Zhou Xun’s husband, carrying the shadow of her stardom?

For many Chinese audiences, Gao Shengyuan’s name strikes a curious balance between familiarity and unfamiliarity. Born in 1970 in Washington, D.C., to a Vietnamese-Chinese mother and a Sichuanese father, his mixed heritage gave him striking features and a distinctive edge when navigating Hollywood.

Though he graduated from George Mason University’s law program in the 1990s, Gao unexpectedly shifted to acting. Starting with minor roles, he appeared in popular American TV shows like Desperate Housewives, CSI, and Power Rangers. Over the years, he played cops, doctors, villains, and even lent his voice to animation, yet a breakout role eluded him.

Everything changed in 2011. Gao Shengyuan took on the film Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, marking his first collaboration with a Chinese production team. It was during this project he met Zhou Xun, who was the film’s producer. From friendship, romance blossomed. At a charity gala in 2014, Zhou Xun unexpectedly took his hand and announced their marriage. She smiled like a teenager, while Gao, struggling with his Chinese, said: She made me believe in love.

That wedding thrust Gao Shengyuan into the Chinese media spotlight overnight—but not without controversy. Critics dug up his modest Hollywood supporting roles, mocking him as someone who rose thanks to his wife, while admirers envied his marriage to the ethereal Chinese film queen.

Determined, Gao dove into China’s entertainment scene post-marriage. He signed with Zhou Xun’s agency, landed supporting parts in shows like The Classic of Mountains and Seas and Nothing Gold Can Stay, and appeared on the reality show 24 Hours. Yet language and cultural barriers proved a challenge. His roles remained small, and the audience mostly remembered him as “Zhou Xun’s husband.”

Meanwhile, Zhou Xun’s career soared, and the couple spent less time together. Rumors of marital trouble swirled constantly. Then in 2020, netizens noticed Gao had deleted all photos with Zhou Xun from social media, shortly before they announced their divorce. Insiders revealed that long-distance strain and differing career priorities cooled their relationship, and Gao ultimately chose to return to the U.S. to care for his aging mother.

Since the divorce, Gao Shengyuan has mostly faded from Chinese public view. He opened a Vietnamese restaurant in Los Angeles and occasionally shares posts of surfing and rock climbing, living a relaxed life like any ordinary person. Acting hasn’t been abandoned, though—in recent years he appeared in the Yellowstone prequel 1923, playing a Chinese laborer with a small but solidly acted role.

Fans lament, imagining if he had stayed in Hollywood, he might have become a beloved character actor.

Meanwhile, Jia Ling’s film Hot Blood was picked up by Sony Pictures for global release. At a Hollywood gathering with Daniel Wu and others, Gao Shengyuan—the “ex-husband guy”—was present. He looks remarkably youthful, carrying a calm confidence much like Zhou Xun’s. Still handsome in his fifties, he doesn’t seem like someone burdened by age.

Reflecting on Gao Shengyuan’s life, it reads like a drifting tale bridging East and West. He struggled on the fringes of Hollywood, briefly basked in stardom through marriage, yet ultimately chose a quiet, grounded existence. Now 54, childless, free of scandal, and seldom referencing the past, perhaps for Gao, the marriage was just one chapter—and true freedom lies in living beyond anyone’s shadow.

Just like his Instagram motto: Be a good human. Simple, yet profoundly clear.