Yang Xiao was born on 7 April 1980 in Hebei, China. He is an actor and director, known for Old Boys: The Way of the Dragon (2014), Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019) and Octopus with Broken Arms (2024).
Biography from IMDb.
- April 7, 1980 (46)
- Hebei, China
- Actor, also producer
- 19 on MovieCove · 62 credits in all
What are Yang Xiao's films like?
Across their 13 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 2 · Earnest 11
A split, not a type: Light 6 · Serious 1 · Dark 6
Grounded 6 · Stylized 7 · Heightened 0
Gentle 3 · Charged 5 · Intense 5
Steady 3 · Shifting 7 · Whiplash 3
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 7 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 5
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 10 · Relentless 1
Casual 5 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 6 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 7
Resolved 10 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 8 of 9 analyzed roles.
Show the 9 rolesHide the roles
- Heroas Xia Dongsheng in Some Like It Hot (2016)
- Heroas Li Weijie in Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019)
- Tricksteras Chen Xiaomeng in End Game (2021)
- Heroas Chen Xiaomeng in End Game (2021)
- Heroas Cui Dalu in Tiger Wolf Rabbit (2024)
- Heroas Zheng Bingrui in Octopus with Broken Arms (2024)
- Heroas Zheng Ligun in Give You a Candy (2024)
- Heroas Tian Shaoji in Love Is Hard (2025)
- Heroas Ma Xiao in Escape from the Outland (2025)
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet9
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Yang Xiao's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 4 of their 19 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Yang Xiao's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
62 credits, 19 with a MovieCove page.
Escape from the Outland(2025)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
Love Is Hard(2025)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
Life Party (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
The Way Out (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Octopus with Broken Arms(2024)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
Tiger Wolf Rabbit(2024)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Give You a Candy(2024)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
Enjoy Yourself (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Decoded(2024)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films
Walk the Line (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
Never Say Never (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
The Tipping Point (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Round Table: The Assortment (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Fireflies in the Sun (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Who Is the Murderer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
The Glory of Youth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Sister(2021)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Detective Chinatown 3(2021)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
Dreams of Getting Rich (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
End Game(2021)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
Clever Hand Detective (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Detective Chinatown(2020)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all shows
Sheep Without a Shepherd(2019)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
A Bite of Youth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Airpocalypse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Truth! Flowers and Everything (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The Way of the Bug (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Detective Chinatown 2(2018)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
National Treasure (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Back to Field (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Roast (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Some Like It Hot(2016)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
My Kungfu Father-in-law (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Round Table (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
鲁豫有约一日行 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Trump Card (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Detective Chinatown(2015)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
Grade One (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
The Amazing Race China (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Keep Running (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Chef Nic (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Old Boys: The Way of the Dragon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Zùiqiáng dànao(2014)
Fake Fiction (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Refresh 3+7 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
灰机灰机 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
青春感恩记《父亲》之《父子篇》 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Father (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
East Meets West(2011)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films
Sleepless Fashion (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Hormone (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
The Winner (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Shanghai Shimen Road (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Old Boys (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Memoirs of a Male Geisha (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Some Like It Hot 2 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Virtue Beyond Fate (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
War 1840 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
旷野之境 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 92nd percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 62 titles, 58 of them dated from 2007 to 2025; peak year 2020.
Biggest box office
Detective Chinatown 3 (2021)
Highest rated
Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019)
Most popular right now
Detective Chinatown 3 (2021)
Film career
Peak 2020 · steadily prominent in film for years. Top draw in 1 MovieCove title. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2015Screen debut· Detective Chinatown
- 2019First top-billed film· Sheep Without a Shepherd
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Yang Xiao's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 52nd percentile, the median of all 17; across their 13 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 53rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th7
- 25th to 49th7
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 18 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Panned2
- Cult Classic4
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the acting 58/100 in their films, across 8 reviewed titles; fans 74, detractors 41. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Yang Xiao work with?
People who share at least 2 of Yang Xiao's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Sicheng Chen shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Sicheng ChenShared titles: Octopus with Broken Arms (2024), Detective Chinatown 3 (2021), Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019), Detective Chinatown 2 (2018), Detective Chinatown (2015)See all 5 shared titles with Sicheng Chen
- Dong XuShared titles: Love Is Hard (2025), Some Like It Hot (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Dong Xu
Writers
- Peng LiShared titles: Octopus with Broken Arms (2024), Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Peng Li
- Chun ZhangShared titles: Detective Chinatown 3 (2021), Detective Chinatown 2 (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Chun Zhang
- Lian ZhouShared titles: Detective Chinatown 3 (2021), Detective Chinatown 2 (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Lian Zhou
- Yining YanShared titles: Detective Chinatown 3 (2021), Detective Chinatown 2 (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Yining Yan
Actors
- Shenyang XiaoShared titles: Love Is Hard (2025), Some Like It Hot (2016), Detective Chinatown (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Shenyang Xiao
- Xun WangShared titles: Love Is Hard (2025), Detective Chinatown 2 (2018), Some Like It Hot (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Xun Wang
- Zifeng ZhangShared titles: The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death (2024), Sister (2021), Detective Chinatown (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Zifeng Zhang
- Baoqiang WangShared titles: Detective Chinatown 3 (2021), Detective Chinatown 2 (2018), Detective Chinatown (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Baoqiang Wang
Composers and cinematographers
- Jie DuShared titles: Love Is Hard (2025), Octopus with Broken Arms (2024), Detective Chinatown (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Jie Du
- Xiaoyang GaoShared titles: Sister (2021), Some Like It Hot (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Xiaoyang Gao
Producers
- Hongxiang CuiShared titles: Love Is Hard (2025), Sister (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Hongxiang Cui
- Cary ChengShared titles: Detective Chinatown 3 (2021), Detective Chinatown (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Cary Cheng
- Mingyu PengShared titles: Sister (2021), Some Like It Hot (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Mingyu Peng
- Ruoqing FuShared titles: Detective Chinatown 3 (2021), Sister (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Ruoqing Fu
