Actress Ma Yili forgave Wen for the sake of their children
BEIJING: Chinese actress Ma Yili has forgiven her philandering husband Wen Zhang for the sake of their children.
On Mar 31, Wen Zhang had confessed that he got naked with Yao Di, his co-star on the popular TV drama Naked Marriage.
Wen’s admission of his affair with Yao came only after photos of the two sharing an intimate moment surfaced.
Wen had posted a message of apology to Ma for his marital infidelity on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
Shortly afterwards, Ma, who gave birth to the couple’s second child earlier this year, responded on Sina Weibo: “Being in love is easy; being married is not. It
Since I got married, I have discovered that one has to face many things in marriage. For example, I never made sweet remarks to build towards a compromise, but now I know I should make some concessions and said something nice. I think the other person involved will understand me and also give way, and then the two will have the same views.
Ma Yili, award-winning actress
is to be cherished,” which had more than 700,000 retweets and more than a million comments.
Ma and Wen were recognised as a devoted celebrity couple, though Ma was eight years older than her husband.
Born in Shanghai in 1976, Ma started her acting career in a 1994 TV drama called Vacuum Love Records, known as China’s fi rst youth idol drama, in which her sweet appearance and strong-willed character left a deep impression on the audience.
For many years, Ma sporadically appeared in a smattering of works, and in general she kept a low profi le in the entertainment world.
In 2000, a popular TV drama, Black Hole, put her acting career back in the spotlight. Afterwards, Ma acted not only in historical dramas, such as Princess Pearl 3 (2003) and Qiao’s Grand Courtyard (2006), but also in modern life dramas, such as Happy Family ( 2001) and Don’t Say Love Is Bitter (2007). In 2005, Ma met Wen after they both worked on a TV drama called Blades. The two soon fell in love, but their relationship was met with opposition from many of their friends, due to their age difference.
However, Ma still pursued her love. In 2008, the couple tied the knot and had their fi rst daughter that same year. To show his love for his wife, Wen named their daughter Aima, meaning ‘Love Ma’ in English.
After giving birth, Ma spent most of her time taking care of their daughter, but still continued with her acting career.
In the meantime, Ma has won various honours and awards, such as the Golden Phoenix Award and Huading Award. She also received Best Actress Award at the Ninth Changchun Film Festival for her role in Life Today ( 2007), Best Supporting Actress Award at the Third Chinese Film Festival for her role in Tracks Kong Lingxue ( 2011), and Best Actress at the First Asia Television Rainbow Award for her role in Marriage Battle (2012).
Ma used to be notorious for her casual frankness in the entertainment world. More than 10 years ago, Ma attended a talk show hosted by Qiu Wei, who was also well known for her sharp tongue, but the host eventually withered when she sat across from Ma’s fiery, crowd-pleasing honesty.
During the talk show, Ma, who sat on the left of Qiu, spoke so calmly and orderly that Qiu later admitted that she seldom met interviewees who made her feel intimidated, and that her fi rst impression of Ma was: ‘A shorthaired woman is not easy to deal with.’ Recalling that talk show, Ma said, “At the time, I was sharp-tongued and didn’t leave a way open. It was easy to offend others.”
Nowadays, Ma, who often speaks with a smile, still keeps a calm demeanour even when she is crowed at by a group of reporters. “Compared to my former self, I can put myself in the position of others,” she said.
Despite her maternal sternness, Ma has become much gentler since she got married. Her gentleness is built on reason and should be attributed to the inspiration from her life experiences.
“Since I got married, I have discovered that one has to face many things in marriage. For example, I never made sweet remarks to build towards a compromise, but now I know I should make some concessions and said something nice. I think the other person involved will understand me and also give way, and then the two will have the same views,” said Ma.