Where is Lawrence Wong now? All about the breakout star of Yanxi Palace

Lawrence Wong Guan Yi is a Singaporean actor and he is considered one of the top rising stars in Chinese showbusiness today.

(Image: iQIYI, ZhejiangTV)

Lawrence Wong was born on 5 August 1988 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Although he grew up a Malaysian, the actor was granted Singaporean citizenship in 2016.

(Image: Hunan TV)

Prior to his life as an actor, Lawrence Wong lived across the Singaporean-Malaysia border. The actor later spent a considerable amount of time in Australia, and has also lived in China and is based there for his acting work.

(Image: Hunan TV)

Lawrence Wong had to move to Australia and lived there to complete his degree in Mass Communications at RMIT University. From Women’s Weekly, it was then when he tried his hand in modelling and decided to pursue it as a full-time career.

From Baidu, Lawrence Wong had the rare opportunity to debut in a boyband with an album release in Japan. However, the plan fell through when the record label decided against it and chose to allocate funding towards a solo female singer in the label.

Regardless of that setback, Lawrence Wong pushed through and continued pursuing music whilst working as an actor. His work as an actor no doubt opened doors for him to showcase his talents in singing too to the world and has now released two albums and three singles under his name.

(Image: iQIYI, ZhejiangTV)

Did you know? From Women’s Weekly, the actor is also talented in art. He enjoys painting and has even once crafted his own pair of espadrilles!

(Image: Hunan TV)

Before making it big as an actor in China, Lawrence Wong moved between countries in Southeast Asia, taking up acting roles in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. He started out his acting career being signed under Mediacorp Singapore and is still a Mediacorp actor till this day.

(Image: iQIYI, ZhejiangTV)

Some of the biggest shows that Lawrence Wong was featured in before 2018 include ‘Moulmein High 3’, ‘Living With Lydia 2’, ‘Tribulations of Life’, ‘Secrets for Sale’ and ‘Dark Sunset’.

(Image: Hunan TV)

From Esquire, Lawrence Wong was feeling stuck as an actor and felt that he was not getting enough recognition with his work in Mediacorp Singapore. Hence in 2018, he took the big leap in giving it all in his move to China in hope of having better opportunities.

(Image: Jiangsu, Mango TV)

As fate would have it, Lawrence Wong managed to land a role in the series ‘Story of Yanxi Palace’ in 2018 which changed his acting career forever.

(Image: Hunan TV)

Although merely a supporting actor, Lawrence Wong’s role as Hai Lan Cha won the hearts of many of his audiences. The character’s warm and charming demeanour was successfully conveyed through Lawrence Wong’s acting and won him many fans.

(Image: iQIYI, ZhejiangTV)

Yanxi Palace went on to achieve cult status as the most viewed Chinese language drama of 2018. From BBC, the drama also broke records as the “most Googled show on earth”. Naturally, with the show’s hit, Lawrence Wong also received a surge in popularity for his acting in the drama and this cemented his success as an actor in Chinese showbiz.

(Image: Hunan TV)

Today Online reports that with his newfound fame, Lawrence Wong landed a huge deal and was appointed the first international ambassador of one of China’s biggest streaming platforms, iQIYI.

(Image: iQIYI, ZhejiangTV)

Unlike his acting life back in Singapore and Malaysia, Lawrence Wong’s career is more busy than ever. Since his success with Yanxi Palace, many acting gigs have been offered and undertaken by the actor himself.

From GirlStyle, Lawrence found further success in being placed as the male lead in ‘Girlfriend’. ‘Girlfriend’ was a big hit that garnered over 9 million views since its release!

(Image: Hunan TV)

Asiaone reports that Lawrence Wong now owns a landed private property in Singapore. Given Singapore's tight housing market, this was a difficult feat achieved by Lawrence Wong. It sure goes to further prove that his success in not only Yanxi Palace but also in other dramas he has been casted in after, has brought him the means to live a very comfortable and envious life in Singapore!

(Image: Hunan TV)

Besides working as an actor and singer, Lawrence Wong is also now an entrepreneur with the release of his own skincare line.

(Image: ohohlawrence on Instagram)

From Asia Tatler, Grail Skin was conceived by Lawrence Wong and a business partner in 2020 during Singapore’s ‘circuit-breaker’ quarantine period. Grail Skin’s face masks were sold out within days of its release.

(Image: ohohlawrence on Instagram)

In a 2023 update, we see that Lawrence Wong is still pretty strong in the scene in China! The actor's new role in WeTV's 'Stand or Fall' was just released this June.

(Image: ohohlawrence on Instagram)

From his early beginnings as a model, Lawrence Wong is now a big name actor, singer, and entrepreneur. His huge commercial success in showbiz and business is a true testament to the fruits of persevering in chasing one’s dreams!

(Image: ohohlawrence on Instagram)