On Feb 15, the day after his 40th birthday, Liao Fan finally got to know what real fame tastes like. That day, he won the prize for Best Actor at the 64th Berlin film festival for his role as a washed up ex-copin the crime thriller Black Coal, Thin Ice, which won the jury’s Silver Bear.

　　2月15日，也就是廖凡度过40岁生日的第二天，他终于真正尝到了成名的滋味。当天，凭借在犯罪悬疑片《白日火焰》饰演的失意退役刑警一角，廖凡赢得评审团颁发的第64届柏林电影节最佳男演员银熊奖。

　　“Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and also the beginning of spring in China and the whole of Berlin was in love,” Liao, the first actor ever in China to receive the title, said on stage while accepting the award. “Yesterday was also my 40th birthday. I think this was the most wonderful present you could give me.”

　　作为首位获得该殊荣的中国人，廖凡上台发表获奖感言时说：“昨天是情人节，也是中国春天的开始，柏林弥漫着爱的味道。昨天也是我四十岁生日，这是我最好的生日礼物。”

　　It certainly is an inspiring story. But since the news came out, many have had the same response on the Internet: Who is Liao?

　　这当然是个振奋人心的消息。但是新闻一出，很多网友的反应如出一辙：廖凡是谁?

　　Graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1997, Liao was in the same class with Li Bingbing and Ren Quan. But compared with them, who both became popular at an early age, Liao took his time, looking for parts that he was really interested in.

　　廖凡，1997年毕业于上海戏剧学院，与李冰冰和任泉是同班同学。然而与这两位早已大红大紫的同学比起来，廖凡则是将时间都花在寻找真正令自己感兴趣的角色上。

　　Now, after almost 20 years as an actor, Liao has portrayed many impressive characters, such as themercenary manager in Meng Jinghui’s classic stage play Rhinoceros in Love, the curve wrecker in the TV series Cherish Our Love Forever, and the gangster in Let the Bullets Fly. However, after trying all these different roles, he remains the perfect sidekick.

　　如今，从影20年的廖凡曾扮演过很多令人印象深刻的角色：孟京辉的经典舞台剧《恋爱的犀牛》中那个唯利是图的经理、电视剧《将爱情进行到底》中逢考必过的学霸、电影《让子弹飞》中的土匪。但尝遍各种角色的他仍是那个出色的“男二号”。

　　He Yan, Liao’s mentor in college, told the Shanghai-based Wenhui Daily that Liao is “a man with distinct personality, and even a little unworldly”, who always considers performing as an art rather than a way of making money. For his perseverance, Liao even got the nickname “ascetic monk for art”.

　　廖凡的大学导师何雁在接受上海《文汇报》采访时说：“廖凡个性很特别，甚至有点不谙世故。他一直把表演当做一门艺术，而不是赚钱的途径。因为他的坚持，廖凡甚至被冠以“艺术苦行僧”的绰号。

　　But Liao’s hard pursuit of artistic films has paid off. For example, in 2005, he won the Best Actor award at the 16th Singapore International Film Festival for Green Hat; three years later, he was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 45th Golden Horse Awards for his performance in Ocean Flame.

　　但是，廖凡对电影艺术的苦苦追求终于有了回报。2005年，他凭借《绿帽子》获得第16届新加坡国际电影节最佳男演员奖;三年后，也就是2008年，他因在《一半海水一半火焰》中的出色演出获得第45届金马奖最佳男演员提名。

　　Now, at 40, Liao has achieved a big breakthrough in his career and life. But Liao expects no change after this. “I’ve always been interested in the complexity of humanity. So that’s still my top priority when I’m creating a character,” Liao said in an interview with The Beijing News on Feb 17.

　　现年40岁的廖凡在演绎生涯中取得很大的突破，而他本人却希望获奖之后一切依旧。“我一直对人性的复杂很感兴趣，所以，这仍将是我塑造角色的重中之重”，廖凡于2月17日接受《新京报》采访时这样说道。

　　“As for the question of whether my paycheck is going to change after winning the award,” he continued. “All I can say is, it’s not something I should worry about.”