Song Jia 宋佳, 小宋佳
As a child, Song Jia learned to play the liuqin, and at her drama academy entrance exam she performed morning gymnastics. She later won a Golden Rooster for her role as the writer Xiao Hong and played the teacher Zhang Gui-Mei. Preparing for that role, Song met Zhang herself and remembered how she covers her mouth with her hand when she laughs.
Song Jia was born in Harbin on November 13, 1980. Her parents took her to singing, dance and recitation classes, and from the age of eight she studied to play the liuqin. At first it was her mother who insisted on these lessons most of all. One day, instead of practising, Song recorded her own chatter on a cassette. Her mother was angry, but the lessons did not end there. Song attended the school attached to the Shenyang Conservatory, where the liuqin was her main instrument and she also took vocal classes. When Song was in her senior year of high school, a student suggested she try applying to the Shanghai Theatre Academy. At first Song even thought she meant a Peking opera school.
Her parents went with her to the exams. Song recalled that she read a poem cut out of a newspaper, performed morning exercises for the movement exam, and chose a song by Faye Wong for the vocal assignment. The family was sure she had failed. She was accepted. After the academy, Song began with small roles. She auditioned for Zhang Yi-Bai's Curiosity Kills the Cat (2006) along with everyone else. She landed the role of a girl who washes clients' hair — just two scenes. In one of them Song had to paint Carina Lau's nails. She was so nervous that she got polish all over her co-star's fingers, and Lau calmed her down. For this work Song was nominated for a Golden Rooster for Best Supporting Actress for the first time.
On television she became known for the role of Xian'er in Chuang Guan Dong (2008). And for the role of the underground liaison Gu Qiuyan in The Brink (2012) she received the Magnolia Award at the Shanghai TV Festival. That same year she was also honoured for The Brink at the Golden Eagle Awards. Viewers named her their favourite television actress, and at the festival she was also presented with an award for acting excellence. Song said at the time that she felt especially at home on set. The next shoot took up almost the whole autumn and part of the winter.
Director Huo Jian-Qi invited Song to play the writer Xiao Hong in Falling Flowers (2013). The writer's native Hulan is not far from Harbin, and Song had read The Story of the Hulan River as a schoolgirl. She said that for about a hundred days she tried to live the role and was thoroughly exhausted by the end of shooting. One scene was filmed in the cold under the rain. Song lay on the ground and herself asked to repeat the take so as not to have regrets later. After the film's release, some viewers complained that it focused more on Xiao Hong's love affairs than on her books. Song did not argue and said she was grateful for the chance to get to know so closely a person she had previously known only through her books. For the role she received the Golden Rooster for Best Actress.
In The Master (2015) she played Zhao Guohui. Already while shooting the first scene, her co-star Liao Fan told her she was not focused enough. Song later recalled this as an ordinary working conversation. On The Shadow Play (2018), Lou Ye had her act for long stretches without stopping. According to her, a single take could last half an hour. The director gave the actors freedom, and shooting went on for about three months. After the role of Lin Hui, Song turned down her next project and took a break. By then she simply had no strength left.
The story of A Little Dilemma (2021) — about parents, school grades and moving house for the sake of a good school — at first seemed remote from Song's own life. After four months of shooting she saw the story differently. She was especially moved by the scene in which the heroine's father sells a cemetery plot so that his daughter can buy an apartment closer to the right school. Song recalled that her own mother never shamed her for bad maths grades and never put marks above what her daughter genuinely enjoyed. Even when her mother insisted on music lessons, her daughter felt her support.
Song spoke far less about her personal life. The press discussed her supposed relationship with director Zhang Li. When asked about it, she replied that she preferred to keep her personal life to herself. About how she prepares for roles, however, she could talk at length and in detail. Before filming When the Mountain Flowers Bloom (山花烂漫时) (2024), Song met with Zhang Gui-Mei, whose life formed the basis of the series. She had expected to see a strict teacher and was surprised by Zhang's spontaneity. One day they lost their way together while looking for a toilet. Zhang laughed and covered her mouth with her hand. Song remembered that gesture and repeated it on screen.
That same year saw the release of Her Story (2024) by Shao Yi-Hui. Song had liked the director's previous film, and she took the new script to be one driven by the feelings and actions of ordinary people. For Wang Tiemei she was awarded her second Golden Rooster in 2025. And for Zhang Gui-Mei Song also received her second Magnolia Award that same year. In 2026, for the same role, she was given two more television awards, the Golden Eagle and the Feitian. In cinema, meanwhile, Song continued to move from one milieu to another. In Scare Out (2026) she appeared in a spy film.
