Leni Lan Yan 蓝燕, 蓝心妍
Leni Lan started out as an extra in Shanghai and appeared alongside Sergei Bezrukov in the film Butterfly Kiss. In 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, she first put up the money in order to get to grips with stereoscopic shooting, and then took the lead role herself. After that, Lan appeared in costume dramas and returned to action films under the name Lan Xin-Yan.
Leni Lan began her acting career in Shanghai. Among the first jobs she later spoke about was work as an extra on Purple Butterfly. In Anton Sivers's Butterfly Kiss she was already entrusted with the female lead. Her co-star was Sergei Bezrukov. Lan had to act in an unfamiliar language environment, and to work with the text she used a chart in English. There was an interpreter on set. Bezrukov recalled the episode for which they had to climb together into the cold Neva. In that film Lan played a girl from China whose life in St. Petersburg depends on people about whom Bezrukov's character knows almost nothing. The film was released in 2006.
Lan then worked with the Hong Kong company Emperor. It was then that she realised studio ways did not entirely suit her. On the mainland she appeared in Yu Li-Qing's Phantom of the Fog City, as well as in The Diamond Family. In 2010 the press discussed her statement that she was having an affair with director Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai. Tong confirmed that they knew each other but rejected her account of a relationship. Lan held a press conference, apologised for speaking about it in public and promised not to mention it again. She did not, however, retract her words.
Lan initially wanted to get involved in 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy as an investor. She read the script and put in a small sum so she could see for herself how stereoscopic shooting worked. According to her, it was hard to find an actress for the female lead, and Lan decided to play it herself. As the actress recounted, body doubles stood in for her in the explicit scenes and in some of the fight scenes. She turned down difficult stunts because of an old injury. The film's Hong Kong run stretched to almost four months. After that film Lan was long stuck with a reputation that made it hard to judge her other work. When asked whether it was possible after such a film to convince audiences to accept you in other roles, she cited Shu Qi, who had likewise become famous through erotic cinema early in her career.
Lan kept acting on television as well. She appeared in The Secret History of Princess Tai Ping and Heroes of Sui and Tang. These costume dramas were aimed at a very different audience from the 2011 Hong Kong film. Later she also began appearing in the credits under the name Lan Xinyan. In 2018 she was recognised at the Chinese Film Festival in Vancouver for Blue Goldfish. In New Dragon Gate Inn: The Awakening of a Hero Lan played the innkeeper Jin Xiangyu. In The Grey Men 2 she played a woman close to Andy On Chi-Kit's character. For that role her appearance was altered so much that the actress was hard to recognise on screen at first glance.
In 2026 Lan spoke about her role as Princess Zhao Heyang in the short series Catching the Phoenix (掌中求鸾). She also announced that New Dragon Gate Inn, shot two years earlier, would be shown in Taiwan. Once again one of her works in Hong Kong and mainland cinema was being shown in Taiwan, while Lan herself was already taking on a role in a series with very short episodes.
