Ariel Lin


Ariel Lin Yi-chen is a Taiwanese actress and singer. She rose to fame for her role as Yuan Xiangqin in the Taiwanese drama It Started with a Kiss and the Chinese fantasy drama The Little Fairy. Lin won Best Actress at the 43rd and 47th Golden Bell Awards for her roles in They Kiss Again and In Time with You respectively.

Career

2004: Beginnings

Lin was first discovered in a Taiwanese beauty contest. She made her debut in the television drama True Love 18. Lin also starred in her first film Love Me, If You Can, which earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the 40th Golden Horse Awards. She gained more popularity after starring in the idol drama series My Secret Garden II and Love Contract opposite Mike He. She also sang the theme song for Love Contract, titled "Alone in the northern hemisphere", which topped the KTV and ring tone charts for 12 weeks.

2005–2007: Breakthrough

Lin rose to mainstream popularity for her role as Yuan Xiangqin in the popular Taiwanese idol drama It Started with a Kiss. The series topped ratings in Taiwan, and was a hit across Asia.
Lin then starred in her first Chinese drama, The Little Fairy where she played the Seventh Fairy Maiden. The series was extremely popular and had high ratings, marking her successful foray into the Chinese market. The same year, she starred in Tokyo Juliet alongside Wu Chun.
Lin reunited with Joe Cheng in They Kiss Again, the sequel of It Started with a Kiss. The drama had an average rating of 3.43, becoming one of the highest rated idol dramas. Lin's performance in the drama won her the Best Actress award at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards, making her the first actress in history to win the award with an idol drama. The same year, she released the single "Adventure of Lunia" as the theme song for the video game Lunia: Record of Lunia War.

2008–2013: Continued success and Singing career

Lin starred in the 2008 adaptation of Louis Cha's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. She plays Huang Rong, opposite her The Little Fairy co-star Hu Ge, who plays Guo Jing. She also starred in the Taiwanese drama Love or Bread, her third collaboration with Joe Cheng.
In 2009, Lin signed a three-year and three-album contract with Avex Taiwan. She released her first album, Blissful Encounter, which sold 20,000 copies within 2 days. The same year, she starred in her first theater play, The War and Peace between Men and Women.
Lin then starred in romance drama In Time with You, co-starring Bolin Chen. It was the highest rated Taiwanese idol drama of the year and was extremely popular across Asia. Lin won her Golden Bell Award for Best Actress trophy for her performance in the series. She then starred alongside Feng Shaofeng in the historical drama Prince of Lan Ling. In 2013, she was listed by Forbes as the 85th most influential celebrity in China.

2014–present: Films

Following her television career, Lin focused on films. In 2014, she starred in the crime caper Sweet Alibis alongside Alec Su. It was chosen as the Most Popular Taiwanese Film at the 6th Straits Film and Television Awards. Lin then starred in Go Lala Go 2, the sequel to the 2010 hit film Go Lala Go!. However unlike its predecessor, it was a critical and commercial flop.
Lin turned to the thriller genre in The Mysterious Family, playing a rape victim who becomes psychologically scarred after the incident. The same year, she was cast in the television drama Old Boy alongside Liu Ye, marking her small-screen comeback after 4 years.
In 2018, Lin was cast in the historical drama I Will Never Let You Go as the protagonist.

Personal life

Lin was born in Yilan, Taiwan to a middle-income family. She has a younger brother. Her parents separated when she was very young and divorced when she was in high school. Lin was raised by her mother and lived in poverty for many years. She began taking care of the family in her second year of high school after her mother suffered a cerebellar stroke. At age 18, she entered a beauty competition because she wanted to win the prize money and buy her brother a new computer. She won first place. She was also accepted to National Chengchi University, a top university in Taiwan. She graduated with a BA in Korean literature while working as an actress part-time. When she filmed in China, several of her classmates copied notes for her.
Lin is severely myopic and wears contact lenses. In June 2008, Lin was diagnosed with a 2 cm cyst on her pituitary gland, following which she had an operation in February 2009.
In 2013, she decided to take a break from her career. She went to United Kingdom and obtained a Master of Arts in Acting for Screen from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London in 2014.
On 24 December 2014, Lin married businessman Charles Lin. The couple were introduced by mutual friends. On 29 September 2021, Lin announced her pregnancy hours after media broke the news. She gave birth to a girl on 18 October that year. She wrote a book during her pregnancy, which topped Books.com.tw's bestseller lists when it was published in January 2022. On 16 June 2025, she announced the birth of her second child, a son, born 2 days ago.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Theatre

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music video

  • 2001:
  • * Believe - 相信 2001
  • * Lonely Flight - 寂寞飛行 2001
  • * Nunchuks - 雙截棍 2001
  • * Paper Flight - 紙飛機 2001
  • 2002:
  • * MAKE A WISH 2002
  • * Love Guardian 鎮守愛情 2002
  • * Angel 2002
  • 2003:
  • * Friends 名扬四海 - Rainbow 2003
  • * She's having my baby 2003
  • 2004:
  • * Secret Garden II 我的秘密花園 II - 單純的臉孔 2004
  • * Cha Cha 2004
  • * Love Contract 愛情合約原聲帶-孤單北半球 2004 2004
  • * Love Contract 愛情合約原聲帶-中間 2004
  • * Love Contract 愛情合約原聲帶 - Shinning 2004
  • * Love Contract 愛情合約原聲帶 - 失去 2004
  • * Love Contract 愛情合約原聲帶 - 關於我們之間的事 2004
  • * Love Contract 愛情合約原聲帶 - 中間（鋼琴版） 2004
  • * 孤單北半球 2004
  • * Waiting for You - 字幕歌词 2004
  • * 白月光 2004
  • 2005:
  • * It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻 - Say you love me 2005
  • * It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻 - Meet 遇到 2005
  • * It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻 - Come A Little Closer 靠近一點點
  • * It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻 - Can We 能不能 2005
  • * It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻 - The Whole World Could Hear 全世界的人都知道 2005
  • * It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻 - Regret 後悔 2005
  • * It Started with a Kiss 惡作劇之吻 - 惡作劇 2005
  • * Born in A Troubled Time - 亂世浮生 2005
  • * 惡作劇 2005
  • 2006:
  • * The Little Fairy 天外飛仙 - 一眼萬年 2006
  • * The Little Fairy 天外飛仙 - 千年淚 2006
  • * The Little Fairy 天外飛仙 - 天亮以後 2006
  • * The Little Fairy 天外飛仙 - 古靈精怪 2006
  • * The Little Fairy 天外飛仙 - 月光 2006
  • * The Little Fairy 天外飛仙 - 棋只 2006
  • * Tokyo Juliet 東方茱麗葉 - 逆風 2006
  • * Tokyo Juliet 東方茱麗葉 - It Had To Be You 非你莫屬 2006
  • * Good friend - 好朋友 2006
  • 2007:
  • * Angel Wings - 天使的翅膀 2007
  • * Adventure of Lunia - 路尼亞戰記 2007
  • * They Kiss Again 惡作劇2吻 - 幸福合作社 2007
  • * They Kiss Again 惡作劇2吻 - 你 2007
  • 2008:
  • * Beating Heart 跳动的心 2008
  • * Love or Bread 我的億萬麵包 - 歐兜水 2008

    TV Commercial

  • 2001:
  • * TrainAsia 2U PrePaidCard
  • * TrainAsia 2U PrePaidCard CDbox
  • * TrainAsia 2U PrePaidCard KTV
  • 2003:
  • * Jcode CF Meetings
  • * Xin Gui Bai Strawberry Biscuit CF 1
  • * Jcode CF Restaurant
  • * Xin Gui Bai Strawberry Biscuit CF 2
  • * Jcode CF Ghost House
  • * Xin Gui Bai Strawberry Biscuit CF 2
  • 2004:
  • * Jcode CF Valentines
  • * Jcode CF Motorcycle
  • * Contact Lens Solution CF
  • 2005:
  • * Jcode CF Reminder
  • * Jcode CF Love
  • * Heme CF Romeo Juliet
  • 2006:
  • * Jcode CF Love
  • * Jcode CF Slow Dance
  • * Sofy CF Puzzle
  • * Heme CF Romeo Juliet
  • * Green Tea CF Shopping
  • * Sofy CF Sleep In
  • * Green Tea CF Field
  • * Heme Commercial
  • * Heme CF Red Dress
  • 2007:
  • * Heme CF Whack a Mole
  • * 711 Snoopy CF 1
  • * 711 Snoopy CF Search
  • * 711 Snoopy CF Camera 1
  • * 711 Snoopy CF Camera 2
  • * Sofy CF Good Night Rest
  • * Qqueen CF
  • * 711 Snoopy CF Baseball

    Awards and nominations