Chinese historical drama Legend of Miyue and its lead actress Sun Li were awarded as the Best TV the Drama and Best Actress in Leading Role respectively during the Magnolia Awards Ceremony at the 2016 Shanghai International Film Festival held at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center in Pudong on Friday, June 10.
Sun Li, who pulled off an impressive performance, portrays Miyu, who is the first empress dowager in Chinese history.
The 33-year-old Shanghai actress was tearful during her acceptance speech, saying "When I shot the series, my daughter was only 4 months old. It was a very difficult decision for a mother," Shanghai Daily quoted. This was the second time that Sun has won the coveted the Best Actress award.
Sun, who graced the event in a black and white ensemble, bested Song Jia from the Young Marshall, Yan Ni from Wang Dahua Revolutionary Career, Zhao Liying aka Zanilia Zhao from The Journey of Flower, and Zhao Wei aka Vicki Zhao from Tiger Mom.
Meanwhile, the TV series based on Jiang Shengnan's novel with the same name beat nine other nominees. The historical romantic comedy series was aired between November 30, 2015, and January 9, 2016.
The series' first two episodes reportedly swept China by storm as it garnered a whopping 700 million views within 24 hours, according to China.org.
The 2016 Shanghai International Film and TV Festival refers to the 22nd Shanghai TV Festival, which runs between June 6 and 10, and the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, which runs from June 11 to 19.
