Andrew James (AJ) Donnelly

Education

About me

I have been acting since I was 7 years old, when I played Father Bear in my school's production of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. From that first performance, I knew acting was my greatest love and passion. As Samuel L. Jackson said "If I could get up every day and go somewhere and act, I'd be the happiest person in the world." I honestly couldn't agree more!

Acting experience:
I am a British actor and voice artist. Born in Bedford, England, I have worked in professional TV, film, theatre productions and commercials for more than a decade. In 2021, I was chosen by directors Zhang Yimou and Zhang Mo to play southern US Army officer Captain Williams in the movie 'Ju Ji Shou' (Snipers), which was released in Chinese cinemas on February 1st 2022. Most recently, I have worked with directors Chen Kaige (The Great War) and Li Jun (The Silicon Waves), meaning I have now worked with the three most acclaimed directors in China.

While commonly seen in dramatic roles, my passion is for comedy. I performed for the first time at the age of 7, and appeared in multiple productions throughout my childhood, both at school and with various drama clubs, continuing into early adulthood when I joined local amateur theatre group the Bedford Marionettes, where I developed my skills in physical comedy.

Having been involved in theatre throughout my entire childhood and teen years, in 1999, I took a break from acting, returning to the stage in 2011 with amateur theatre group Beijing Playhouse's production of the comedy 'Love, Sex and the IRS', playing the lead role of Leslie Arthur, and then in the Christmas panto 'Cinderella', playing Cinderella's father, The Baron. After spending several years focusing on theatre in Beijing, in 2013 I landed a small role in the Chinese TV drama 'Rong Hong', which reignited my interest in on-camera acting.

I returned to the stage in 2016 and 2017, as the first foreigner to star in a Chinese play at the Beijing Capital Theatre, playing Mr. Sattel in the drama 'Paifang', directed by Yang Lixin. Some of my many film and TV roles over the past few years include 'Stride Across the Yalu River' (2020), 'The 13 Hongs of Canton' (2021) and ‘Sea of Stars’ (2022).

Aside from acting, I also work as a voice artist, providing voice work for educational institutes in China, the UK and Singapore, and doing movie narration and dubbing in Chinese productions such as The 800, The Foreigner, Defiance and Chasing the Dragon.

Additional information:
While I am passionate about all forms of acting and performance, and have played mostly dramatic roles including military officials, terrorists, scientists, Shakespeare and Copernicus, my true love is comedic performance. While I haven't so far had many chances to show my comedic abilities, I am actively pursuing more opportunities to do so, both in China and internationally.

Skills

Languages Spoken	English
Accents/Dialects	American - General, Australian, English - Cockney, English - England North West (Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire), English - General, English - Received Pronunciation, French (Standard International), Italian (Standard International), Scottish, South African, Southern American, Standard American, Welsh
Additional Skills	Acting
Organisations / Memberships	Equity (UK)