Li Xian

Li was born on October 19, 1991, in Xianning and grew up in Jingzhou, Hubei. He attended the Jingzhou Middle School. In 2009, he planned to study STEM in college, but failed the college entrance examination. He retook the exam and admitted into the acting major at Beijing Film Academy in 2010. For the convenience of entry, he changed his given name from "晛" to "现", which means "present". Li began his acting career with a minor role in Wong Jing's film Feng Shui (2012). He followed with a role in romantic teen film Singing When We're Young (2012). He made his small-screen debut in web series City of Fantasy (2014). He garnered attention for his role in the coming-of-age web series, Who Sleeps My Bro (2016), which he reprised in the eponymous feature film adapted from the web series. He then made an appearance in the music video for the song I Am Jiang Xiaobai by Zhang Qi and the music video for the song Medals by Lu Han. Li was cast in the esports romance film Love O2O (2016) and web series Medical Examiner Dr. Qin. Li had his first starring role in the thriller detective web series Tientsin Mystic. He then appeared in the film The Founding of an Army (2017).

Li's breakthrough role came in the esports romantic comedy television series, Go Go Squid! (2019), based on the web novel Stewed Squid with Honey. The series was the most-streamed series in 2019. Li earned his first nomination for the Huading Award for Best New Actor in 2019 for the role.

Li then starred in the costume drama Sword Dynasty (2019). In 2020, Li participated in the CCTV New Year's Gala, where he performed "Hello 2020". In the same year, he had three films out: The Enigma of Arrival, Love Song 1980 and Soul Snatcher. He also made a cameo in Leap, the Chinese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. In 2022, Li starred in the historical drama A Love Never Lost which, however, was pulled from the air soon after its premiere for unspecified reasons.