Ma Su won Golden Eagle and Feitian awards, once a top actress. In 2013, rumors derailed her career; she also ended an 11-year relationship. In 2020, she received only a B rating on an acting show and wept. She cut her fee 70%, refused livestreaming, and restarted in Hengdian. Her 110-second one-take crying scene in "I Am a Criminal Police" earned CCTV praise and a 2026 Golden Eagle nomination.
Ma Su once enjoyed great prominence. She won the Golden Eagle Award for Favorite Actress for *Women Are Like Flowers*, and also received the Feitian Award for Outstanding Actress for both *Beijing Youth* and *Women Are Like Flowers*. During those years, her name appeared at the very top of the posters, and she played the leading lady in every production.
In 2013, baseless rumors suddenly swirled around her in Sanya. A maliciously doctored “shoulder-carry” photo thrust her into the eye of the media storm.The truth was that during an outdoor segment for Jiangsu TV, crew members had carried her and other female guests over an obstacle. The scene was filmed from multiple angles, but ultimately, only a single photo—taken out of context—went viral.The production team and her agency released the full video in an attempt to set the record straight, but by then the photo had already been taken out of context, sparking widespread speculation and a barrage of criticism.
Amid the media frenzy, Kong Linghui posted a lengthy Weibo message announcing the couple’s breakup. Their 11-year relationship had come to an end. Their differences hadn’t arisen overnight. Kong Linghui wanted her to take on fewer acting roles and focus more on the family, but Ma Su was determined to work her way up from the bottom.When she returned home after a day of filming, he was already fast asleep; when she rushed to the set at dawn, he was still catching up on sleep—even sitting down to talk for half an hour was a luxury. At a 2013 press conference, Ma Su took the stage in a light-colored dress and smiled as she said their relationship had remained as strong as ever over the past ten years.Twenty-four hours later, when reporters pressed her further, she lowered her head and said in a trembling voice, “I’ve been living alone for a long time,” as tears fell onto the microphone.
The road ahead became even tougher. Her endorsement contracts were terminated, and she was replaced as the lead actress in a project she had already been cast in.In 2017, the Li Xiaolu scandal broke. She posted on Weibo to defend her close friend, but the surveillance footage and timeline that emerged later contradicted her account. She wrote, “My face really hurts—I deserve it.”
In 2020, during the preliminary evaluation round of *Actors, Take Your Places 2*, she received only a “B” rating. Standing among a group of young actors in their early twenties, she said she hadn’t acted in a long time, and immediately burst into tears. Later, when she watched that clip again, she said, “I want to slap myself twice.“You used to be the lead in every single one of them—does that make you so great?”
After she finished crying, she did three things. She cut her acting fee by 70 percent, turned down all invitations to do live-streamed product promotions, and went from one film set to another in Hengdian with her portfolio in hand.Her friends tried to persuade her, saying that standing in a livestreaming studio for a few hours was better than nothing. She replied, “I’m afraid that once I get caught up in it, I’ll never be able to devote myself fully to acting again.” She also added a more down-to-earth remark: “As long as I don’t leave the table, I’ll always have something to eat.”
From 2020 to 2024, she played second or third female leads—or even had just a few scenes as a guest star. She wasn’t picky about her billing or the size of her role. In *I Am a Detective*, which aired in late 2024, she played Bai Ling, a vendor selling whole chickens at the farmers’ market.She appeared completely makeup-free throughout, wore a worn-out cotton jacket that had been washed until it was almost white, had special effects makeup applied to her hands to simulate frostbite, and deliberately left dirt under her fingernails. She would arrive at the market early to observe the vendors as they received their deliveries and chopped up chickens, carefully noting down their everyday movements one by one.
That 110-second long take in the interrogation room was shot in a single continuous shot, with no background music and no editing. She went from feigning composure to being exposed by a single sentence, and then to a complete breakdown, crying while slapping herself in the face. The director said he gave her only an hour to prepare, and she nailed it on the first take.The official account for the CCTV series posted this clip specifically, describing it as “heartfelt and sincere.”
This role earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2025 Magnolia Awards and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2026 Golden Eagle Awards. She was nominated alongside Mei Ting, Jiang Xin, and Qin Hailu.
In an interview in 2026, she said that those early awards were never really worth mentioning; in the past, she had taken many detours due to youthful impulsiveness, but what she now holds in her hands is what is truly solid and reliable. In life, it’s inevitable to stumble into potholes. By staying focused and putting in the hard work, one can always carve out a path of their own.
