Real Name: Zhang Yixing (张艺兴)
Birthday: October 7th, 1991
Zodiac Sign: Libra (Western), Sheep (Eastern)
From: Changsha, Hunan, China
Position(s): Vocalist, Main/Lead Dancer (to be honest I’m not sure which – he was definitely main dancer for EXO-M, but now that the units are combined he seems more like a lead)
Sub-unit(s): EXO-M
Superpower: Healing unicorn
After the departure of Kris, Luhan, and Tao, Lay is the only remaining Chinese member in EXO. Because of the THAAD dispute between China and South Korea, Lay is currently not promoting with EXO (thus why he has a different picture). Instead, he is staying active in China.
Other Activities Outside of EXO
NOTE: Most of these activities are in China and therefore in Chinese, though there are some from South Korea.
SOLO MUSIC:
2016: Debuted with mini-album Lose Control, with singles “What U Need?” and “Lose Control”
2017: Second solo album, with title track “Sheep” and pre-release “I Need U”
SM STATION:
2016: “Monodrama”
OSTs:
2015: “Happy Youth” for Oh My God and “Alone (One Person)” for Ex Files 2
2017: “Prayer” for Operation Love
COMPOSING:
Lay has been building his career as a songwriting and composer. He has lyrics, composer, and arrangement credits for: all of the aforementioned OSTs, his debut mini-album, “Monodrama,” and EXO’s “Promise” on their 2015 album.
DANCE:
Was a member of SM The Performance along with fellow member Kai, TVXQ’s Yunho, Super Junior’s Eunhyuk and Donghae, and Shinee’s Minho and Taemin.
ACTING:
2015:
*Supporting role in romantic comedy Ex Files 2.
*First starring role in Oh My God, a comedy about a couple who prays for a blessing and is magically gifted with a baby.
2016:
*Royal Treasure, a comedy featuring the cast of Go Fighting who are accidentally sent back in time and tasked to find a treasure. (He plays a version of himself)
*Played a supporting role in the drama To Be A Better Man.
*Had a lead role in The Mystic Nine, a drama about three men who discover an ancient tomb and a plot by the Japanese to poison the Changsha river. Lay plays a man looking for medicine to save his sick wife.
2017:
*Kung Fu Yoga – An action comedy starring Jackie Chan where Chinese and Indian archeologists team up to find a lost Indian treasure. (He’s only in the trailer for like 3 seconds, sorry!)
*Starred in the drama Operation Love, playing a man who realizes too late he’s in love with his best friend (but he gets a chance to go back in time and fix it).
*Will appear in the romantic comedy Unexpected Love with labelmate Krystal of f(x). It’s a love story between a Chinese singer and a Korean dancer.
*Will appear in the upcoming movie The Founding of an Army, the final installment of the trilogy The Founding of a New China.
*Will dub the voice of Lightning McQueen’s rival in the Korean version of Cars 3.
NOTABLE VARIETY SHOW APPEARANCES:
CHINA
*2015-2016: Go Fighting! – A Chinese variety show where cast members complete tasks and carry out missions. I haven’t watched it, but it seems kind of similar to Running Man or Infinite Challenge.
SOUTH KOREA:
2013:
Hello Counselor (KBS) – A talk show where celebrity guests give people advice based on various situations. Appeared with fellow member Kai and soloists IU and K.Will.
2016:
EXOMENTARY – EXO’s reality show on V-Live. Was the focus for Episode 5 (it’s on V-Live +, so you’ll have to pay to watch it)
We Got Married – This was actually an unintended appearance, but apparently cast members Jo Seho and Fiestar’s Cao Lu (who is also Chinese) were at the airport and the cameras caught Lay as well.
SM The Artist (V-Live) – A documentary series that looks at various SM idols.
WRITING: Lay wrote an autobiography, Standing Firm at 24, in 2015. Yes, he is a published author.
Sources: Wikipedia, SM Entertainment, Youtube, V-Live, Soompi, Omona They Didn’t (Livejournal), KBS. Since this page has a lot of subbed trailers, I just want to reiterate that none of these videos belong to me nor did I do any subbing myself. All credits go to the original owners.
Katherine Does K-POP 