As the son of a family with a three-generation long tradition of being in Chinese opera troupes, Yi Zhao should have pursued a career in Chinese opera. As a professional Pagliacci actor, he has good artistic talent. However, fate led him to enter the promising yet fiercely competitive film and television industry shortly after leaving the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, wearing the title of an actor from the China National Peking Opera Company. He took over the role of Bai Rongnian in the forty-episode TV drama "Niu Zihou and Fu Liancheng", replacing the actor who was absent due to some reasons. This drama became his debut. From then on, he began to make an impression on the audience that etched vividly in the public’s memory, such that he became irreplaceable. He played Li Wei in “Yongzheng Dynasty”, Bai Jingye in “Da Zhai Men”, Xu Sanjin in “Tian Xia Liang Cang”, Prince Gong Yixin in “The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom”, and so on. His progress is not easily attainable even for actors of "time-honored brands".