[1][2] Yuan rose to fame for her role in the television drama Never Close Eyes (1998), for which she won the Supporting Actress at the 18th Golden Eagle Awards.
She starred in the four seasons of television series The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan (2002–2008) and won the Best Supporting Actress at the 20th Hundred Flowers Awards for her performance in the film Pure Sentiment (2002).
Following years of increasingly outspoken views on social issues, religion, and the COVID-19 pandemic, her Weibo account was suspended in 2020, effectively blacklisting her in China.
[5] Yuan had her first experience in front of the camera in 1996, and she was chosen to act as a support actor in History of Han Dynasty, a film starring Zhang Tielin.
In 2002, Yuan played the role of An Ran in Cao Baoping's film Pure Sentiment, for which she received a "Best Supporting Actress" at the 20th Hundred Flowers Awards.