He first garnered recognition for his acting in 2007, when his performance in Assembly and earned him a Best Newcomer nomination at the 29th Hundred Flowers Awards.
[4] Yuan had a small role in Florian Gallenberger's John Rabe, a 2009 German-Chinese-French biopictorial film starring Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Brühl and Steve Buscemi.
[6] He appeared as Feng Baohua, the company commander of the 57th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, in the war film Death and Glory in Changde.
[11] That same year, he also appeared in romance dramas Beijing Love Story and Nos Annees Francaises.
[12][13] In 2013, Yuan was cast in the lead role of Wan Xiaoda in the Huayi Brothers's production of Tangshan Earthquake.
[17] He also joined the main cast of historical drama The Imperial Doctress as Yexian, ruler of the Northern Yuan.