Ma Tianyu has not attended many variety shows especially in the past two years. He admits he wasn’t in a good condition for a period of time as his father passed away in 2018. In a recent episode of Youth Periplous Season 3 青春环游记3, the 35-year-old actor opened up about how his mother passed away when he was still young.
Ma Tianyu said, “If I didn’t want to eat chocolate that time, perhaps I’d still have a mother.” When he was around 4-5 years old, he implied that his mother committed suicide as he recounted how she gave him money to buy sleeping pills. She told him he could use the rest of the money to buy chocolate so he bought the meds. He said, “Back then, she also took me along, but I lived.”
Ma Tianyu has talked about his past many times before, his mother was sickly and their family was poor. His debt-ridden father walked out on them after his mother died, which is why he and his two older sisters were raised by their grandparents. He eventually dropped out of school to go to Beijing as a young teen where he found work at a restaurant. Encouraged by others to go into acting, he gave showbiz a shot through the 2006 talent show My Hero 加油！好男儿. My Hero is a show that also paved the way for the likes of Li Yifeng, Jing Boran, Fu Xinbo and the late Kimi Qiao who were contestants in 2007.
Seeing the cast emotional upon hearing his story, he said he’s not really saying this for anything and doesn’t have that many unbearable pasts. He adds, “I’m not afraid of people mentioning my family, I’ve said this in other shows as well. I just mean to say that perhaps I really wanted that chocolate when I was young, it was too tempting.”
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J2J
It is sad to hear about his traumatic past. Clearly he still believes he is at fault for his mother’s death. I hope he is getting the right support and treatment.
Laila
I didn’t know about this in regards to his family past. I never really looked into his background actually. I remember watching an episode of him on Happy Camp and they had Dylan Xiong try to make him agree to hangout in one of their role plays. MTY was adamant on his NO, that he was more of a home person and do not like going out. I can see where his quiet, introverted self came from. Really hoping he is seeking, or continue to if he is, for the mental help he needs because of his past. He didn’t know then as a child so I hope he forgives himself. It’s not his fault, but I hope he knows that even if he feels and think it is his fault.