text: Gao was then cast in City of Life and Death (2009), directed by Lu Chuan and based on the events of the Nanjing Massacre. Departing from her "girl-next-door" image, Gao played a middle-aged teacher who helped Nanjing people survive the horrors of the Japanese atrocities in 1937. Gao called the role a "turning point" in her career, stating that she had never started taking acting seriously until she worked on the film. City of Life and Death won the
  top prize at the 2009 San Sebastian Film Festival.
  In 2010, Gao starred alongside Korean actor Jung Woo-sung in the romantic film A Season of Good Rain directed by Hur Jin-ho, as well as the omnibus romance drama film Driverless. The following year, she starred in Johnnie To's romantic comedy Don't Go Breaking My Heart alongside Daniel Wu.
  In 2012, Gao starred in Chen Kaige's Caught in the Web where she plays a young woman who commits suicide after she becomes embroiled in a social media controversy. The film was especially popular among young viewers, drawing more than six million viewers and praise from critics.
  Gao returned to television in 2013 with the television series We Get Married, playing a "leftover"(Sheng nü) unmarried woman who gets entangled with a man who has a phobia of marriage. The series was a commercial hit, and was the highest rated drama of 2013. For her performance, Gao won the Best Actress Award at the 18th Beijing Chunyan Awards. Gao reprised her role in the film adaptation of the drama.