Wang Qianyuan plays a police chief in the 31-episode TV series, The Battle at the Dawn. [Photo provided to China Daily]

For Wang, the 48-year-old actor behind more than 50 movies and TV series, The Battle at the Dawn is his latest salute to police heroes.

He earlier played an undercover policeman in the 2014 TV series Mekong River Case, based on a real story in which 13 Chinese sailors were killed by a Myanmar drug ring in 2011.

Recalling his visit to Yunnan province to talk to the local police in 2013, he says their efforts in hunting down drug smugglers impressed him.

Two years later, Wang received a call from Liu Jiang, director of The Battle at the Dawn, and he took the lead role.

"It was my first time playing such a high-ranking official," says Wang during a WeChat interview.

Describing his role, Wang says: "I had never played such a character. In most previous revolutionary series, the characters were flawless role models.

"But my character has his struggles and weakness, making him closer to a real person than a cliched hero."