Ge You and Jiang Wen are two of China’s most successful actors. Born in 1957, Ge You has won audiences not through movie-star looks but through his innate sense of humor. His rosebud mouth, high cheekbones and, in most movies, shaven head indisputably equip him for anti-hero and underdog roles that often display resilience and unconventional life wisdom. Ge is regarded as one of the best actors in Chinese film history, having acted in more than 50 movies, including Farewell My Concubine, To Live, and The Big Shot’s Funeral. In 1994, Ge You became the first Chinese actor to receive Best Actor at Cannes for his performance in To Live, which also featured Gong Li.

Ge You’s popularity proves that a pretty face is not necessary prerequisite to a successful acting career. He is now synonymous with Chinese blockbuster movies.

Jiang Wen, who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 1984, is another actor who is not regarded in China as particularly handsome. Before starring in Red Sorghum, he won accolades for his performance in Hibiscus Town (1986), themed on the “cultural revolution.” Red Sorghum, which won the coveted Golden Bear at the 1988 Berlin International Film Festival, brought him further acclaim. In the late 1990s, he began directing movies in which he also acted. They include In the Heat of the Sun, based on a novel by Wang Shuo, Devils on the Doorstep, The Sun Also Rises, and Let the Bullets Fly. He is highly respected as both an actor and director. Devils on the Doorstep won the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival in 2000, and Let the Bullets Fly brought in box-office returns in 2010 amounting to RMB 700 million.

Wider Appreciation

The new century ushered in rapid marketization and commercialization of Chinese films. Audiences now have more diversified standards of aesthetic and artistic appreciation. Movie stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan have taken a big share of the mainland film market, and new waves of stars relentlessly supplant those whose fame only yesterday seemed bound to last decades.

The exquisite looks of Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing do not exercise a monopoly over filmgoer preferences. Actors and actresses with distinct individual appeal are also popular. Yao Chen, for example, who has a huge following on Weibo (China’s Twitter), has a wide mouth, which is undesirable by traditional Chinese aesthetic standards, and is sassy and opinionated. Having come to fame through performances in TV dramas, she has also taken lead roles in such movies as Lurk and Caught in the Web. Her humorous delivery and attractive personality have won her 29.9 million fans on her Weibo.

Chinese moviegoers appear to have moved on in their assessment of film actors from the traditional desire for little more than good looks to a broad range of acting accomplishments. Well-known comic actors Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang are living proof of this new diversity of audience appreciation. The 2012 movie, Lost in Thailand starring Xu Zheng, Wang Baoqiang, Huang Bo, Fan Bingbing and Tao Hong generated box-office returns of RMB 1.2 billion just one month after going on general release.

Cinema gains an ever-broader Chinese audience as a hugely popular entertainment medium both now and in the future. An expanded market is a growing trend, which explains the wider appreciation for more diversified performers. In such an era, with its vast spectrum of individual tastes and choices, any one with acting talent now has star potential.

By Lu Rucai (China Today)