This is from X that posted by Enigma05 below.----------------The central media (CCTV) has repeatedly given #ChenZheyuan…
I already mentioned this here before, but I’ll say it again. CZY was born in Shenzhen which is close to Hong Kong, so his natural accent is quite strong and sounds closer to a Cantonese-influenced accent than standard Mandarin. He also sometimes stutters a little when speaking, so dubbing his own dramas is definitely not an easy task.
First, he has to adjust his natural accent, work on speaking more smoothly without stuttering and at the same time deliver the lines with the right emotions, just like a professional voice actor would. That takes a lot of time and effort on top of improving his acting skills. CZY rarely goes on Weibo to express himself, even when filming is tough or when controversies about him are happening on social media. Most of the time, he just stays silent. But when he really couldn’t dub his own character, he actually came on Weibo late at night to apologize to his fans.... that shows how seriously he takes this. Some people might think dubbing character isn’t such a big deal but clearly it matters a lot to him because he has promised to use his own voice whenever he can. So when he couldn’t do it, he genuinely felt bad about it.
Working alongside veteran actors is another way for him to step outside his comfort zone. In a more serious drama like DNAD, he could have been criticized very easily if his performance couldn’t keep up with the experienced actors around him, especially since he was the main character and had around 70–80% of the screen time. If the audience didn’t accept his performance, it could have affected the entire drama. But in the end, CCTV viewers responded well to it. They don’t really care about fake popularity, fandom hype or marketing accounts pushing a drama, they simply turn on the TV and watch. And DNAD still managed to achieve a CVB rating of over 2%.
That’s also why central media praised him for having the courage, as a young actor to challenge himself instead of staying in his comfort zone. Taking on this kind of role comes with a much higher risk of criticism, but he still chose to do it and proved that he is serious about pursuing acting as a long-term career rather than simply chasing popularity.
He’s doing it again in Light the Dark too. If we’re lucky enough, iQiyi might actually air it sometime this year... I suppose.
This is from X that posted by Enigma05 below. ----------------
The central media (CCTV) has repeatedly given #ChenZheyuan their stamp of approval – and that's no small feat.
Truth is, in the domestic entertainment industry, there aren't many young actors who can consistently earn recognition from state-backed media. At first, I thought it was just occasional promotional coverage for one drama. But as I looked deeper, I realized it wasn't a one-off hype campaign – it was one project after another, with recognition that kept building.
I remember watching a behind-the-scenes interview that really stuck with me. Someone asked him why his line delivery had improved so noticeably. He admitted that he used to have a strong accent problem, so whenever he had free time, he'd practice phrasing and emotional inflection over and over. After wrapping up filming, while others rested, he'd stay behind to fine-tune his dubbing, carefully polishing every single line. He never believed that his looks could substitute for real acting skills.
When he starred in Dark Night and Dawn, he stepped outside the idol drama mold and took on a period spy thriller. CCTV's drama review section gave the series a special feature, acknowledging the completeness of his character portrayal – shattering the stereotype that he could only do sweet romance dramas. Many casual viewers were surprised, saying they never expected a traffic actor to take on such a meaningful, mainstream project with such dedication.
In Song of a Smile, he used his own voice for the entire drama, delivering long, intense court dialogue with natural emotional flow. CCTV Drama even did a dedicated interview about the series, directly commending his vocal performance. The drama was also featured in a cultural export initiative, serving as a case study for Chinese productions going global. Even friends of mine who watched it remarked how rare it is these days for young actors to commit to full original voice acting.
During the broadcast of The Royal Ballad, CCTV Culture & Entertainment conducted a solo interview with him, delving into the loneliness and inner struggles of the young emperor he portrayed – not just promoting the show, but exploring the deeper thinking behind his character-building. That's a sign of respect for an actor's craft.
He rarely uses gossip or trending topics to stay in the spotlight. He finishes one drama and immediately dives into the next. Even at the peak of his popularity, he didn't rush to take on a bunch of similar idol dramas to cash in quickly. Instead, he actively sought out completely different characters to expand his range.
In summary:
The central media's repeated support for Chen Zheyuan isn't accidental. It's not manufactured hype through short-term marketing – it's the result of years of steady work, a willingness to refine his craft, and the courage to step outside his comfort zone and explore different genres. Compared to fleeting viral fame, solid, tangible work is the strongest foundation for being recognized by the mainstream.
YSL posted CZY on TikTok. I was so happy seeing it on my FYP😍😍😍😍😍
Yeah, YSL treats CZY really well. He has gotten so many billboards in department stores across China. If I’m not mistaken, he may also attend another fashion week for YSL. Let’s see 😊
It looks like Against the Current is airing next on Tencent, which unfortunately means we'll probably have to…
One drama usually airs for around two weeks not a whole month, so September is still possible but it also depends on Tencent.
As a long-time CZY fan, I think we’re better off keeping our expectations low when it comes to his dramas. He doesn’t have strong capital backing and his agency is super weak. Whenever his dramas come out, there’s rarely much hype or proper promotion. They always seem to get suddenly dropped with almost no official announcement beforehand.
Just take FH as an example. It aired only a day after the official announcement, had almost zero promotion on Chinese social media and barely trended anywhere. But it still ended up doing pretty well and reached a good heat index (which I think is harder to achieve on iQiyi compared with the other two major platforms) because viewers themselves shared and discussed it on social media not because marketing accounts were pushing it.
Same with RB. It basically dropped without a proper official announcement, yet it still topped Maoyan’s Daily Effective Playback Ranking for several days, even alongside Mystic Nine, which is a much bigger hit with the huge promotion and stronger production quality. Not to mention Mango has the less number of viewers compare to the big 3.
CZY’s dramas are always like this...
And actually, I’m okay with CD not airing right now. He’s still filming another drama and I really want him to get some rest. Otherwise, he’ll have to run around promoting the drama again while still working nonstop.
I just want him to take a proper break. If CD is good, people will like it. If it isn’t, then it’ll go another way. Either way, there are so many factors we can’t control, and C-dramas are always unpredictable anyway. We really can’t expect every drama to have great overall quality.
At the end of the day, what matters most to me is that our CZY works hard and always delivers what he can with the role he’s given. For me, that’s already good enough 🥹
He has been recognized by CCTV since DNAD, FH and now again with RB. At least it feels like the official media also sees him as a promising young actor who is disciplined and takes his profession seriously.
Once again, RB topped the Daily Effective Playback Ranking on Maoyan.
LOL... even with a drama like this.....not exactly great in terms of the script or overall execution with barely any publicity or major popularity hype, CZY still delivers 👏
Just like FH, which still made it onto iQIYI International’s chart for the first half of 2026. when FH was airing, iQIYI treated it so badly too... didn't even have the fix screens on it websites with zero promotion......
State media recognition; very important! Here’s the translation: https://x.com/chenzheyuanbao/status/2088134257915101608?s=46&t=zqI38SPvJuccjplZiNI69Q
Thank you for sharing, mate!! Being recognized by CCTV is definitely something we should be proud of. But at the same time, doesn’t CCTV praise rising stars every now and then not only CZY? 🤔
How about giving CZY another role in a CCTV drama? Then I’ll believe the praise actually comes with some real intention behind it, rather than just being another article with no further meaning 😌 Sorry, I’m already at the point where I don’t fully trust anything from c-ent anymore even when it comes from CCTV 😂
Are there any Ao chi and Sha luo scenes without zi miao lurking around them? Whatever reuters I'm seeing he is…
Yeah, speaking of that, C-dramas really love ruining the plots of the original novels. It’s like they also love producing “tofu dramas” not just tofu buildings 🤣
They keep torturing the ML or FL with completely illogical plot lines, almost like the script itself is a sociopath 😂 And then you have a director everyone is already scared will ruin the drama, while they’re also apparently trying to mess with the ML/FL relationship.
Then when the drama finally airs and there isn’t much interaction or skin ship between the leads, you already know what the first complaint in the comment section will be: “Ohhh, the leads have no chemistry.” 🤣 Apparently, if there’s no steamy kiss or bed scene, a normal relationship is just too boring for audiences who desperately want romance, romance and more romance 🤣
I didn't expect much from the drama, I just wanted it to pass well. It wasn't the best, but not a bad watch. We…
As far as I know, I got it from Weibo. It seems to refer to a production team that lacks certain skills and professionalism. I’m not exactly sure what the “three” specifically refers to, but I think it means three essential things a production team should have, but doesn’t.
#RoyalBetrothal Has Achieved Over 800 Million Cumulative Effective Playback Volume on MaoYan. https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/2088104431740956866?s=12Okay,…
I didn't expect much from the drama, I just wanted it to pass well. It wasn't the best, but not a bad watch. We…
Being an actor in C-ent really isn’t easy, especially when your agency isn’t strong enough or is basically useless. On top of that, fewer long-form dramas are being produced now. The big platforms have to be much more cautious about what they produce because of financial pressure and falling stock prices.
Sometimes I honestly wonder whether it would have been better if CZY were a Korean actor instead 😅 I just want to see him acting in genuinely high-quality productions with more variety, rather than dramas that focus so heavily on romance just for the sake of popularity and all the other nonsense that comes with C-ent.
I think I’d actually enjoy following him even more if he had more opportunities to take on different genres and stronger scripts.
C-dramas have been a letdown and somehow there’s even more drama happening outside the actual dramas.
I didn't expect much from the drama, I just wanted it to pass well. It wasn't the best, but not a bad watch. We…
Better than I thought, to be honest, especially since it was suddenly aired and the overall quality of the drama isn’t really on par with some of the other dramas airing at the same time. Mango also has a smaller viewer base compared with the Big Three platforms, so it’s already quite difficult to compete unless a drama has really strong production quality and an excellent script and unfortunately, this drama has neither.
There have been quite a lot of complaints about this and that, barely any publicity for the drama, and some fans were protesting from the very beginning for various reasons. Usually, a drama’s supertopic would be filled with CZY’s fans, but this is probably the only one where his fans barely participated. That’s also one of the reasons why it doesn’t rank on the popularity charts. However, it still shows up on the Daily Effective Playback chart on Maoyan, ranking back-to-back with Mystic Nine while Mystic Nine has the overall good quality that it hards to be compared. I haven't watch Mystic Nine yet, just watch the clips on youtube and it looks very good with the quality, i'm glad that this type of genre can make a hit on china too apart from romance...
Anyway, CZY’s agency really should have screened the project more carefully before handing him the script. This production team is basically a “three-no” production team with no previous experience producing costume dramas pretty much the same situation as TWOT’s production team lol. His agency really is useless.
But since it’s already in the past, I’d rather look at the positive side. At least this role gave him another experience and hopefully helped him improve and grow more as an actor.
And I just noticed something from all the dramas of his that I’ve watched, his characters are rarely a letdown. He usually doesn’t play the typical ML who is completely obsessed with the FL and has nothing else going on in his life. His characters normally have their own goals, ambitions, courage, and responsibilities. They can fall in love, of course, but they’re not just lovesick all the time.
The FLs are usually not written as dumb characters either. There tends to be a pretty equal character setup between the ML and FL, where neither one exists only to make the other look better or completely overshadows the other (I mean for the overall character setting , not the final product after the script has been changed). That makes me think the original scripts he chooses are actually selected quite wisely. The final result still depends a lot on the overall quality of the drama, the full script and how well the production team executes it but at least his characters themselves are usually quite likable and well-balanced.
So when it comes specifically to choosing the character setting of the ML, I actually think CZY has made some pretty good choices 😊 regardless of the overall outcome of the drama itself.
Not yet i believe and he said he will take a break after fusheng so we'll have to wait
I really want him to take a break first! Starting a new project in C-ent feels like going into a war zone, there’s a battle everywhere!!! ML and FL fandoms fight like crazy and I’m just like… what?! Wouldn’t it be better if everyone just cooperated and supported the drama instead? 😭
And if he ends up doing another romance drama, I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing him paired with an actress born in the 2000s. I don’t mean this in a misogynistic or ageist way at all, but the fan wars among the 95-line fandoms are getting so ridiculous and exhausting. 😩 He has already worked with quite a few actresses who are older than him, so pairing him with someone from the 2000s generation could feel fresh and give us a different kind of chemistry too.
First, he has to adjust his natural accent, work on speaking more smoothly without stuttering and at the same time deliver the lines with the right emotions, just like a professional voice actor would. That takes a lot of time and effort on top of improving his acting skills.
CZY rarely goes on Weibo to express himself, even when filming is tough or when controversies about him are happening on social media. Most of the time, he just stays silent. But when he really couldn’t dub his own character, he actually came on Weibo late at night to apologize to his fans.... that shows how seriously he takes this. Some people might think dubbing character isn’t such a big deal but clearly it matters a lot to him because he has promised to use his own voice whenever he can. So when he couldn’t do it, he genuinely felt bad about it.
Working alongside veteran actors is another way for him to step outside his comfort zone. In a more serious drama like DNAD, he could have been criticized very easily if his performance couldn’t keep up with the experienced actors around him, especially since he was the main character and had around 70–80% of the screen time. If the audience didn’t accept his performance, it could have affected the entire drama.
But in the end, CCTV viewers responded well to it. They don’t really care about fake popularity, fandom hype or marketing accounts pushing a drama, they simply turn on the TV and watch. And DNAD still managed to achieve a CVB rating of over 2%.
That’s also why central media praised him for having the courage, as a young actor to challenge himself instead of staying in his comfort zone.
Taking on this kind of role comes with a much higher risk of criticism, but he still chose to do it and proved that he is serious about pursuing acting as a long-term career rather than simply chasing popularity.
He’s doing it again in Light the Dark too. If we’re lucky enough, iQiyi might actually air it sometime this year... I suppose.
----------------
The central media (CCTV) has repeatedly given #ChenZheyuan their stamp of approval – and that's no small feat.
Truth is, in the domestic entertainment industry, there aren't many young actors who can consistently earn recognition from state-backed media. At first, I thought it was just occasional promotional coverage for one drama. But as I looked deeper, I realized it wasn't a one-off hype campaign – it was one project after another, with recognition that kept building.
I remember watching a behind-the-scenes interview that really stuck with me. Someone asked him why his line delivery had improved so noticeably. He admitted that he used to have a strong accent problem, so whenever he had free time, he'd practice phrasing and emotional inflection over and over. After wrapping up filming, while others rested, he'd stay behind to fine-tune his dubbing, carefully polishing every single line. He never believed that his looks could substitute for real acting skills.
1. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘾𝘾𝙏𝙑'𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨.
When he starred in Dark Night and Dawn, he stepped outside the idol drama mold and took on a period spy thriller. CCTV's drama review section gave the series a special feature, acknowledging the completeness of his character portrayal – shattering the stereotype that he could only do sweet romance dramas. Many casual viewers were surprised, saying they never expected a traffic actor to take on such a meaningful, mainstream project with such dedication.
2. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚.
In Song of a Smile, he used his own voice for the entire drama, delivering long, intense court dialogue with natural emotional flow. CCTV Drama even did a dedicated interview about the series, directly commending his vocal performance. The drama was also featured in a cultural export initiative, serving as a case study for Chinese productions going global. Even friends of mine who watched it remarked how rare it is these days for young actors to commit to full original voice acting.
3. 𝙄𝙣-𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨.
During the broadcast of The Royal Ballad, CCTV Culture & Entertainment conducted a solo interview with him, delving into the loneliness and inner struggles of the young emperor he portrayed – not just promoting the show, but exploring the deeper thinking behind his character-building. That's a sign of respect for an actor's craft.
4. 𝙉𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚 – 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠.
He rarely uses gossip or trending topics to stay in the spotlight. He finishes one drama and immediately dives into the next. Even at the peak of his popularity, he didn't rush to take on a bunch of similar idol dramas to cash in quickly. Instead, he actively sought out completely different characters to expand his range.
In summary:
The central media's repeated support for Chen Zheyuan isn't accidental. It's not manufactured hype through short-term marketing – it's the result of years of steady work, a willingness to refine his craft, and the courage to step outside his comfort zone and explore different genres. Compared to fleeting viral fame, solid, tangible work is the strongest foundation for being recognized by the mainstream.
As a long-time CZY fan, I think we’re better off keeping our expectations low when it comes to his dramas. He doesn’t have strong capital backing and his agency is super weak. Whenever his dramas come out, there’s rarely much hype or proper promotion.
They always seem to get suddenly dropped with almost no official announcement beforehand.
Just take FH as an example. It aired only a day after the official announcement, had almost zero promotion on Chinese social media and barely trended anywhere. But it still ended up doing pretty well and reached a good heat index (which I think is harder to achieve on iQiyi compared with the other two major platforms) because viewers themselves shared and discussed it on social media not because marketing accounts were pushing it.
Same with RB. It basically dropped without a proper official announcement, yet it still topped Maoyan’s Daily Effective Playback Ranking for several days, even alongside Mystic Nine, which is a much bigger hit with the huge promotion and stronger production quality. Not to mention Mango has the less number of viewers compare to the big 3.
CZY’s dramas are always like this...
And actually, I’m okay with CD not airing right now. He’s still filming another drama and I really want him to get some rest. Otherwise, he’ll have to run around promoting the drama again while still working nonstop.
I just want him to take a proper break. If CD is good, people will like it. If it isn’t, then it’ll go another way. Either way, there are so many factors we can’t control, and C-dramas are always unpredictable anyway. We really can’t expect every drama to have great overall quality.
At the end of the day, what matters most to me is that our CZY works hard and always delivers what he can with the role he’s given. For me, that’s already good enough 🥹
He has been recognized by CCTV since DNAD, FH and now again with RB. At least it feels like the official media also sees him as a promising young actor who is disciplined and takes his profession seriously.
🥇 #RoyalBetrothal
✨ #ChenZheyuan × #WuJinyan
https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/2088406214065500581?s=12
Once again, RB topped the Daily Effective Playback Ranking on Maoyan.
LOL... even with a drama like this.....not exactly great in terms of the script or overall execution with barely any publicity or major popularity hype, CZY still delivers 👏
Just like FH, which still made it onto iQIYI International’s chart for the first half of 2026. when FH was airing, iQIYI treated it so badly too... didn't even have the fix screens on it websites with zero promotion......
https://x.com/YuanBaosWorld/status/2088122464870203696?s=12
How about giving CZY another role in a CCTV drama? Then I’ll believe the praise actually comes with some real intention behind it, rather than just being another article with no further meaning 😌
Sorry, I’m already at the point where I don’t fully trust anything from c-ent anymore even when it comes from CCTV 😂
They keep torturing the ML or FL with completely illogical plot lines, almost like the script itself is a sociopath 😂 And then you have a director everyone is already scared will ruin the drama, while they’re also apparently trying to mess with the ML/FL relationship.
Then when the drama finally airs and there isn’t much interaction or skin ship between the leads, you already know what the first complaint in the comment section will be: “Ohhh, the leads have no chemistry.” 🤣 Apparently, if there’s no steamy kiss or bed scene, a normal relationship is just too boring for audiences who desperately want romance, romance and more romance 🤣
https://x.com/YuanBaosWorld/status/2088126809976226269?s=12
🥇 #RoyalBetrothal
✨ #ChenZheyuan × #WuJinyan
https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/2088105420485247316?s=12
🤡
https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/2088104431740956866?s=12
Okay, I’m good with this. Let’s move on to Chasing Dreams... 😊
On top of that, fewer long-form dramas are being produced now. The big platforms have to be much more cautious about what they produce because of financial pressure and falling stock prices.
Sometimes I honestly wonder whether it would have been better if CZY were a Korean actor instead 😅 I just want to see him acting in genuinely high-quality productions with more variety, rather than dramas that focus so heavily on romance just for the sake of popularity and all the other nonsense that comes with C-ent.
I think I’d actually enjoy following him even more if he had more opportunities to take on different genres and stronger scripts.
C-dramas have been a letdown and somehow there’s even more drama happening outside the actual dramas.
There have been quite a lot of complaints about this and that, barely any publicity for the drama, and some fans were protesting from the very beginning for various reasons. Usually, a drama’s supertopic would be filled with CZY’s fans, but this is probably the only one where his fans barely participated. That’s also one of the reasons why it doesn’t rank on the popularity charts. However, it still shows up on the Daily Effective Playback chart on Maoyan, ranking back-to-back with Mystic Nine while Mystic Nine has the overall good quality that it hards to be compared.
I haven't watch Mystic Nine yet, just watch the clips on youtube and it looks very good with the quality, i'm glad that this type of genre can make a hit on china too apart from romance...
Anyway, CZY’s agency really should have screened the project more carefully before handing him the script. This production team is basically a “three-no” production team with no previous experience producing costume dramas pretty much the same situation as TWOT’s production team lol. His agency really is useless.
But since it’s already in the past, I’d rather look at the positive side. At least this role gave him another experience and hopefully helped him improve and grow more as an actor.
[MaoYan] Daily Effective Playback Ranking (All Dramas)
🥇 #RoyalBetrothal
✨ #ChenZheyuan × #WuJinyan
https://x.com/cdramacharts/status/2087732800522760312?s=12
And it has also reached 700 million effective views on MaoYan too..
The FLs are usually not written as dumb characters either. There tends to be a pretty equal character setup between the ML and FL, where neither one exists only to make the other look better or completely overshadows the other (I mean for the overall character setting , not the final product after the script has been changed).
That makes me think the original scripts he chooses are actually selected quite wisely. The final result still depends a lot on the overall quality of the drama, the full script and how well the production team executes it but at least his characters themselves are usually quite likable and well-balanced.
So when it comes specifically to choosing the character setting of the ML, I actually think CZY has made some pretty good choices 😊 regardless of the overall outcome of the drama itself.
ML and FL fandoms fight like crazy and I’m just like… what?! Wouldn’t it be better if everyone just cooperated and supported the drama instead? 😭
And if he ends up doing another romance drama, I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing him paired with an actress born in the 2000s. I don’t mean this in a misogynistic or ageist way at all, but the fan wars among the 95-line fandoms are getting so ridiculous and exhausting. 😩 He has already worked with quite a few actresses who are older than him, so pairing him with someone from the 2000s generation could feel fresh and give us a different kind of chemistry too.