ettie-dramatic

That’s totally cool 💁🏻‍♀️

Hehehe it’s totally true. The whole time I was watching I kept thinking “HOW has this dude survived in such a cutthroat industry for so long?” I’m sure there’s a business persona that he adopts somewhere, but his naivety is quite refreshing 😆

You are entitled to your opinion, but I think what rubs the other commentators the wrong way is that you state your opinion as fact. The truth is that in any industry, access is dependent on so much more than just talent and ability.

Chen Xing Xu’s misstep lies more in that he does not market himself well in this douyin driven world and his weakness is that he is not a multi-hyphenate and is too humble about his own abilities (e.g. singing) to develop himself in that area. I just came across a recent variety show that had Zhang Xin Cheng on it with a whole bunch of much younger artistes. Zhang Xin Cheng is Chen Xing Xu’s contemporary to the max- they attended the same schools and were both were admitted top in their respective programs at Central Academy (Zhang Xin Cheng was there for musical theatre). Zhang Xin Cheng shared that his teachers had always emphasized how as an actor, it is important to retain a sense of mystery and not self promote excessively. The younger artistes all immediately reacted saying that times have changed, that if you do not do self promotion, you may as well leave the industry.

And that’s the conundrum that is facing the ‘95 batch of actors- the ones who are regarded as “top” either capitalised on their earlier big break and then continued to build their fanbases to maintain commercial visibility OR they are currently backed by big agencies who spend a lot of money marketing them and black marketing their peers who are probably better and more professional actors (like Chen Xing Xu) to climb.

My main point is, I disagree with your assessment that it is a lack of charisma or acting skills that is limiting him. He was given a reprieve from all the smear campaigns when he really was stuck in a whole bunch of lackluster scripts and productions post “The Starry Love”. But the very moment he started getting public attention and momentum, the smear campaigns came back again. If he were not viewed as a threat because of his talent, why would anyone bother to spend money trying to ruin his reputation? (And they have spent a LOT of money on even things like data suppression on the social media platforms to suffocate any spark of popularity).

You keep coming back to repeat the same thing. Are you a troll? All the actors that you have listed are signed to either a big agency with capital backing or an agency linked to a platform. This gives them access to roles & scripts. At the end of the day, they trade off their freedom for protection/ marketing/ better opportunities for roles and endorsements.
Chen Xing Xu has never signed to an agency and manages his own career. The fact that he can continue to secure lead roles is a testament to his talent and professionalism. What he gets, he has to fight tooth and nail for to prove himself because he has no money backing him.

Is looking young a premium? I find his maturity and more masculine aura a lot more refreshing.

I wonder if you understand that securing roles in the C-entertainment industry has nothing to do with talent. Chen Xing Xu has never signed to any agency so he has no capital backing. He is also not a traffic actor so while he has been good to his fans, he does not do the intensive douyin marketing or buying of red searches that a lot of traffic actors (including the 2 specific examples you included) do. I would argue that it is a testament to Chen Xing Xu’s talent and professionalism that he even continues to secure lead roles, even if they are viewed as “not good enough”. Things are taking a turn hopefully - he has been a target for an extensive smear campaign, which usually just means that he is being viewed as a threat and a more serious competitor now for better roles.

Thanks for posting that, I just finished rewatching LOTL and his acting there is just amazing. Especially in that specific scene where he is rescuers and the immediate trauma, he really really makes you believe in Yan Tuo’s suffering.

He just finished filming that same drama (“The Noble”) and you can go reserve it on the WeTV app if you have it. It IS a complex role because his character will have 3 identities in the drama. Am also looking forward!

I’m quite sure he would love to if they were offered to him and were suitable. But the industry is even more competitive now that the number of dramas are being reduced and budgets are being cut.

You can watch his backlog- he’s been acting since he was a child but is quite selective in his dramas… so every time any one of his dramas get attention, a whole bunch of his backlogged dramas get a boost as well. I liked “My Boss” - modern office and fixed cohabitation drama as well, but the dynamics with the female lead are quite different. “Fall in love” is a Republican drama he did with Zhang Jingyi when they were both very young. But the storyline is decent and the acting overall is great.

He just finished filming “The Noble” which is directed by Zeng Qing Jie (director of Blossom and POJ) and original script by Cao Xiaotian (“The Glory”). TBH, I’m sure he would love to take on more costume dramas, but such dramas are higher cost and he may not have had access to these opportunities. He is said to have signed a deal with Tencent so hopefully that will give him more of a boost or chance in getting better scripts.

To be honest, this suing is only the tip of the iceberg. He’s been the target of rumor-mongering from fanwars since Love Between Lines and then into the filming of “The Noble” as well as a sustained smear campaign during LBL especially. It must have been extremely stressful but hopefully he will stay resilient and calm… and find a good PR and marketing team who can better manage such situations for him.

Your comment makes it sound like Chen Xing Xu’s acting in Goodbye My Princess is a one hit wonder. I disagree with that sentiment.
First of all, I don’t think he would ever be able to replicate that because they just don’t make Cdramas like that anymore. Second, his youthful energy and rawness in his acting then gave Li Chengyin that specific texture. He is not the same actor he used to be because his acting has matured and become a lot more nuanced. Some people don’t like that and see it as a degrading of his skills or think that he is “checking out” maybe. But I actually am impressed because embodying a character with subtlety is far harder than just designing obvious tics and exaggerated mannerisms.

In any case, I look forward to his future roles. He’s such a thoughtful and versatile actor who is committed to each character. So hopefully he will get better scripts that allow him more growth and latitude in acting.

True, but these roles may not be offered to him. In any case? He has been acting since a very young age and his filmography is a LOT more varied than recent viewers think. He has played a soldier, an office worker and a forensic pathologist before (as examples). But with his current build (although he lost most of his muscles for his recent historical role), the association with either being a white collar professional (he’s played a CTO, doctor, lawyer and architect so far) and CEO is just what producers and directors are seeing him as right now. Hopefully it will evolve soon because his acting skills are too good to be stuck in this typecast.

Haha. I do think that it’s the production’s way of having him come out of his shell though. Plus his reactions were the funniest!! 😆

He recently wrapped up filming for “The Noble”, and filming the second tranche for Wow the World 2. He is rumoured to join a 16 episode suspense romance thriller with Gao Xiaotong as his co-star. That melon is the most recent and possibly the most legitimate compared to the others I’ve seen. But it would be uncommon for him take up another drama so quickly… though in this current climate, it may be just practical to take on as much work when it is offered and suitable as possible….

Honestly, although reading this does make feel a bit sad for him, I do also think that it’s good that he has come to balance his idealism with reality. When I watched interviews of his younger self, he was indeed brimming with energy and hope. He wanted to be a great actor who could take on a whole myriad of challenging roles while living his own life. He even went as far as to disband his own fan club because he probably wanted to be a career actor rather than one who is dependent on traffic for roles and opportunities.
And he’s always had to deal with black marketing and rumour mongering. But this year, the smear campaigns were so blatant in trying to ruin his acting reputation that he has probably realised that he has no choice but to now do a lot of things he had not wanted to do in the past. He’s not big into self-marketing, but there is a lot more marketing now than there used to be. He never went on variety shows before, but he’s now a regular on Wow the World. He’s also re-established his fan club, partly because it will hopefully lead to better organization and a semblance of control.
Here is hoping that his current efforts pay dividends and that he gets better roles, scripts and productions. Because he truly is a gem of an actor and I would want to watch him grow and challenge himself even more.

He’s actually viewed very well in the industry and casual viewers ( excluding fanbases which are determined to smear him). How else do you think he can continue to secure lead roles even without capital backing or a big agency?

Perhaps we’ll just put this down to personal opinion? He’s actually really sincere and charming when you watch his interviews and Wow the World. There is an underlying social anxiety and nervousness at parts (for Wow the World) and he’s definitely not glib; but I think he more than makes up for it with how down to earth he is. In terms of screen presence, he oozes charisma in spades. He could do with a much better PR and Marketing team, but those are the limitations of being self-employed instead of having a big agency who can spend lots of money burnishing your image for you.

As for his acting, perhaps we’ll just put it down to personal taste again? He hardly needs defending because his body of work speaks for itself. If you read enough articles and commentary (that are not driven by the nasty smear campaigns in the past year), the majority praise the realism of his acting and that his talent is let down by not having access to better scripts or productions. I think it is very naive to think that actors can have the best pick of scripts in such a competitive industry. But regardless of how limited the script is or how low budget a production may be, Chen Xing Xu strikes me as an actor who gives his all into respecting the character as an individual and breathing life into it. His acting has become so much more nuanced than when he first started and it is incredible how well differentiated every character is.

Show had a very low budget. The marketing was mainly driven by the leads’ own efforts to be honest.