Chen Kun

Chen Kun
Chen at the 2007 Shanghai International Film Festival.
Background information
Chinese name	陳坤 (traditional)
Chinese name	陈坤 (simplified)
Pinyin	Chén Kūn (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Can4 Kwan1 (Cantonese)
Born	(1976-02-04) February 4, 1976 Chongqing, China
Other name(s)	Aloys Chen
Occupation	Actor, Singer,
Genre(s)	Mandopop
Voice type(s)	Baritone
Years active	1999–present
Children	1 son

Chen Kun (born February 4, 1976), sometimes credited as Aloys Chen, is a Chinese actor and singer. He has won the Hundred Flowers Award's for Best Actor, Huabiao Award for Best Actor, and has received one Golden Horse Award nomination for Best Actor.

Chen gained recognition from the 2001 television drama Love Story in Shanghai and the 2002 film Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. He rose to international prominence from the 2006 film The Knot and the 2008 fantasy film Painted Skin, which also garnered him a Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor. In 2015, he starred in the box office hit Mojin: The Lost Legend.

Biography

Chen was born in Chongqing. His parents divorced soon after Chen's second younger brother was born, and Chen began working part-time in high school to support his mother. He started as a typist at the municipal office and later as a solo singer at night clubs. He showed early talent in singing and was strongly recommended by his vocal trainer and mentor to join the China Oriental Song and Dance Ensemble (now China National Song and Dance Ensemble) at Beijing in 1995. In 1996, he was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy, where he began taking acting classes.

Although unmarried, Chen has one son born in 2002 named Youyou. Chen never intends to uncover the identity of Youyou's mother.

Career

Acting

Chen debuted in the 1999 film The National Anthem,^[1] and rose to prominence with the 2001 television drama Love in Shanghai.

Chen gained more recognition in 2002, after starring in Franco-Chinese romance film Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. The film was nominated the 55th Cannes Festival, which Chen attended together with his co-star Zhou Xun.

He rose to mainstream popularity in 2003, with the republican drama The Story of a Noble Family, adapted from the novel of the same name by Zhang Henshui. The series was a commercial success, and recorded the highest ratings of the year. The role of Jin Yanxi became his most prolific work in his earlier years.

In 2005, he starred in A West Lake Moment, and was nominated as Best Actor for his performance at the Golden Horse Awards.

In 2006, Chen starred in the The Music Box, earning accolades for capturing his screen character's years of arduous life and as well as his struggles and joys.

He then starred in The Knot. The film broke records to become the best-selling local-produced romance film at that time. It garnered 8 nominations at the 16th Golden Rooster Awards, including Best Actor for Chen. He also won Best Actor at the 2007 Huabiao Film Awards. As the male lead, Chen attended the film's premiere held at the 20th Tokyo Film Festival.

In 2008, he starred in Gordon Chan's horror-adventure film Painted Skin. The film was a box office and critic success. Chen's role as a general received acclaim, and he won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen participated in the patriotic tribute The Founding of a Republic. He then starred in the Jiang Wen's black-comedy film Let the Bullets Fly, portraying his first antagonist role.

In 2011, he starred in the 3D wuxia film Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. His dynamic portrayal of two distinct characters; the cold and cruel Yu Huatian and the witty and humorous Feng Lidao, won him Best Actor nominations at the Asian Film Awards and Hundred Flowers Awards.

In 2012, Chen played the role of Qian Xuesen in the biographic film Qian Xuesen. He received critical acclaim for his capturing his character's growth from young to old, as well as his inner thoughts. Once again, he was awarded the Best Actor award at the Shanghai Film Critics Awards. The same year, he starred in Painted Skin: The Resurrection, the sequel to the 2008 film Painted Skin. The film grossed over 700 million yuan to become the highest grossing Chinese film at that time.

In 2013, Chen starred in Bends, playing the role of a middle-aged father. He reportedly received no wages for his appearance in the film. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and the Discovery category at the London Film Festival. Chen also attended the 2013 International du Film de Femmes de Sale in Morocco, where he won Best Actor for his performance.

In 2015, he starred in 3D fantasy action film Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal alongside Li Bingbing; and Mojin: The Lost Legend alongside Shu Qi. Mojin was a huge commercial success, breaking box office records.^[2]

In 2016, Chen starred in his first television variety Twenty Four Hours, an outdoor variety show co-produced by Chen himself. The first episode was broadcast on January 21 on Zhejiang Television and ranked first on its ratings slot nationally. On March, Chongqing Hot Pot which stars Chen and actress Bai Baihe premiered in cinemas. It was selected to be the opening film for the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

In October 2016, Chen was cast in two television dramas; republican spy drama The Escapee, and historical period drama The Rise of Phoenixes, marking his return to the small screen in 7 years.

Singing

Apart from acting, Chen is also an established singer. He frequently performs theme songs for his television series and has released three full-length studio albums, winning Most Popular Male Vocalist at the MTV Asia Awards for his second album Come True Again. To support his third album Mystery&Me, he held his first solo concert in Beijing in February 2010.

Book Publishing

In 2011, Chen published the book Head to East, in the Direction of Peace (往西，宁静的方向) as part of a series of public charities named "Power to Go," which were set up by Chen and aim to encourage people to simply go outside and walk, in an effort to improve their health and spirit. He also published a autobiographic book about Tibet.^[3]

Trivia

In 2012, Chen became the second Chinese male celebrity to have a wax figure of himself displayed at Madam Tussaud in Shanghai.

In 2013, Chen was voted Asia's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity Man 2013 after a fierce battle on PETAAsiaPacific.com by animal rights group PETA Asia. In 2014, he became the product ambassador of Huawei's Honor brand in China.^[4]

As of July 2014, Chen has the most popular account on Sina Weibo with over 70 million followers. He is known as the "#1 Coser (Cosplayer)" in China.^[5]

At the iQiyi Awards Night, Chen was crowned as the "Weibo King" and "Philanthropy King" for the year 2014.

In 2015, Chen became the global ambassador of Giorgio Armani Made to Measure campaign.^[6]

Filmography

Film

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Television

Discography

• Osmosis (2004)
• To Come True Again (2006)
• Mystery&Me (2009)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chen Kun.

• Chen Kun at the Internet Movie Database
• Chen Kun at Sina Weibo
• Chen Kun at Sohu Blog