Wallace Huo

Wallace Huo Chien-hwa (born 26 December 1979) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and producer. He is currently active in the television and movie industry in China. He is known for his roles as Zhong Xiaogang in At Dolphin Bay (2003), Xu Changqing in Chinese Paladin 3 (2009), Linghu Chong in Swordsman (2013) and Bai Zihua in The Journey of Flower (2015), which puts his fame and popularity at the highest peak.

Early life

Wallace Huo Chien-hwa was born in Taipei, Taiwan on 26 December 1979. His family originated from Shandong province, with parents being natives of Longkou, Shandong province and Tianjin Municipality respectively. His grandfather was a follower of Sun Yat-sen and in October 1949, his family moved to Taiwan. Both his parents worked in the court system and his brother is a police officer.^[1] Huo once aspired to be a basketball player but then turned to singing in his early teenage days.^[2]

Setting the goal as a singer, Huo joined the entertainment business at the age of 17. He was the assistant of Taiwanese TV host Sam Tseng then.^[2]

Career

2000-2003

Huo first became known from a cell phone commercial with Angelica Lee in 2000.

After completing his military service in 2002, Huo, in order to have the chance to sing a theme song, became one of the two leading actors in the drama Star. This marked the beginning of his acting career.^[2]

Huo rose to fame from the idol drama At Dolphin Bay, which achieved a peak rating of 5.11 and became the most popular idol drama of the year. His role as the talented and capable music director Zhong Xiaogang brought him significant popularity in Taiwan as well as Southeast Asia. He was then in great demand by many producers and was cast in seven idol dramas in the same year (a record yet to be broken), including Pretty Girl, The Great Teacher, My Secret Garden, Westside Story and 100% Senorita etc.^[3] While many people regarded him a popular star, Huo had to ride motorcycle to different shooting locations on his own without any assistant. He nearly fell asleep while driving. This overload of work demand together with the formula-type mode of acting sparked his idea of moving his career focus to mainland China.^[2]

2004-2007

In 2004, Huo released his first ever solo album Start. Owing to his inability to cope with the excessive spotlight during the advertising of the album, he decided to focus on acting thereafter. Later on, he decided to shift his whole career to mainland China as he felt a stagnation in the development and hoped for more opportunities to refine his acting skills.^[2]

In April 2004, Huo starred in his first wuxia drama The Royal Swordsmen directed by Wong Jing. He portrayed the colourful detective character Guihai Yidao and sang the theme song titled "Your Number One". The drama was broadcast in mainland China in 2005 and his melancholic portrayal of Yidao received rave reviews from fans and audiences. It proved to be an important turning point of his career, as it introduced him to mainland audiences.^[3] The same year, Huo made his big screen debut in the movie Hands in the Hair alongside actress Rosamund Kwan.^[4]

Huo then took the leading role in various dramas, including Sound of Colors alongside actress Ruby Lin, Romance of Red Dust opposite Shu Qi and Emerald on the Roof with Sun Li. Huo himself expressed that the role of Zhou Nianzhong in Emerald on the Roof had given him so much that he could hardly forget and that was also the most important moment of his acting career to date.^[2] It has also won him a nomination as Best Actor for the 3rd season of 2007 Sina Drama Award.^[5]

In May 2006, Huo starred in the kungfu comedy drama Love at First Fight alongside Hong Kong actress Miriam Yeung. Huo took on an eccentric crazy role of Li Yashuo. His exaggerated expressions and comedic acting showed his ability to take on different roles.^[6]

2008-2012

In 2008, Huo appeared in a total of four dramas. In particular, his role as an arrogant and cold CEO in the contemporary romance drama A Mobile Love Story won him a nomination as Best Actor at the 2nd season of Sina Drama Award.

In 2009, Huo rose to mainstream popularity in the drama Chinese Paladin 3, a prequel to Chinese Paladin and an adaptation from the video game of the same title. The television series was broadcast on four major TV channels and garnered a strong audience following. Huo's successful portrayal of the role of Xu Changqing, as well as his chemistry with Tiffany Tang earned praises from both critics and fans, and increased his popularity in mainland China. Huo started to gain recognition in Southeast Asia after the show was broadcast in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In the latter half of 2010, Huo starred as the lead actor in the dramas Detective Tanglang and Go Yi Yi Go, both of which were broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV) on primetime slots.

In January 2011, Huo starred as the protagonist Li Gexiao in The Vigilantes in Masks which further increased his popularity. He was later invited by Ruby Lin to star in her self-produced drama, The Glamorous Imperial Concubine, where he played the cold and detached Emperor Liu Liancheng. The drama achieved a peak rating of 3.47, placing first in its ratings slot nationally. Huo was named Most Influential Actor at the 2011 Youku Drama Awards.^[7]

On 2 February 2012, Huo’s medical drama Inspire the Life premiered on CCTV-1 primetime slot. The drama received several government-issued awards including Best Work Awards and Chinese Television Flying Apsaras Awards. Huo portrayed Han Zihang, an attending surgeon with overseas educational background alongside Wang Zhiwen, Li Chengru and Zhang Tieling who were all well-known and highly respected actors.^[8]

In October 2012, Huo's costume mystery drama Lord of Legal Advisors premiered in South Korea and became the 2nd-highest viewed Chinese-language drama in the country, after Scarlet Heart. ^[9] The drama was subsequently broadcast in Taiwan in April 2013 and achieved the top 4 spot on primetime slots.^[10]

2013-2014

In 2013, Huo starred in the historical wuxia drama Swordsman which is based on Jin Yong’s classic wuxia genre novel of the same Chinese title. Swordsman was broadcast on Hunan TV during primetime as a Chinese New Year drama and scored number one ratings on both TV and streaming websites. Alongside the generous and unrestrained leading character Linghu Chong, Huo also played the insidious character Yang Lianting. The success of Swordsman once again brought him to limelight and displayed his popularity among audiences.

Huo then starred in his first war drama, Battle of Changsha, adapted from the novel of the same Chinese title and directed by Magnolia Award winner Kong Sheng. Huo portrayed Gu Qingming, a young soldier from a wealthy and renowned family who fought bravely at the frontlines for his country despite all oppositions. The love story of Gu Qingming and Hu Xiangxiang (portrayed by young actress Yang Zi) was said to be comparable to that in Gone with the Wind. Battle of Changsha was voted Best Drama of 2014 in major streaming website Douban after being broadcast on CCTV-8 beginning mid-July 2014.

In November 2013, Huo starred in The Great Protector, a historical period drama picturing the lives of ordinary people during the period of late Qing Dynasty to The Revolution of 1911. Being his first Qing Dynasty drama, Huo considered it a drama he can show to his descendants.^[2] It was broadcast on 25 December 2014 on four major cable TV channels.

The costume drama Perfect Couple, written by Tong Hua, was released on April 21, 2014. It was Huo's first attempt at acting in and producing a drama series after the establishment of Huajae Studio, his own company. Tiffany Tang took the female lead.^[11] The series turned out to be a huge success, achieving 7.8 billion hits on major streaming sites and becoming the most popular drama online. Huo later won the Most Influential Male Actor in Taiwan/Hong Kong region at the 6th TV Drama Awards Made in China.

2015

On 9 June 2015, the fantasy-wuxia drama The Journey of Flower premiered on Hunan TV. Huo portrayed the calm and collective Bai Zihua, an immortal tasked to protect the magical realm of Changliu.^[12] The Journey of Flower was a commercial hit, capturing the first place spot among TV show ratings in the province of Hunan^[13] and online views have already surpassed 18 billion.^[14] The success of the drama put Huo's fame and popularity at the highest peak. It was announced in August 2015 that Huo topped the Top 50 Actors ranking for China Television Show in the first half of the year.^[15]

On 14 September 2015, Huo became the celebrity spokesperson of SK-II China and starred in its Change of Destiny propaganda which shared his life's philosophy.^[15]

On 15 October 2015, the detective thriller series Love Me, If you Dare, premiered simultaneously online on Sohu.com and on air on Dragon Television. Huo portrayed the protagonist Bo Jingyan, a criminal psychologist who works for the police as analyst/advisor for serious crimes and incidents.^[16]

Huo's performance in The Journey of Flower allowed him to be chosen by China Newsweek as Artist of the Year on 11 December 2015. He was also distinguished as one of the Most Influential People in China for 2015. This is a very remarkable distinction for him since he was the only recipient of this award in the field of Performing Arts that year.^[15] He was also awarded several drama awards, including Most Popular Actor at iQIYI All Star Carnival;^[15] as well as Most Popular Actor and Most Favorite Male Character at the 7th TV Drama Awards Made in China.

On 22 December 2015, Huo and Yang Mi started filming for the science fiction action movie Fatal Countdown: Reset, produced by Jackie Chan and directed by Korean director, Chang, in Busan, South Korea. This is his first attempt at acting as a villain since the beginning of his career.^[17]

2016 - Present

The action thriller film Inside or Outside was released on 22 January 2016. Huo played two characters, a brave and witty detective and an assassin.

Huo then portrayed Zhu Qizhen, one of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, in the historical period drama The Imperial Doctress. The drama series premiered on 13 February 2016 on both Dragon TV and Jiangsu TV, achieving an average ratings of 1.2 on both broadcasting stations and placing first in its ratings slot nationally. Huo was awarded Most Popular Actor and Most Marketable Artist for his performance in the drama as well as Love Me, If You Dare at the 1st annual China Television Drama Quality Ceremony held on 8 March, 2016.^[18]

Huo also began filming several movies in 2016, including Suddenly Seventeen, a romantic comedy produced by Zhang Yimou and the directorial debut of his daughter Zhang Mo; ^[19] Hide and Seek, directed by Golden Horse winner Liu Jie and an adaptation of the Korean suspense thriller of the same title;^[20] as well as The Great Escape, directed by award winning director Ann Hui, in which Huo acted together with Zhou Xun as a couple who has to give up their romance due to war. Ann Hui praised him as a hardworking and serious actor, that “not only his appearance is outstanding, but he also has "talent within"”.^[21]

On 2 March 2016, professional designers from Madame Tussauds Shanghai took measurements from Huo to make his wax figure. It is expected to be launched in the latter half of 2016.^[22]

On 27 May 2016, the historical costume drama Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, also known as The Legend of Ruyi, announced that it has cast Huo in the role of Qianlong Emperor, one of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The drama reunited him with Zhou Xun, who played the titular character.^[23] Filming of the drama began on 23 August 2016 and was scheduled to be released in 2017.^[24]

Personal life

On 20 May 2016, Huo confirmed his relationship with actress Ruby Lin,^[25] his co-star in Sound of Colors (2006) and The Glamorous Imperial Concubine (2011). They got married in Bali on 31 July 2016.^[26] The pair also held another wedding reception in Taipei on 2 August 2016.^[27]

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Album

Soundtrack

Music video appearances

• A-mei-mei / saya (1997)
• Kang Chin Chung - Run Away (2000)
• Somebody / 100% Senorita OST (2003)
• Xing Fu De Di Tu / Elva Hsiao / 100% Senorita OST (2003)
• Ni Hao Jiu Hao, Na Shi Hou, Jian Shang Qing Ting, Your#1 with Rosamund Kwan / Start vol.1 album (2004)
• Da Sha with Miriam Yeung (2006)

Commercial

References

External links

• huajaecompany on Sina Weibo
• huajaestudio on Facebook
• Wallace Huo at the Internet Movie Database
• Wallace Huo at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase