Delicious food and sweet romance made Jiang Jia’en’s first drama a success.
Breaking out as the adorable Chef Fang from Chef Fang 花间提壶方大厨, Jiang Jia’en 蒋佳恩 (born in 1997) is a budding actress with only two dramas so far. I don’t know much about her and her Weibo is pretty empty, but she was cute in the drama, and her company seems to have done a great job launching their artists ( Hou Minghao and Zeng Shunxi) with well-chosen idol dramas.
Fangirl me.
Rated 9.3/10 on the Chinese version of IMDb, the child actors’ version of Dream of the Red Chamber has the highest rating for a recent Chinese drama and fourth overall.
A series for some of my favorite up-and-rising young artists. Most of them aren’t big enough to have fancy photo shoots, but they’re cute.
Actors who can read their own lines, do their own stunts, dance, and sing? Welcome to the world of Mango Little Actors / Star of Tomorrow 芒果小戏骨, a Hunan local show that features incredibly talented child actors who put many of their adult counterparts to shame.
The group came to fame after their cute rendition of Disney’s Mulan, and then solidified their ability to nail serious roles in mini series Dream of the Red Chamber. They have also recreated condensed versions of Hunanese tales like Liu Sanjie, as well as classics like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Madame White Snake.
Watch a side-to-side comparison of their recreation of Disney’s Mulan:
A series for some of my favorite up-and-rising young artists. Most of them aren’t big enough to have fancy photo shoots, but they’re cute. Feel free to leave a comment if you want some featured.
Zheng Yecheng 郑业成 (born in 1993) was definitely the highlight of O2O for me. His sheepish smile is contagious, and their side-plot is probably one of my favorite side-romances in a while.
Since then, he’s starred in a number of quirky romances, including my favorite rom-com so far this year, Let’s Shake It. He’s not a phenomenal actor, but his youthful cuteness is enough for him to pull off most of his roles so far. Plus, his martial arts training could give him a leg up for wuxia roles.
He’s currently filming Fantastical Nights in the Tang Dynasty 盛唐幻夜, an ancient series with Wu Qian.
#That hair tho # I woke up like this
You’re probably most likely to recognize Zeng Shunxi 曾舜晞 (born in 1997) from Fighter of the Destiny, but he was also in the Fresh Geek boyband with Hou Minghao. The two are the only two left of the boyband that’s still with Laure Shang.
Zeng Shunxi stars as the male lead in idol drama 青春最好时 opposite Zhang Xueying and seems to mostly be doing internet-only idol dramas.
With both the looks and the acting, Zhang Xueying is already starring in major roles.
A series for some of my favorite up-and-rising young artists. Most of them aren’t big enough to have fancy photo shoots, but they’re cute. I don’t know a lot of them, so feel free to leave a comment if you want some featured.
Former child actress Zhang Xueying (1997) is no stranger to most. She even signed with Yu Zheng for a year or two and starred in series such as The Condor Heroes and Ban Shu Legend.
The Central Drama Academy sophomore seems to mostly going the idol drama route for now. She currently starring in idol drama 青春最好时 and will be starring in a remake of Summer of Bubbles opposite Qin Junjie.
A series for some of my favorite up-and-rising young artists. Most of them aren’t big enough to have fancy photo shoots, but they’re cute. I don’t know a lot of them, so feel free to leave a comment if you want some featured.
Hou Minghao 侯明昊 (born 1997) debuted as a member of the Fresh Geek boyband. He’s most wellknown for his leading role in Cambrian Period 寒武纪. You may have also seen him as a young Wang Kai in The Devotion of Suspect X.
Sample of his vocals and acting in Cambrian Period :
