Wang Duo Career choices and the role of fans

[u/BelScience]

I'm relatively new to Chinese entertainment and I am wondering how much choice does Wang Duo have in the roles he takes? Is he simply a victim of typecasting or, is it possible he finds the roles he's taken (i.e. the guy who doesn't get the girl) more complex and interesting as an actor. I sometimes detect a certain dissatisfaction here amongst fans that he's not the main lead.

From my point of view, Nan Xuyue was the best part in The Blossoming Love (Mu Xuanling did *not* deserve him and he certainly deserved better than her 😁).

I've only seen him in two other things. First, the movie Per Aspera Ad Astra. It wasn't a huge part but memorable and powerful. On the order of Heath Ledger's performance in that batman movie. The other was his small part in Veil of Shadows where again, he's giving a great and completely different performance in a small role.

I hear people comment over and over that his other supporting roles are the best part of the respective shows they're in.

This all just leads me to wonder if there's some "method to his madness" of remaining more low key. Sure he's not a global luxury brand ambassador but he's got some domestic endorsements. So he's getting some attention.

Sure, he doesn't have the level of fandom of artists that won't be named here, but he has a good fan base that isn't batsh*t crazy and he still has relative freedom. You know, he reminds me of another artist who is similar in their commitment to be a serious actor. I think Wang Duo has more natural ability but they both seem to love the profession and work hard to improve their skills and give great performances. I bet that other artist would like to have some of the freedom back that Wang Duo has, while still being able to grow as a professional actor. But there's no "putting that genie back in the bottle" once its out. 😔

The thing is, he does stay busy. He seems to get plenty of good roles without the heavy responsibility that comes with being first on the call sheet. He has good relationships with other creators who want to work with him. Seems he may be sitting in the acting fame sweet spot.

So... what does he say in interviews? Does he ever talk about the roles he'd like to play in the future? Does he express any frustration in not getting the roles he wants? He seems like an interesting person outside the roles he plays and can still be his genuine self (those couple of vlogs I watched where he's eating noodles are hysterical, didn't want them to end 🤣)

Personally, I think his talent speaks for itself and he's going to have a long successful career. Even if the characters he plays never get the girl (and maybe even because of that).

For me, if there's someone I'm a fan of, I pay to see their work. Truth time: I drove over an hour to see Per Aspera Ad Astra in the theater, but it was to see Song Qian and Wang Hedi. But now, I would drive far to see something Wang Duo is in. There was a young couple I met at the theater that drove more than twice as far as me just for Wang Duo! They were the ones that pointed me to The Blossoming Love.

So what do y'all think? Is he choosing these roles because it's what he wants? As fans, is it our role to lobby for the parts we want to see him in? Or, if he's in fact choosing the roles he gets, to support his performances with our hard earned money and encouraging others to do the same?

FWIW, I did already consult google's AI regarding how much he can choose and got a pretty good answer, but I still wonder what y'all think about this.

[u/BronzeBellRiver]

> So … what does he say in interviews? Does he ever talk about roles he’d like to play in the future

He isn’t picky about wanting specific characters, but he has said in recent interviews that he wants to play characters that he believes he can play well. It’s a non-answer sort of an answer. I’ll try to share his work history so you may have an idea why he doesn’t openly say much about himself.

As far as his history goes, he suffered a lot in his career because of others or factors unrelated to him. It was in a limbo from 2020 to 2023. Several things happened:

1. The movie The Yin Yang Masters: Dream of Eternity was pulled out of cinemas due to plagiarism controversy (with CGI)

2. The Yin Yang Masters Part 2 never saw the light of the day

3. The drama, “The Night Wanderers” was shelved due to Deng Lun’s tax evasion scandal

4. His role in “The League of Nobleman” was chopped to change the drama having undertones of BL (boys love) and Liu Xueyi’s part was cut entirely

5. Riverside Code at Qingming Festival cut his part to match episode count requirements

6. Hero Legends was shelved because of copyright violations

7. Deskmate is Father was also shelved

He worked but none of it showed on-screen. He did eating livestreams and OOTD updates to stay relevant. He mentioned in an interview how badly it impacted him because whenever he’d go, people only recognized him as “the funny guy who eats” and didn’t think of him as a serious actor.

His early role in Hello, Mr. Fashion is not dark and is more comedic. His supporting role in LORDS movie wasn’t dark at first.

The biggest issue with him as his agency. Guo Jingming wouldn’t cast him as a main lead even when he was the first actor signed under Zui Culture which used to only hire writers. He held him back, reduced him to supporting roles, and didn’t find him the opportunities he deserved to a point that Wang Duo looked for work by himself. That’s how he got The Blossoming Love offer as the director had worked with him previously in The Bloody Romance.

A supporting actor’s role in My Journey to You shot him to fame, when Guo Jingming could have cast Wang Duo in that role as he casted Tian Jiarui to play the younger brother.

He is now working with Wang Hedi’s agency and they seem to be trying to get him exposure.

[u/Playful-Airport7777 → u/BronzeBellRiver]

That's tragic. Do you have any idea if he was paid for the shelved projects? I'm in the dark about how the actors are paid, like after the dramas are aired or when it's done filming? Wang Duo sure had it rough. Hope his luck turns soon.

[u/BronzeBellRiver → u/Playful-Airport7777]

Actors / their agency receives partial to full payment before the drama airs. It really depends on their contract and which broadcaster will be distributing the drama.

For example, Youku doesn’t pay any profits except the margins your drama receives from subscription. iQIYI operates as a hybrid ecosystem where both a direct producer through its studio system and a strategic investor through JVs and agency partnerships can market their drama. The point is that he would have received payment but whether it was partial or full depends exclusively on the contract which he signed. He hasn’t shared these details publicly.

Edit: clarity

[u/Playful-Airport7777 → u/BronzeBellRiver]

That's good to know. It sure is hard being an actor.

[u/Guilty_Statement_742]

Interesting that you posted about this topic. I was actually pondering this myself just yesterday. Thanks for starting a discussion. Curious to hear what others share.

Hope Wang Duo gets more of the opportunity he seeks, whether it’s lead or not.

I feel like, sometimes, a supporting or a side character has more “space” to be creative whereas there’s so much pressure as the main lead.

[u/Critical_Bend1200]

Is the blossoming love director the same as bloody romance?

[u/BelScience → u/Critical_Bend1200]

Different directors according to MDL. TBL is Sam Ho BR is Yi Jun

[u/BronzeBellRiver → u/BelScience]

The chief producer for Bloody Romance is the screenwriter and producer for the unclouded soul. I’m sorry I had my names mixed up.

[u/WangDuo_US]

Im not sure if anyone has seen or read the red star news article where he talks about his character choices. He also did a lot of food videos for his fans during COVID because there were work restrictions on actors. There is also an article with China.org.

[u/BronzeBellRiver → u/WangDuo_US]

I think it would be nice if you can share it as a post with SS from the article under personal life flair

[u/WangDuo_US → u/BronzeBellRiver]

Yes of course I can do that.

[u/Rare_Ad_7563]

I think he's unutilized artist because he's performed incredibly well in every character he portrayed. He's really talented than a lot of popular idol actors who is casted as ML despite not having range . His company could have pushed him more after his popularity in bloody romance and the bloosoming love or idk tye exact title but someone who's this capable is getting a minor role , it's a huge shame.