Zhu Yilong Wins Best Young Actor in Chinese TV Dramas, Outshining Zhang Ruoyun and Hu Ge

On July 13, 2024, the mainland platform “Douban” forum recently held a poll to select the best acting skills among Chinese drama actors, with options for netizens to rate each actor as “good”, “average”, or “poor”. Zhu Yilong, who rose to fame for his role in “Guardian”, won the first place, while Zhang Ruoyun and Hu Ge took second and third places respectively.

Zhu Yilong’s popularity soared after starring in the web drama “Guardian” in 2018, surpassing many A-list stars. What caught people’s attention is that he portrayed three different characters in the series, whether it’s the knowledgeable “Shen Wei”, the taciturn and lonely “Black Robed Envoy”, or the evil and paranoid “Ye Zun”, he brought each role to life with depth and complexity. Despite playing only one person, the stark contrast between the three characters greatly surprised the audience.

At the age of 36, Zhu Yilong has appeared in over 60 film and television works since his debut, portraying various types of roles: the wealthy young master “Chi Rui” in “Love and Destiny”, the rebellious youngster “Feng Douzi” in “The Family Banquet”, the Qin country monarch “Ying Ji” in “The Legend of Mi Yue”, the “Young Master” in “The Story of Minglan”… He even played a monkey.

Transitioning to film, Zhu Yilong’s starring roles in “The Big Event of Life” and “She Disappeared” have been both commercially successful and critically acclaimed, winning multiple Best Actor awards over the past three years. In every role, he invests himself wholeheartedly, fine-tuning his acting skills bit by bit. In the recent poll for the best acting skills for mainland drama actors, he won with a 34.76% approval rating.

Behind the bustling traffic of fame, Zhu Yilong once said that he still only cares about acting well. In a program, he stated, “There is no overnight success, it’s all about hard work paying off.”

At the age of 35, Zhang Ruoyun, starring in the second season of “Joy of Life”, held the top spot in mainland dramas for a period, with his role as “Fan Xian” garnering attention. He secured the runner-up position in the poll for best acting skills in mainland dramas with a 25.56% approval rating. While Hu Ge, who recently won the Shanghai Magnolia Award for Best Actor for his role as “Bao Zong” in the hit drama “Blooming Flowers”, took the third place with a 17.28% approval rating.

The fourth spot in the poll for the best acting skills in mainland dramas went to Tan Jianci, who recently portrayed “Xiang Liu” in the second season of “Longing for You” alongside Yang Zi. Media comments suggest that he is a late bloomer, initially focusing on the stage as a member of a male group, only gaining recognition two years ago with the crime investigation drama “Criminal Profiler”, with his nuanced acting skills highly regarded by the industry. The fifth spot went to Cheng Yi, known for his works in “Liuli”, “Incense Powder”, and “Lotus Tower”.