Editor's note: The following article first appeared in the Guangzhou Daily Newspaper. The article discusses the recent wave of foreign entertainers who have come to China to pursue their dreams as actors, television personalities and singers.

Last July, self-professed "foreign devil" Benji (班杰明) turned a lot of heads with his role in the My Fair Princess (新还珠格格) series, which aired on Hunan Satellite TV. Viewers praised his performance, largely due to his enviable fluency in Chinese, with many predicting that he'd soon become a breakout star in China's entertainment industry. However, Benji is not the only foreigner trying to make it big in China. These days, it seems that more and more aspiring foreign entertainers are setting their sights on China, learning the language and moving here with hopes of making it big.

Benji (班杰明)

Leaving lasting impressions in television and film

Just a few years back, the majority of foreigners working in Chinese show biz were South Korean actresses, such as Jang Na Ra (张娜拉), Cai Lin (蔡琳) and Jang Seo Hee (张瑞希). However, in recent years, there's been a steady stream of European and American faces appearing in Chinese television programmes and films as well, and not just in those typical bit-part-token-foreigner roles either. Take Benji's turn on the Qing Dynasty drama series My Fair Princess for example, where he's featured doing martial arts and, according to Chinese viewers, often outshines the lead Chinese actor on the series.

Playing a newly written role in this updated take on the My Fair Princess series, viewers were not overly optimistic about Benji's role at first. Many thought that it was kind of strange to watch a foreign guy speak fluent Mandarin on a Qing Dynasty drama series. However, as the programme's plot developed, viewers suddenly found themselves engrossed in his character, realising "Hey, this foreign devil is actually pretty impressive". On the series, in addition to Benji's character painting, playing violin and doing martial arts, he's also given emotional depth, and has strong chemistry with the other characters, especially with his potential love interest "Young Swallow" (小燕子).

Other foreign actors are also gradually making inroads in the Chinese entertainment industry. Take for example, Hu Jun and Guo Xiaodong partner "Kyle" on the espionage drama Wind Whisperer (《风语》), or the US army commanding officer on International Rescue (《国际大营救》), and of course there's also U.S. actor "Cao Cao" who has appeared on a variety of television programmes over the last decade, and most recently acted in the Shangri-La (《香格里拉》) series.

Aventurina King (金小鱼)

Yucking it up on variety shows

Ever since Da Shan (Mark Rowswell), the so-called “most famous foreigner in China", first started showing up on Chinese television programmes, it's been fairly common to see a foreigner or two pop up on one of those foreign language teaching programmes, or on a travel show. However, in recent years, it has also become quite normal to see a foreigner actually hosting talk shows or variety shows. The most famous foreign hosts in China are Yano Koji (矢野浩二) from Japan and Tanas (小五) from South Korea who appear on the Hunan Satellite TV programme Tian Tian Xiang Shang (天天向上). Bantering back and forth with their Chinese co-hosts Wang Han and OD, it's rare to see either one of them flub a line, and they themselves have often joked that at this point, their Chinese is probably better than their native language. In addition to these two jokers, you can also catch Canadian Chelsey Mark (麦小龙) on Baike Quanshuo《百科全说》and Parisian-born Aventurina King (金小鱼) on Just Go《智勇大冲关》among others.

Hao Di (好弟)

Singing their hearts out

Fluent Chinese-speaking foreigners are also working their way into the Chinese music scene, no doubt much to the surprise of many Chinese listeners who don't realise a foreigner is singing until they see a picture of them. Ukrainian singer Dmitry Kovalev (吉米) made a name for himself singing Peking Opera and other popular Chinese songs, and in 2010, he came in 6th place at the annual Avenue of Stars competition – he was the only foreigner to do so thus far. In addition, although his Chinese is still at an intermediate level, the lead singer of the Five Continents Band (五洲唱响乐团), Hao Di (好弟) from Nigeria is also making quite a name for himself in China, most recently performing on the Jiangxi Satellite TV programme China's Red Singing Party《中国红歌会》. It must run in the family – Hao Di's brother Hao Ge (郝哥) was runner-up in the 2006 Avenue of Stars competition, and is currently signed with the Liu Huan Music Studio.
 

Source: gzdaily
 

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Keywords: Foreign actors in China Chinese entertainment industry Foreign television personalities in China foreigners at Hunan Satellite TV