Chen Kun (; born February 4, 1976), sometimes credited as Aloys Chen, is a Chinese actor, singer and producer. He rose to fame for the television series Love Story in Shanghai (2001) and The Story of a Noble Family (2003). He gained critical acclaim for the films The Knot (2006) and Painted Skin (2008). His other notable works include films Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011), Mojin: The Lost Legend (2015) and Chongqing Hot Pot (2016), as well as television series The Rise of Phoenixes (2018) and The Wind Blows From Longxi (2022).
Chen has won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor, Huabiao Award for Outstanding Actor, and received a Golden Horse Award nomination for Best Actor. He ranked 68th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2014, 28th in 2014, 15th in 2017, and 52nd in 2019.
Biography
Early life Chen Kun was born in Chongqing. He was raised by his maternal grandmother before reuniting with his mother at 11. His parents divorced soon after Chen's second younger brother was born, and Chen began working part-time in high school to support his mother. He started as a typist at the municipal office and later as a solo singer at night clubs. He showed early talent in singing and was strongly recommended by his vocal trainer and mentor to join the China Oriental Song and Dance Ensemble (now China National Song and Dance Ensemble) in Beijing in 1995. In 1996, he was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy, where he majored in acting.
Acting
1999–2004: Debut and rising popularity Chen debuted in the 1999 film The National Anthem.Beijing Review Volume 52 2009 p.42 "Ten years ago, while still a student in the Beijing Film Academy, Chen Kun was selected to play Nie Er, composer of the People's Republic's national anthem, in a tribute film. He said the experience of playing again in a tribute film benefited ..." He rose to prominence with a series of hit television dramas Love in Shanghai (2001), Pink Ladies (2002) and The Story of a Noble Family (2003), the last of which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Zhang Henshui.
Chen gained international recognition in 2002, after starring in Franco-Chinese romance film Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, which was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
2005–2016: Films and acclaim Chen then starred in A West Lake Moment (2005), playing a love-seeking and idealistic young man who is not easily satisfied. He was nominated as Best Actor for his performance at the Golden Horse Awards. He next starred in The Music Box (2006), which earned him the Best Actor accolade at the Shanghai Film Critics Awards for capturing his screen character's years of arduous life and as well as his struggles and joys.
Chen rose to international prominence with The Knot (2007). He described the role as a "big challenge" to him, as he had to portray the maturing process of his character over 20 years. The film was a huge success and garnered 8 nominations at the 16th Golden Rooster Awards, including Best Actor for Chen. He also won Best Actor at the 2007 Huabiao Film Awards. He next starred in Gordon Chan's horror-adventure film Painted Skin (2008), which won him the Best Actor award at the Hundred Flowers Awards.
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen participated in the patriotic tribute The Founding of a Republic (2009). He played Chiang Ching-kuo, and was praised by the media and critics alike for his excellent portrayal of a passionate nationalist who was unable to prevent the fall of his party. He then played his first antagonist role in Jiang Wen's gangster film Let the Bullets Fly (2010). In 2010, Chen established his own agency K Pictures (Dongshen Tonghua).
Chen starred in wuxia film Flying Swords of Dragon Gate directed by Tsui Hark in 2011. His dynamic portrayal of two distinct characters; the cold and cruel Yu Huatian and the witty and humorous Feng Lidao, won him Best Actor nominations at the Asian Film Awards and Hundred Flowers Awards. The dual roles marked a turning point in Chen's popularity and acting career, and has become one of his most representative works to date.
Chen played the role of Qian Xuesen in the biopic of the author released in 2012. He received critical acclaim for his capturing his character's growth from young to old, and was awarded the Best Actor award at the Shanghai Film Critics Awards for the second time. The same year, he starred in Painted Skin: The Resurrection, the sequel to Painted Skin. The film grossed over 700 million yuan ($109.8 million), becoming the highest-grossing Chinese-language movie of all time then.
Chen then starred in Bends, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Chen won the Best Actor award at the 2013 International du Film de Femmes de Sale held in Morocco. Chen was crowned as the "Weibo King" at the 2013 Sina Weibo Night for his popularity on the micro-blogging site.
Chen starred in fantasy epics in 2015; Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal as well as Mojin: The Lost Legend where he played Hu Bayi, the main character of the popular tomb-raiding novel series. Mojin was a huge commercial success, breaking the box office record for a local language IMAX film in China.
In 2016, Chen starred alongside Bai Baihe in crime caper film Chongqing Hot Pot. The film received acclaim and positive word-of-mouth, grossing 152 million yuan in four days. He also made a special appearance in the romantic comedy Beautiful Accident opposite his Rest on Your Shoulder co-star Gwei Lun-mei. The same year, Chen co-produced and starred in his first television variety Twenty Four Hours. The first episode was broadcast on January 21 on Zhejiang Television and ranked first in ratings.
2017–present: Return to television In 2018, Chen starred in the period spy drama Lost in 1949 (also known as The Double, 脱身) as twin brothers from First Cuts Features' CEO and show runner Tang XiRu (唐郗汝) and Wang QiNan (汪启楠). He also starred in the costume drama The Rise of Phoenixes as a calculating and ambitious royal prince. These two dramas, co-produced by Chen, marked his return to the small screen after a decade, only to mixed reviews and low ratings. He also starred in fantasy film The Yinyang Master (2021), adapted from Ohmyoji game.
In 2021, he was selected as jury member at 11th Beijing International Film Festival for Tiantan Awards.
Music Apart from acting, Chen is also an established singer. He frequently performs theme songs for his television series and has released three full-length studio albums. Chen made his debut as a singer in 2004 with the album Osmosis. He then released his second album Make It Come True Again, winning him Most Popular Male Vocalist at the MTV Asia Awards. To promote his third album Mystery&Me, he held his first solo concert in Beijing in February 2010. He wrote the lyrics to the single "Power to Go", which he released for a philanthropy program to advocate environmental awareness and protection.
Others Since 2011, Chen set up a series of public charities named "Power to Go", aimed to encourage people to simply go outside and walk, in an effort to improve their health and spirit. The events were held on separate occasions in Qinghai and Tibet.
Chen is also a keen writer, having published and co-authored several books. His first book Suddenly Walked to Tibet (突然就走到了西藏) was published in 2011, and contains a collection of autobiographical essays. It was a huge commercial success, and Chen became the first and only actor to make it on to China's Writers Rich List. In 2012, he co-authored the book Heading East, in the Direction of Peace (往西，宁静的方向), the first in a series of five books promoting the charity program. In 2014, he published Strange Aquarius (鬼水瓶录), a short-story collection that takes inspiration from his Weibo posts and life story.
Endorsements In 2012, Chen Kun's wax figure entered the Madame Tussauds Museum in Shanghai and became the second wax figure of a famous Chinese actor in the museum's collection. He has also been designated as China's Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF.
In 2014, he became the product ambassador of Huawei's honorary brand in China.
In 2015, Chen became the global ambassador of the Giorgio Armani brand and the luxury watch brand Baume & Mercier.
In 2017, he became the spokesperson for the skin care brand Fresh in China and the brand spokesperson for Motorola's new flagship mobile phone moto in 2018.
Personal life Chen disclosed in his autobiography that he suffered from depression between 2003 and 2007.
While Chen has never had a public relationship, he mentioned on The Jin Xing Show that he had a girlfriend when he was 16 or 17 years old, describing it as a situation where "she loved me, but I didn't love her very much." He also mentioned an earlier, "undeveloped" first love.
Chen is unmarried but has a son, Chen Zunyou (Alex Chen), nicknamed Youyou, born in 2002. The birth mother's identity remains unknown. The earliest mention of Chen's son appeared in a Yangtze Evening Post report in October 2003, which stated that "Chen Kun adopted an abandoned child." In 2007, Southern Metropolis Weekly published a report titled "Neighbors Reveal: Chen Kun Has a Five-Year-Old Illegitimate Son Nicknamed 'Youyou'," after which the speculation that the child was Chen's biological son intensified. Chen's uncle instead said, "The child should be Chen Kun's younger brother's. At that time, Chen Yu (Chen Kun's younger brother) was not yet married, but he had a child and no job. Chen Kun has a very good relationship with his younger brother, so he adopted the child."
Filmography
Film Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 1999 The National Anthem国歌 Nie Er 2002 Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress巴尔扎克和小裁缝 Luo Ming 2003 Kung Fu Girls中国功夫少女组 Tang Zheng Special appearance 2004 Baober in Love恋爱中的宝贝 Mao Mao Guest appearance 2005 A West Lake Moment鸳鸯蝴蝶 Ah Qin 2006 The Music Box理发师 Lu Ping The Knot云水谣 Chen Qiushui 2007 The Door门 Jiang Zhongtian 2008 Playboy Cops花花型警 Lincoln Lin Painted Skin画皮 Wang Sheng 2009 Mulan花木兰 Wentai The Founding of a Republic建国大业 Chiang Ching-kuo 2010 My Ex-wife's Wedding跟我的前妻谈恋爱 Ma Yong Let the Bullets Fly让子弹飞 Hu Wan 2011 The Founding of a Party建党伟业 Zhou Enlai Rest on Your Shoulder肩上蝶 Yan Guo Love on Credit幸福额度 Zhang Quan co-producer Flying Swords of Dragon Gate龙门飞甲 Yu Huatian / Wind Blade (Feng Li Dao) 2012 Hsue-shen Tsien钱学森 Qian Xuesen Painted Skin: The Resurrection画皮II General Huo Xin 2013 Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon狄仁杰之神都龙王 Wang Bo Guest appearance 2014 Bends过界男女 Huang Zihui 2015 Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal钟馗伏魔：雪妖魔灵2 Zhong Kui Mojin: The Lost Legend寻龙诀 Hu Bayi 2016 Chongqing Hot Pot火锅英雄 Liu Bo 2017 Beautiful Accident美好的意外 Zhang Tao / Zi Jun Special appearance, Executive Producer 2021 The Yinyang Master侍神令 Qing Ming TBA The Weary Poet诗眼倦天涯 Ye Motian Fengshen Trilogy 封神三部曲 Yuanshi Reverend
Television series