"Actor" (Chinese: 演员; pinyin: Yǎnyuán) is a song by Chinese singer-songwriter Joker Xue. It was released on June 5, 2015, as part of his first extended play (EP) Gentleman (2015) then later included on his seventh studio album Beginner (2016) under Ocean Butterflies; both of which have been acquired by Xue's own label Chaoshi Music. The song was written and composed by Xue.
"Actor" is Xue's best-known song both domestically and internationally, with more than 200 million views on YouTube, more than 100 million streams on Spotify and more than 27 million collection counts on QQ Music. It is a staple in the setlist for Xue's three concert tours: I Think I've Seen You Somewhere Tour (2017), Skyscraper World Tour (2018-2019), and Extraterrestrial World Tour (2021-2025).
In 2015, "Actor" ranked first on KuGou Music's Top 500 list from Week 22 to Week 45 and on Global Chinese Music chart in June. In 2018, "Actor" ranked 9th on UFM100.3's U1000 Music Countdown of the top 1,000 Mandarin songs.
Background The Gentleman, on which "Actor" is the second track, took 19 months to complete. Xue said the inspiration for the song was the wish that "in front of love, I am not an 'actor' but I hope to be a 'gentleman.'"
Music video The music video for "Actor" was directed by Shockley Huang and starred Xue and Bae Seul-ki as the male and female leads. It tells the story of a couple who were once in love but now she is only pretending her feelings for him, like an actor on stage. Aware of this, he pretends to be cruel so she can leave without regret. As he watches her leave, a tear dripped down his cheek that becomes a raindrop.
To capture the atmosphere of the song, the music video incorporated elements that portray the male protagonist's inner emotions, such as "raining indoor" and the "rewinding" the relationship.
Accolades + Awards and nominations for "Actor" Award Year Category Nominee Result KuGou Music Awards酷狗音乐大赏 2016 Hottest Song of the Year年度最火单曲 "Actor" Migu Music Awards音乐盛典咪咕汇 2016 Top 10 Hits of the Year年度十大金曲 "Actor" Music Radio China Top Chart AwardsMusic Radio中国Top排行榜颁奖典礼2016 Top Hit of the Year年度金曲 "Actor" CMIC Music Awards 唱工委音乐奖 2017 Song of the Year年度歌曲 "Actor" MTV Global Chinese Music FestivalMTV全球华语音乐盛典 2017 Top 10 Hits of the Year年度十大金曲 "Actor"
Cover versions In 2016, "Actor" was covered by Li Jiage on season 1 of the Chinese version of Mask Singer and Hebe Tien on season 1 of Sound of My Dream. In 2017, a duet version of "Actor" was released by Kenny Khoo and Rose Liu and Sammi Cheng covered "Actor" during her Nude Live concerts in Taipei and Beijing.
Credits and personnel Joker Xue – vocals, lyrics, composition Zhao Yingjun – production, background vocals Zheng Wei, Zhang Baoyu – arrangement Shockley Huang – director
Release history + Release dates and formatsRegionDateFormatLabelVarious June 5, 2015Ocean Butterflies
References