Wallace Huo Reflects on Acting Career: “I Didn’t Know if I Could Become an Actor”
Taiwanese actor Wallace Huo (霍建華) has enjoyed much success since his fantasy-wuxia drama, The Journey of Flower <花千骨>, aired last year and catapulted him to his highest level of popularity since his entertainment industry debut. Despite his recent fame, Wallace has not forgotten the many ups and downs that filled his formative years as an actor.
After appearing in his first television drama in 2002, Wallace found himself mired in the land of idol dramas, with their formulaic characters and repetitive storylines. “No one cared if you had acting skills or not, as long as you were good-looking,” Wallace shared, “but I wasn’t that good-looking at the time. I was too tired, and my whole person felt very haggard.”
The popularity of Meteor Garden <流星花園> and subsequent idol dramas in Taiwan led to an outburst of newcomer idol actors, many of whom were looked down upon by classically trained thespians. This situation led Wallace to look at acting in a new light.
“[Their] attitude of negative contempt had a very big impact on me,” said Wallace. “At that time, my heart conceived of a notion, that no matter how many years it took – one, five, ten, or twenty – I would have them admit and believe that I am an actor.”
Until now, Wallace had never verbalized this thought to anyone, but it was a notion he has always carried in his heart. “To tell the truth,” he went on, “at the time, even I didn’t know if I could become an actor.”
Past Was Full of Valuable Experiences
Though Wallace gained much of his fame due to his recent projects, he actually boasts a long history of less-known dramas, as well as a handful of movies. “I went through a long period, from zero to now, where no one paid attention to my work and no one believed in my performances,” shared Wallace. “I didn’t brood over it, nor did I think it was something bad. Looking back, even I think my dramas back then weren’t any good.”
Wallace said that despite the difficulties of his early career, he gained many valuable experiences from that time. “When you’re with a bad cast and crew, or using a bad screenplay, or working with a bad director, you can discipline yourself in every aspect,” Wallace explained. “Afterward, when you get a good opportunity, you will cherish it even more.”
In addition, Wallace also has fond memories of the simplicity of the industry back then, before promotional events and media hype took over. “We wouldn’t compare who had more fans on their Baidu forum or who was known by more people,” he said. “People didn’t care about those things at the time. When we got together, we discussed how to make a scene better. Back then, we were willing to spend time on something that was not noticed at all. It was very happy, very pure.”
Perhaps Wallace’s old-school romanticism is showing; he still prefers handwritten letters to online communication, saying they are “more precious, perhaps more sincere.” He still has yet to open a Sina Weibo account or do much online interaction with fans at all, opting to maintain a simple life.
“You have to insist on your own way of thinking,” stated Wallace. “This is the only way to be assured of the direction in which your life is headed.”
Source: Chinayes.com
This article is written by Joanna for JayneStars.com.
it’s a good move he did, no one can be an idol drama actor/actress forever. i was taken back when i stopped seeing him in idol dramas back in 2005 and showed up in a mainland china show call number one in the world. it all makes sense now.
@m0m0 I think the World’s Finest opened up more opportunities for him at the time; hence, his transition to Mainland.
I’ve seen Wallace in his early idol dramas, but his role as Yi Dao in World’s Finest left me the deepest impression. I started to notice him more since then.
@m0m0
Tian Xia Di Yi was the first time I saw Wallace since I was not interested in watching modern series and only watched ancient series. Now I am going back to watch his earlier idol dramas and some are very good. But I still love ancient series more.
I think moving his work from Taiwan to Mainland China wa a good choice. It gave him different roles to try and much more opportunities to work in larger production which gives access to a large audience. I think most people are pretty convinced that he is a solid actor now.
花千骨 the drama that is similar to 絳雪玄霜 which ATV did. 陳寶珠 acted in the earlier version in 1964, the black and white movie version. It was a very popular movie back then. So hardly surprising it is now and any similar drama stories.
@kk12345 花千骨 is similar to 絳雪玄霜? In what way is it similar?
I’ve not watch 花千骨 but have watch ATV’s 雪花神劍 (an adaptation from 絳雪玄霜), and I’m curious which part is similar.
@kk12345 Ok, just googled these 2 names together. The similarity is the teacher-student relationship?
@kk12345 Just read in tianya. The author of 花千骨 actually said that her inspiration of 花千骨 was from the story of Lo Yuen and Nip Siu Fung in 雪花神劍. Haha. No wonder you stop the similarity.
@kk12345 i loved “The Snow Is Red” back in the 90’s. There are a few similarities with “The Journey of Flower”, with a similar main theme of forbidden love between master and disciple and subthemes of good vs evil. It was hard to understand at first, being a child then, the complicated restricted love that was frowned upon by social norms. It was a lot darker and deeper than TJOF and characters are less likeable and flawed. One could say that the disciple turned evil because she was innately cruel, yet you could also argue that her teacher’s rejection brought about her drastic descent into evil.
I never watched any of his earlier dramas but his acting in Chinese Paladin 3 captivated my heart. Wallace Huo is so modest that every time I read more about him, the more I grow into a bigger fan for him.
I’m very glad that he is getting the recognition that he deserves. If you haven’t started watching “Imperial Doctress” – you should start it soon. I love WH & LSS in this drama. I’m so addicted to it already.
@dramas4me i have a question, is it good? i really wanted to watch it when i first heard news about it…until i found out that we will spend a good chunk of the series on LSS’s and Huang Xuan’s love until someway, somehow this sweet guy turns into a jerk and then she falls for WH’s character. Is any of this true? I had a problem watching WH’s The Imperial Concubine/Qing Shi Huang Fei because I ended up loving the 2nd lead more than my 1st lead…which is my biggest pet peeve when I watch a drama lol. I need to love my 1st lead, NOT have a 2nd lead syndrome xD
@riceball120 I like the drama very much. I could be biased because I like Wallace Huo and LSS. I like the story, the acting, their costumes are so beautiful. You will see a good balance of the story – not just focus on LSS & HX’s relationship at the beginning. I think in this story LSS accepted HX a little bit too fast because when they met she was very young. Of course you will see that Wallace is the main male lead in this drama. I think they “tell” a really good story of how gradually their relationships grow (3 of them). You should give it a try. I know I don’t like the 2nd male lead so I won’t have the 2nd syndrome. Also how can you not like Wallace Huo? I hope this is helpful to you. 🙂
@dramas4me oh i love Wallace Huo, other than Alec Su, he’s probably the only other Taiwanese-based actor I really like. Good to know, with your little review, I will gladly watch Imperial Doctress when (1) i finish my current drama or (2) all episodes are fully subbed as I love Chinese dramas but I do not understand the language lol.
@riceball120 Yes. Hopefully someone will sub “Imperial Doctress” soon so you can watch it. What are your favorite top three Chinese dramas so far? Do you like modern or ancient dramas?
@dramas4me
Top Three for me has to be:
1. Xuan Yuan Sword (More for Hu Ge’s side, I dislike Jiang Jinfu’s character)
2. Bu Bu Jing Xin
3. Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei (I liked that the drama didnt really drag)
I prefer ancient over modern because modern dramas’ theme can be repetitive but then the ones that i want to watch are either 1. too long or 2. eng subs is beyond impossible to find lol. However, I did enjoy My Sunshine starring Wallace Chung and Tiffany Tang (although it was really cheesy lol)
Which genre do you prefer?
@riceball120 I like modern dramas more, but I would watch the good ancient dramas if I like the male & female leads & everything else. I prefer short dramas – 20 episodes or less. I will make the exception sometimes. High number episodes scare me. I can’t name my top three because I can’t make my mind with that. I like “My Sunshine” also. I think China’s dramas are improving. I couldn’t stand their modern dramas before. You should watch Taiwanese dramas’ “Marry Me, or Not” & “Bromance”. They both are really good. I swear Baron Chen can act with his eyes. I don’t watch Korean’s dramas at all – there are too many fake beautiful people.
@dramas4me i see. i used to watch Taiwanese dramas back in the day but a lot of the time, the main girl lead annoyed the crap out of me so i stopped watching them. I heard a lot about “Marry me, or Not” but havent found the urge in me to watch it. Let’s not even talk about Kdramas…i grew up always hating the main leads lol but it’s most likely to the genre that my friends/family always showed me lol
@riceball120 I have a very bad habit that if there is one actor/actress with an important role in the drama – if I can’t stand that person I will not watch that drama. You should check out those 2 dramas that I mentioned above – you will like them. They were top 2 in Taiwan for the past few months.
@dramas4me thanks for the suggestions! definitely will check them out when i finish all the dramas im currently watching/going to watch next (idk why but i have an exact schedule i want to watch certain dramas lol)
@riceball120 Ok. I hope you will like them. 🙂
@riceball120 Here is the link for “Bromance” with English sub. There are 18 episodes total. For “Marry Me, or Not?” You can watch it on viki.com. Enjoy!
http://m.newasiantv.com/watch/bromance.801.A5WZ50.html
@dramas4me lol thanks for the link! it’s very helpful because eng subs are like near non-existent for foreign speakers like me lol
@riceball120 You are welcome. Vicki won’t have “Bromance” for U.S. until 4/2016. How did you get into Chinese dramas if you don’t speak the language may I ask?
@dramas4me i grew up watching Chinese dramas even though I do not speak the language. Long story short, CDramas have become part of my life. I grew watching series like Frog Prince (Joe Chen x Ming Dao), Romance in the Rain (which i hated a lot of the main characters lol), Princess Returning Pearl (didnt bother watching the last two installments of the original series), and many more.
@dramas4me
You are different from me since I love ancient dramas more. I actually have been watching dramas for over 30 years and hardly saw any modern dramas and only watched ancient series. I started to watch modern Taiwan dramas in 2005 after seeing Frog Prince. I then loved that series that I began to watch modern series and finally enjoy them now but still love ancient series way more.
China’s modern series are a lot better lately. I used to not like their modern series either,but some are very good lately. I loved Shan Shan Lai Le and highly recommend it to you if you have not seen it yet.
@hetieshou. One of the reasons that I don’t watch ancient dramas often because of “ancient talk” like the poems and stuff. Sometimes it’s too complicated to understand them. Thank you for your recommendation. I heard “Shan Shan..” is good also. I might check it out. I’m not too crazy about Zanilia Zhao. Is “Dae Jang Gum” a Korean’s drama? I don’t watch K-dramas so I can’t answer that question. You should watch couple episodes of “Imperial Doctress” to see if you like it. I finished it up to episode #25 already. They air 2 episodes/day. #26 & #27 are coming out today. 🙂
@dramas4me i think it’s the poetic tone of ancient dramas that captivate me. lol i must be old or something..but im only 23! Modern dramas have their own pros but i still much rather watch ancient dramas unless somehow a modern drama catches my attention.
@riceball120
You are my twin sister since I love ancient series more too. I saw some of Wallace’s modern series recently and some are very good. Ancient series can get long too but they are usually more suitable to be long than modern series.
Many series do not have Eng subs,so I think you can try to watch without it if you really want to see any particular series.
@hetieshou lol at times, if i am too impatient, i will just watch an entire series witout sub and just hope that i’ll understand without it…which works whenever i go that route, which proves that the actors are pretty good actors for them to be able to convey the message of each scene for a non-native speaker like me to understand lol.
@dramas4me
I am a bit hesitant to see Imperial Doctress since I heard it s a bit like Dae Jang Gum and I did not enjoy that series very much. Is it similar to DJG?