Gong Jun on His Performance in “Word of Honor”
Experiencing explosive popularity with his performance in BL drama Word of Honor <山河令>, Chinese actor Simon Gong Jun (龚俊) is quickly becoming one of the hottest new stars of 2021. While some artistes can turn pompous by sudden fame, Gong Jun remains humble as he still considers himself among the “18th tier” of celebrities. Sitting down for an interview, Gong Jun sheds light on his real self compared to his character.
Playing the master of the Ghost Pavilion Wen Kexing, Gong Jun has been stealing hearts with his charismatic and flirty performance. As to when he fully grasped an understanding of the role, the 28-year-old expressed that reading the entire script finally allowed him a sense of how to portray Kexing. “I previously played many simple and pure characters, so it took a while to craft such a multidimensional performance. It’s actually quite exhilarating, to play the ruthless one.”
Asked how he rates his own performance, the 28-year-old said, “I give myself a 75, with another 25 points for improvement. At this time, I feel that I’ve done my best.”
On whether he shares any similarities to his onscreen persona, Gong Jun said, “I grew up in a relatively warm family, so my background is completely opposite to Kexing. Losing his parents at a young age, he must have struggled immensely by climbing to the top by himself. Because of such tough circumstances, it was actually quite challenging to play this role.”
In Word of Honor, the complex mindset of Kexing is grounded by the reserved Zhou Zishu (Zhang Zhehan 張哲瀚), who is essentially the only “light” for which Kexing will forever pursue. On this aspect, Gong Jun was asked if he has his own “light,” to which he answered, “My light right now is my career. I hope to continue moving forward because I often feel anxious when I am out of work. It makes me doubt myself on whether I am suited to work as an actor.”
Despite moments of uncertainty, Gong Jun digests these kinds of negative feelings fairly quickly due to his cheerful personality. Considering himself to be lucky enough to reach this stage, he is grateful for fans’ love and has been actively sharing his moments of happiness. Looking forward, he hopes to achieve more breakthroughs in acting.
Source: Sohu
This article is written by Minna for JayneStars.com.
Many rise and drop fast too.. I hope he will get good projects in future.. China is full of new talents.. it is not easy to make money..
@hohliu
Yes, this is the reality of China entertainment industry. If he keeps humble and not let fame rise to his head, he should be ok even if he is replaced by the next hot actor in the future. He seems like someone who as long as he has job and income, he will be happy.
Good projects do not always result in good ratings and popularity. Many small butget web dramas are good failed to get the popular. 🙁
@kidd I was just thinking about Yang Yang, he was so popular a few years ago..One of the Top but now afew have risen even more then him. I would say Yang Yang is not a well managed artist. Such is the reality in China… There are so many star seaching programs that is very popular.. A fame artist comes and goes so quickly…
@hohliu Agree that Yang Yang was so popular back then, before he was overwrite by Xiao Zhan and Yibo.
@hohliu
I think we just didn’t follow Yang Yang enough. I also thought he has gone missing with no work except be spoke person for some products. But, a check on wikipedia showed that he has been quite active all along. He was still winning awards up until 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Yang_(actor)
@kidd When they are popular, they will be on Jaynestars… No need to follow..LoL..I personal dont rememeber the last news I read about him. Unless he gets another good project, he can just continue earning money doing CFs..
@hohliu
new talents are rising quickly and abundantly every year. just look at the talent search programs, they go through the boys this year like it is harvest season w/o giving 80% of them enough screen time. the culprit, i think, are that shows are primarily dominated by idol dramas. i hope that in a few years that they will start making more mature shows where the protagonist will not continue to be 20 yos. this way, they will give the aging actors a chance and audiences to see something more than just love stories.
@m0m0
Did you see the recent show ‘Shine! Super Brothers’? There are a lot to be criticised about this show and youku’s way of running it. But, it reintroduced many past stars to the current younger audience. This is where I get to know talented and passionate performers like Tan Jianci, Wu Jiacheng, Liu Wei, Xiao Shunyao, Fu Longfei, Hu Xia (I only knew the song, not the singer). Actually, I have seen Fu Longfei before in a Hong Kong movie, but, he didn’t leave an impression there. Only after someone post a pictures of his old movies did I realise I’ve seen him before.
Unbeliavably, this show is also the one where I really get to know Li Wenhan. In the past I only know him by name and know he’s Yibo’s (ex?) band member.
I hope there is season two. This is an important platform for older artists to regain popularity and let young audience see their talent and worth.
@kidd I saw that program too. I thought it was a good concept… Zheng Shuang last show. I did not enjoy her presence…too self centered.
@kidd
i will check that out. after all, youth is just short span of time in anyone’s life. not fair that people can’t shine after reaching their 30s.
I first saw Simon in ‘Begin Again’. I like him. He’s really handsome and has a great smile. Quite a lot of viewers for ‘Begin Again’ at that time said his acting was no good and no wonder he didn’t become popular even with that handsome face. I personally think his acting was ok in that series. That character is not easy to act because it’s the quiet type and the script was no help for character understanding.
I think he just hasn’t gotten the right role. In ‘Word of Honor’ he finally get the right role and a good script to support his acting and has the good fortune that the series become hugely popular.
@kidd Simon caught my eye in Lost Love in Times (2017) even with a small supporting role. I liked him in his subsequence projects…even with a subpar script..
Good to know there is an additional popular actor in China, else everyone will hub on Xiao Zhan and Yibo only.
@hayden
Wait until ‘Sha Po Lang’ comes out. It’s another highly anticipated BL novel (also by Priest) adapted series. ‘Sha Po Lang’ is one of the most popular Priest’s novels. See if this series will break out or not. If it does we will have two more hugely popular stars, namely Tan Jianci and Chen Zheyuan.
@kidd I am unsure about this drama… I am unsure the two guys can carry the story..But will have to watch and tell..isn’t it?
@hohliu
Sometimes, it’s the drama that made the actors. I’ve not seen either of them act. But, I’ve heard praises for their acting before.
Actually, the actor who made me pay attention to ‘Sha Po Lang’ in the first place was not the leads. I just want to watch Dong Yanlei. Love him in Idol Producer. But, after Shine Brothers, I’m also looking forward to Tan Jianchi.
@kidd Luo Yunxi is gonna be scorching material by the time Sha Po Lang finishes airing. Firstly because he’s always been somewhat effeminate-looking, so he fit right into the theme, but also because it seems most BLs can’t fail these days
@coralie
Luo Yunxi? You mean 罗云熙? But, he’s not in Sha Po Lang.
@kidd yea my bad. I meant “immortality.”
@hayden
Xiao Zhan’s rise and fall were both so abrupt. I’m glad ‘The Wolf’ did well. It open doors to more Xiao Zhan series and allow him to slowly regain his footing.
@kidd Xiao Zhan is harm by his own management compnay… he has to fight these as a lone wolf.. He has very supportive fans and I hope his future projects will do well.
Simon Jun is so pretty. He has come a long way since his last project (Unique Lady) which I binge-watched ever since I started Word of Honor (unfortunately I’ve since dropped both.) His acting in both is miles apart, which is weird because they were only filmed like one year apart? So I can only attribute it to script/director….
But he lost a lot of weight for Word of Honor. In Unique Lady he was actually a little fleshy, but in Word of Honor, he slimmed down and looks chiselled. And his acting has improved by leaps.
I can’t tell what direction his career will lead him, but hopes he continues on the upward trajectory.
Im watching this now. I have many issues with the convulated story, the sets, the landing of some actors, the slow mo used, the secondary actors who were terrible and the rawness of the 2 main actors. But between the 2, I think Gong Jun was the better actor. He does remind me of Xiao Zhan, similar aged too. I am disappointed with the costumes which I feel is not thematic and not consistent. But I’m comparing it with the untamed. Overall story, this series is richer and wider. But characterisation wise, The Untamed was far more complex. There’s a reason why I bought the commemorative book. Costumes themselves with the weapons all are part of the story. I feel Word Of Honour is passable. Gong Jun is of course the best aspect.
@funnlim
I’m curious. What do you think of ‘Legend of Fei’? I remember you are looking forward to it. I’m watching it now and I find it boring. It’s so slow. I’m already up to episode 19 now and I feel that the plot is going nowhere. Ah Fei is just wandering around Jianghu meeting elders who help her level up her martial arts, while Xie Yun just tagged along. Chu Chu, after so many episodes, has yet to reach 48 Stockade. And the villains are still looking for that obscure something. The most interesting parts are actually the backstories of the elders that Ah Fe met. Too bad 2 of them already died after passing their martial arts to Ah Fei.
@kidd Honestly, I stopped after 5 episodes. I couldnt stand the outdated costume and especially the super pale colour tone. In the end I didn’t think there was chemistry between the 2, story for me is confusing and frankly, whilst I like Zhao Liying, I find her too old for the role. So i dropped it. I wasnt impressed at all. The dubbing was also terrible.
@funnlim
You are right about Zhao Liying. They should have up ZLY’s character age to match her appearance. She looks young for her age, but, really not convincing as a 16 years old. It feels weird when Wang Yibo’s character keep calling her ‘little lady’ and ‘little beauty’ when their appearance did not reflect their age difference.
Costume for me is ok. I actually like how simple everyone’s costume and hairpiece is. It should be this way for people running around jianghu.