Kevin Cheng’s Popularity in China is Dropping?
Reports are saying that Kevin Cheng’s (鄭嘉穎) long-running Ip Man <叶问> television series, produced by Suzhou Funa Films and Television, is not doing too well with mainland Chinese distributors. It has been reported that the 50-episode drama, which had a five-month filming period in late 2012, failed to attract top-tier television stations to purchase its broadcasting rights.
Ip Man first premiered on Malaysia’s Astro on Demand and Hong Kong’s TVB in March 2013. The drama debuted its first mainland broadcast with Shandong’s Qilu channel in late March 2013, which was then followed by broadcasts in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangdong. According to the reports, only “third-tier” channels were willing to purchase the broadcast rights of Ip Man despite the producers’ hard effort to promote the series at the film and television festivals two years in a row.
Garnering low-ratings and mixed reactions from the audience, Kevin Cheng’s performance in the series was also highly criticized. Portraying the legendary wingchun practitioner Ip Man, a role also made famous by Donnie Yen (甄子丹) in his Ip Man films, Kevin was condemned for failing to portray the martial arts hero to justice. The criticisms said that Kevin, with no martial arts background, concentrated too much on the technical aspects of his role, sacrificing his acting.
Recurring Injuries
Struggling to perform well in the action-packed role, Kevin incurred many injuries during the shooting of Ip Man, some which have aggravated his old injuries. A source said that Kevin was initially hesitant about taking on the role, but decided to accept it when he was offered 500,000 RMB per episode. “He had over ten stitches on his right eye and had to get the old injury on his right leg treated again,” an insider said. “It was really rough money to earn.”
Failing to attract more viewers, it has been said that Kevin’s popularity in mainland China is also waning, causing him to put a hold on his production company plans. Reports say that Kevin also promised that he would cast good friend Kenneth Ma (馬國明) in an upcoming project, but those plans had to be temporarily put on the backburner for now.
Reports also claimed that due to Kevin’s drop in popularity, many Chinese productions have lost interest in casting him in their new television productions. One of Kevin’s latest Chinese dramas Hua Xu Yin <华胥引>, which was filmed last year, still has not been picked up by a broadcast station.
Kevin is currently resting in Hong Kong and has been consistently visiting Chinese medical clinics to get his injuries treated. It is reported that his next drama will be a TVB production.
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
It begs the question of whether his post- BBJX “popularity” was as real as purported by the media.
Kevin is overrated
I think he was popular after BBJX. Most of the BBJX casts really became popular, but it’s the quality if their next projects that really keep that popularity.
Ip Man has been done to death in movies, and the series with Kevin Cheng is so boring. I watched one episode, then fast forward through the second episode in the hope that it might get better… But had to stop because it is seriously bad.
He got lucky with bbjx this guy can’t act whatsoever. Haha his fanatics is cray cray watching a piece of log “act”. Lmao
It’s always like that. One hit and suddenly everyone gets popular on the show and you don’t know if they like the story, faces or real acting talent itself. Sometimes it’s just the storyline or the soundtrack that ppl love but they made it sound it everything is PERFECT about that show and suddenly they are the talk of the town. SIGH… that’s showbiz alright….
I always that was why Mark Chao got suddenly famous and started doing movies. He only made one series then BAM! Hong Kong movies now wants him. Same goes for Angelababy too.
But Mark Chao is actually a good actor. The new Detective Dee proved it.
Mark Chao doesn’t have much of a screen presence to be honest..
I think Mark Chao is quite a good actor. I’ll avoid comparing him to other actors to avoid inadvertently upset anyone…
hahah yeah i totally agree. his acting is boring and stiff. he has this same facial expression all the time…
Uhm, I don’t mind him, but he picked bad series to be in :/ I tried his other series, but the plots were boring/remake/seriously plagiarize tvb, always draggy – just chinese drama’s faults for liking to drag it out, most of the actors and actress can’t act in there, so just gave up after a few mins. So it’s more other that drag him down lol. Or I just don’t like him enough to suffer 40hrs+ of bad acting, bad plot, bad humor, illogical series :p
100% agree with you !!!! he got lucky in Bu Bu Jing Xin, his role doesn’t event apprear very much compared to Nicky and Shi Shi. His acting is so so, nothing special ! He doesn’t deserve his current status 🙁
Errrr…Nicky and Cecilia’s roles are the lead, of course they have more screen time! If you say Kevin does not deserve is star title, you might as well say it to Cecilia as well, because she is extremely overrated and she her acting still stinks. Not to mention, Nicky is nothing special. In my opinion, Nicky, Cecilia, and Kevin got LUCKY for they got all their fame from those roles and all of them were mediocre.
u all are wasting your time watching a mediocre show.
And the fact there already an overload of Ip Man movies/tv-shows for the last few years doesn’t really help either.
Very true. Also casting an artiste, who does not know much martial arts, for Ip Man is surely a bad choice.
agree its a bad choice,especially when ppl have seen donnie yen’s version but if you are given the chance to earn 25000000 rmb to do this serie wouldnt you accept it?at least he had tried his very best,otherwise he wouldnt injured like this.
In North America we have a term for such a reaction… it’s called “Flavour of the Month” – I think he’s a better actor than that… but I think the hype surrounding him coming over to China had a bit of that FotM feel to it.
No, he’s NOT a better actor than that. This guy can’t act. I really don’t understand why he’s got a lot of fans in jaynestars, such as Funn Lim, HeTieShou, and those names that you could see frequently here. This ‘actor’ should stop acting.
Haha Funn Lim and hetieshou are mr.ignorant. Can be ignored.
“why he’s got a lot of fans in jaynestars, such as Funn Lim, HeTieShou, and those names that you could see frequently here.”
I think you are mistaken.
u can’t assume what u don’t know.
Boy Raymond, you honestly are a troll with no life! Jayne,please ban this bad mouthed trill!
Qwerty,
It is true that I enjoy Kevin’s acting, but of course everyone has a different opinion so you can say what you like as long as it constructive. Acting is subjective, one may love a particular actor/ actress while others can hate them. Also,actors/ actresses who have lots of fans does not mean that they can act well. Who said popularity was based on real talent all the time? But you can hate who you hate,but no need to go around spreading the hate. If you dislike Kevin so much then why bother coming here and posting so much? You also cannot guarantee that all of your favorites are great and talented actors/actresses. But you can like them for other reasons so why can’t Funn, me and others like Kevin and enjoy his acting?
Oh, HeTieShou. You should calm down. Since when did I deny your right to like whatever artists you want to like? Could you find me denying your right in my above comment? None! I didn’t say you shouldn’t like a particular artist or the artist’s acting, singing, dancing, or whatever the artist does. I said I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND. There is a distinction between denying other people’s right to like their artists and pointing out confusion over other people’s blindly illogical artists worship. By the way, I just read all your recent replies in this particular article, and it seems to me that you spread much more hate than anybody else did and everybody could do. Are you really sure that you are gonna reply hatefully to anybody and everybody that gave negative comments on your favorite actor?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any favorite artists in particular, so the question whether my favorites are great and talented doesn’t really cross my mind. And yes, I bother coming here and posting so much, not because I wanna spread hate, but because I, as a viewer, give a damn and wanna express my disappointment that an actor is NOT ABLE to act as a matter of fact. If I really don’t give a damn, then I won’t even give a look at this article in the first place (which I have realized I really don’t since the last time I have commented here).
I think he HeTieShou is having a meltdown. Getting butthurt. Must take lots of her energy and time to respond with all the hate…hahah.
What the heck? I felt I was being calm and all. No, I am not having a meltdown or whatever. Trust me, if I was I would say different things. When the hell did I spread major hate? I admit to maybe one or 2 artists at most that I do not like,but I have my limits. I do not say things like they cannot act, stop acting, quit acting,etc..NONE of that! You really do not know what hate means. Read all of your own posts and you will see what I mean. Also, if you hate Kevin that much, why come here and post soooo many messages? Even if I disliked anyone, I will only post at most 1-2 messages at most and that is it. Also, I would not say the things that you say.
HeTieShou,
Hahaha…now you’re acting like a hypocrite. All you do is preach like you know it all through all these forum. And bringing examples from your family and relatives that they are like this and like that. And telling people what is right and what is wrong? Really? Get over yourself and nobody has to think like you. Get a life damnmit!
Its kinda hard to hold ur popularity in mainland
popularity is based on the story line, rarely based on the actor. Take Tom Cruise for example,
Agree with you, to a certain extent, popularity is rather based on the storyline and the character portrayal instead of on the actor. One flop and the popularity takes a real dip.
I don’t think he can act. China has higher expectations so they are more picky.
really? picky chinese in china, huh? maybe they should do so too with their environment and food intake, boycott fake foods and gutter recycle oil
Kevin is just a mediocre actor, TVB or anywhere.
he should go back to tv now… LOL
he should completely quit acting now…LOL
TVB will help Kevin now and give him a TVB series to film I suppose.
Celebs can’t be popular forever…花無百日紅！
Ip Man was really boring. it dragged on and Kevin didn’t really fight much…..
You are comparing the mighty Donnie Yen, an international star to a television actor Kevin Cheng. Of course there’s gonna be a difference! Donnie Yen is in a totally different league to Kevin!
I’m not sure that’s a fair comparison. Donnie isn’t a very good actor at all, but he compensates it w/the action/martial arts….and people are willing to accept that. Kevin on the other hand, isn’t the best actor out there and doesn’t have the action/marital background. Therefore….Kevin’s not very good at all. 😛 But then I would take him over Jason Chan anyday or some of the other new guys TVB tries to throw at it views.
50 eps of the same old stuff would definitely bored people to tears unless you end certain episodes with some exciting cliffhanger. A movie is much easier to digest.
Why blame Kevin or any one actor/actress just because one series is bad?there is way more to any series than just the cast! As you have all discovered that it is the overall plot/storyline and other factors that bought the series down, not Kevin’s or anyone’s acting.
I blame him for constantly choosing bad series to star in >_>
I already said China is not HKiest’ market. HK ppl and other countries fans are diehard for good looking guys not their talents.
Guess u need to be a really really good actor to be successful in mainland like Benny Chan Patrick tam hawick Nicky Wu etc Kevin might just be a one hit
Im sorry, but Nicky ain’t that good of an actor either. He got lucky with BBJX as well. What other series after or even before BBJX of his was any good? He’s still popular because he knows how to showcase himself.
agree with chao
Benny chan’s acting is too exaggerated. Hawick’s facial muscles are too stiff. Nicky Wu and Wallace Chung has limited range (the new tian long ba bu is horribly cast). Sadly, compared to the mainland actors from acting schools such as Chen kun, Sun honglei, these hk actors are just banking on the old glamour from Hong Kong’s film and television heyday and the celebrity buzz.
Wouldn’t that apply to all actors,actresses and singers? They all have particular roles/characters,songs,etc..that bring their name up but whether they are truly good or not is debatable. I think that is one of the main reasons why they keep on remaking JY novels,which is because they want to use the characters and names of those characters to shoot the new artists to fame. However,whether they do well or not is up to discussion.
I never like Nicky, not his look, or his acting skill, he is indeed overrated, and same with Cecilia, she is jus so plain and boring :/ they make me feel like I experience 100yrs in 2sec… 100yrs of the same day btw >_> , hell, more like same minute -.-
@Little fishy,
I couldn’t agree you more. Just like i say, some ppl just got LUCKY. Nicky Wu has never been cute or good looking but he along w/so many others got so popular after that time travel show and suddenly everyone is PERFECT in their role in that particular series. Give me a break you know… LUCK is certainly on some people and not on others. Did you see the Xiao S’ reaction to him, that woman is so full of exaggeration … She was flipping and saying Nicky Wu is so hot after that series. Seriously, they need to calm down on these overrated stars ahhaa LOL..
Ip man series had a boring story line I never thought Kevin was a good actor but a usable actor
Kevin is not the best actor but he’s ok most of the time. Still I’ll blame it on the choice of the story itself. It has been done, retold too much & too often . Viewers are bored by the same old story & subject.
Agree. It could be the first reason. Second reason is Kevin Cheng is not the best actor to film a pure martial arts master.
he shouldn’t have accepted the role… he’d already been chastised before for taking on physical roles. I wonder if he’d been drinking his own koolaid though, and figured his “star power” would pull the drama through.
Ip man not only drama he filmed after bbjx all had bad ratings. Just accept he bad actor.
Agreed.
Kevin isn’t exactly the best actor out there but he’s decent.
Also, this ip man drama was doomed to fail anyways.
And damn so many kevin shade. Haters gon hate.
He should count his lucky stars he made millions and gained fame over that one role. Like many have pointed out, he isn’t a very good actor at all.
It’s all about the scripts and roles nowadays. Kevin, indeed, was lucky to come across BBJX.
No offense to his fans, but this guy CAN’T act. Deal with it.
Kevin definitely can act and hes super hard working…but he always casted in the same similar role over & over again…I would love to see him as a bad cunning heartless guy once in a while…
Kevin Cheng as Jiang Qin and Jiang Yu Lang (Evil role)
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/The_Legendary_Siblings
No. I never was a Kelvin Cheng fan. Never was and never will be. I thought BBJX was dumb and boring. But u all will probably think otherwise.
Being neutral doesn’t mean like an actor. Understand the difference first, before u criticise.
Anyone popularity can go up and down etc Andy Lau Aaron Kwok Leon Lai Louis Koo gallen lo these guys r 100 times better then Kevin and they go up and down all the time
Andy Lau fame been going up since the day he joined TVB and left to go do movie.
Exactly whose fame does not go up and down? Andy definately had time where his fame did down and then up again?
I’ve never liked Kevin Cheng’s acting and this just shows the fab phenomenon of one hit series. It was just a lucky year for him to get hit series that got popular.
Exactly! Instead of being talented and being able to act, he was lucky to get popular with that drama from china (forgotten the drama’s name) and another drama relating the law (forgotten the drama’s name as well).
Actually, all my family members, especially my mum (complained a lot), are sick of him. I don’t hate him to such an extent, but to be frank, whether as a person or an actor, I don’t really like him and his acting either. He is arrogant, obviously.
Who does not get lucky? I think part of success,especially in this field is based on luck. My family members are fine with Kevin. My mom likes him and she is very critical of everyone. How do you know for sure he is arrogant?
Well, I’m a new fan of Kevin after BBJX… but the whole IP Man theme has been made and remake over and over and over again, it has no value anymore. I don’t even bother watching the first episode of it. How many IP MAN theme movies and dramas has been made since the first highly rated “original” IP MAN movie that was done by Donnie Yen came out?
U should also watch the 2nd IpMan starring Donnie Yen. It talks about IpMan in HK! Great movie!
As for other IpMan w/o DonnieYen especially the one that took 10 yearssss to come out, the one with Tony and ZhangZiyi..can TOTALLY IGNORE IT!!
Not just a waste of $$$ but also my time and my electricity!!!
I am part of the minority about the IP Man series. I think Kevin was competent and the other characters in the series was to me rather interesting. The problem with this series is that the plot is like a spiral, the villian loses and then victory for IP Man but then the villian comes back again in a different situation like when the Japanese invades China and the villian uses this opportunity to rise. Kevin showed me his brave, righteousness, indecisiveness and sometimes powerless emotions quite well. I also found the dubbing to be quite distracting but other than that I really liked this series.
I think I am in the minority that thought Ip Man was decent but since it was a bit long, so it did drag at certain parts. But I thought Kevin did a decent job and the rest of the cast did too. Acting is subjective.
Well… Hua Xi Jin is boycotted by the novel’s fans from the beginning and it wasn’t solely because of KC. I watched the trailer and can see that there are a lot of changes. The novel fans won’t accept those changed, period.
But KC shouldn’t accept the role Mu Yan, it’s fact. He is too old to act 18 :(. Qiao Chun Yu is another miscast, his outfits are funny, too.
sorry to say this, but he and his acting suck…
Regardless of talent, I think it’s very smart of Kevin to have taken advantage of his short lived popularity. He made more money in the past two years than he has in his life prior to that. TVB and HK would welcome him back with open arms. There’s really no downside to it. He’s still managed by TVB so he’s bound to return at some point. Just go where the money takes you.
Good point. An artiste should really take advantage of his/her popularity and make more money while he/she can because no artiste can stay popular for life …… in terms of viewership ratings and box office no matter how good his/her acting is.
not true,many artist can stay popular for life,look at chow yun fat he has the age for retiring and still one of the most popular artist and earn bucks of money,the point is you have to reach the status of a superstar.
Hey, how many Chow Yun Fats in the entertainment world? Too few ……
Plus Chow Yun Fat has been earning US dollars in filming his movies in the last few years, so he can afford to be selective in choosing his characters and movies.
Tony Leung is also still popular after so many years.
ok kevin isnt fat gor,but after bbjx he also have alot of choices,he dont need to do ipman to become a millionaire,the fact is choosing a role can make or break your career.
Chow Yunfat was considered box office poison early in his career until John Woo cast him in his groundbreaking film. CYF’s Hollywood films were not exactly big box office draws either. He had his career highs and lows, as to be expected by any artiste.
He still is the most popular tvb artist in mainland he just got the award and it was based on votes
of course everyone knows that dude………..
Cool
Know does not equal to like.
kevin is still a very popular in china a lot of tvb actors went to china and have done alot of episode and he is still very popular in tvb as well……….
but how sad for kevin that injuries^_^
had some injuries during the tv episode
i mean 🙂
i think he is still very popular
in china and hongkong tvb……:)
The only differences between TVB and China production companies are the latter pays better and have better working conditions. Apart from that, artistes are nothing but commodities. It’s just like the gold hype since the sub-prime crisis.
Wow, I did not realize so many people dislike Kevin so much.
HeTieShou, not only that but some of their criticisms, I feel, are uncalled for and unfair on him, like asking him to stop acting, etc. He may not be the best actor out there but to me and others he’s good enough and we enjoy watching his shows. Perhaps, Ip Man, seems painful to watch for others but as for me I did enjoy watching it. I just hope that things will work out well for him in spite of all this.
P.Tan,
Glad you realize what I mean. I am not blind like some fans are. I admit that Kevin may not be the best actor out there,but at least he is good enough because I have seen many that are worse. Ip man was ok to me. It may not be the best series but still watchable. He will not be affected by any of the criticisms here at all so they can say what they like. I was going to ignore it but a lot of the comments were out of hand like as you said, to say they he should quit acting. Regardless, of how much I dislike any artist, I would never say that.
Not me either. Every artiste has a right to act as long as he is offered to film a drama series/movie.
If you don’t like a certain artiste, just don’t watch his/her drama series. We don’t have the right to tell him/her not to act any more.
I like him, but I hate all the Chinese series he is in. Most of them I can’t stomach more than 2-3 episode, because of the plot, other actors and actress, his leading actress, the drag out, silly humorless humor, sooo many more bad things to list. Like I said, I blame his fall down on popularity on his part for not choosing good drama to be in
HeTieShou
Delighted you found one of like mind. I find that you argue well against your ‘foes’ who most times attack you unfairly because they turn personal and come to think of it they can be pretty vicious too. Well, I suppose one can’t prevent their bad mouthing but you have my full support!
i second that,although im not always agree with what hts said,but one shouldnt going over to personal attacks,and i think hts is always well-behaved in his/her comment regarding with the attackers.
I am so touched and thank you to you both for your support. I really appreciate it! Glad that there are open minded people like you guys around.
ladies whom he ditched, must be laughing now
Like most B films that go straight to DVD distribution, all of Cheng’s post-BBJX Mainland productions will now go straight to TVB. LOL!