Wallace Huo

Wallace Huo Chien-hwa is a Taiwanese actor and singer. After gaining popularity for the Taiwanese idol drama At Dolphin Bay, he shifted his career to mainland China and became known for his roles in Chinese Paladin 3 (2009), Swordsman (2013), Battle of Changsha (2014), The Journey of Flower (2015), Love Me If You Dare (2015), and Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018).

Huo ranked 82nd on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2014, 48th in 2015, 22nd in 2017, and 66th in 2019.

Early life Huo was born in Taipei, Taiwan to Liu Yu and Huo Chao-Ku. He has one brother, Huo Chien-yuan. His family originated from Shandong; his parents were natives of Longkou and Tianjin respectively. His grandfather was a follower of Sun Yat-sen and in October 1949, his family moved to Taiwan. Both his parents worked in the court system and his brother is a police officer. His parents divorced when he was young.

Huo once aspired to be a basketball player but then turned to singing in his early teenage days. With the goal of becoming a singer, Huo joined the entertainment business at the age of 17, as the assistant of Taiwanese TV host Sam Tseng.

Career

2002–2004: Beginnings in Taiwan After starring in Star (2002), Huo rose to fame for the idol drama At Dolphin Bay (2003), which achieved a peak rating of 5.11 and became the most popular idol drama of the year. He was then in great demand and was cast in seven idol dramas at the same year (a record yet to be broken).

In 2004, Huo released his first ever solo album Start. Owing to his inability to cope with the promotion tour of the album, he decided to focus on acting thereafter.

2005–2014: Rising popularity in China In 2005, Huo starred in his first wuxia drama The Royal Swordsmen directed by Wong Jing. His melancholic portrayal of Guihai Yidao received rave reviews from fans and audiences. It proved to be an important turning point of his career, as it introduced him to mainland audiences. The same year, Huo made his big screen debut in the movie Hands in the Hair alongside actress Rosamund Kwan.

Huo then took the leading role in various dramas, including Sound of Colors alongside actress Ruby Lin, Romance of Red Dust opposite Shu Qi, and Emerald on the Roof with Sun Li. Huo expressed that his role in Emerald on the Roof had taught him how to act, and has a deep impact on him. Huo also starred in kungfu comedy Love at First Fight, taking on an eccentric and crazy role. His exaggerated expressions and comedic acting showed his ability to take on different roles.

In 2009, Huo rose to mainstream popularity with the hit xianxia drama Chinese Paladin 3, an adaptation from the video game of the same title. In 2011, Huo starred in period action drama The Vigilantes in Masks with Cecilia Liu; and historical drama The Glamorous Imperial Concubine wherein he played a cold and detached Emperor. Due to the success of the dramas, Huo was awarded Most Influential Actor at the 2011 Youku Television Awards.

In 2012, Huo starred in the medical drama Inspire the Life. In 2013, he starred in Lord of Legal Advisors, a mystery series in the Ming dynasty, and Swordsman, a wuxia series based on Jin Yong's classic novel of the same Chinese title. In 2014, Huo starred in Perfect Couple, written by Tong Hua. The project was Huo's first attempt at producing a drama series after the establishment of his own company Huajae Studio, and reunited him with Chinese Paladin 3 co-star Tiffany Tang. Huo won the Most Popular Actor in the ancient drama genre at the 2014 China Student Television Festival for the drama. Huo then starred in Battle of Changsha. Battle of Changsha was a critical success, as one of the highest rated dramas on Douban. thumb

2015–2017: Career peak In 2015, Huo starred in xianxia drama The Journey of Flower with Zanilia Zhao. The drama was a huge success in China, achieving a peak rating of 3.89. It is also the first Chinese drama to surpass 20 billion online views. The success of The Journey of Flower brought Huo's career to a new high. He then starred in crime thriller Love Me If You Dare, which received positive reviews and an international following. Due to his success, Huo was chosen by China Newsweek as Artist of the Year. He was distinguished as one of the Most Influential People in China for 2015, a remarkable distinction since he is the only recipient of this award in the field of Performing Arts.

In 2016, Huo starred in historical medical drama The Imperial Doctress, portraying Zhu Qizhen. It was one of the highest rated dramas that year, and Huo was awarded Most Popular Actor and Most Marketable Artist for his performance in The Imperial Doctress as well as Love Me If You Dare at the 1st China Television Drama Quality Ceremony. He next starred in the crime thriller Inside or Outside alongside Korean actor Jang Hyuk and Hong Kong star Simon Yam, as well as romantic comedy film Suddenly Seventeen and suspense thriller Hide and Seek.

In 2017, Huo starred in the science fiction suspense film Reset, produced by Jackie Chan and directed by Korean director, Chang; and war film Our Time Will Come, directed by award-winning director Ann Hui. In 2018, Huo returned to the small screen in the palace drama Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace playing the role of Qianlong Emperor. In 2019, Huo starred in the period epic drama The Great Craftsman, reuniting with his Chinese Paladin 3 and Reset co-star Yang Mi. The same year, he starred in the romance drama film Somewhere Winter written by Rao Xueman.

2018–present: Hiatus and partial comeback In September 2018, Huo announced the closure of Huajie Studio's Weibo and Facebook accounts, which had been managed by his co-founder and manager, Lian Junjie, effectively shutting down Huo's only social media presence amid an acrimonious breakup with Lian. Since then, Huo has largely retired to family life in Taiwan. In December 2020, Huo shut down another production company under his name in Hengdian. In 2021, he had a cameo in Light the Light, a Taiwanese drama produced by his wife, Ruby Lin. Huo returned to acting in 2024 with the Chinese drama The Tale of Rose.

Personal life On 20 May 2016, Huo confirmed his relationship with actress Ruby Lin, his co-star in Sound of Colors (2006) and The Glamorous Imperial Concubine (2011). They were married in Bali on 31 July 2016, and held another wedding reception in Taipei on 2 August 2016. Their daughter was born in January 2017.

Filmography Film

Year English title Original title Role 2005 Hands in the Hair Ah Hua 2009 Contract About Interchange Status Mai Zhelun 2012 Ultra Reinforcement Yang Zhiang 2015 The Honey Enemy Xu Mo 2016 Inside or Outside Xie Tianyou / Qiu Le 2016 Hide and Seek Zhang Jiawei 2016 Suddenly Seventeen Mao Liang 2017 Reset Cui Hu 2017 Our Time Will Come Li Jinrong 2017 The Founding of an Army Chiang Kai-shek 2019 Somewhere Winter Qi Xiao

Television series

Year English title Original title Role Notes/ 2002 Star Xia Yuanqiao 2003 Pretty Girl Fu Liheng 2003 The Great Teacher Huo Jianqi Cameo 2003 My Secret Garden Li Wei / Huo Jianhua Cameo 2003 At Dolphin Bay Zhong Xiaogang 2003 Westside Story Xingwang 2004 100% Senorita Li Weixiang 2005 The Royal Swordsmen Guihai Yidao 2005 Romance of Red Dust Li Jing 2006 Sound of Colors Lu Yunxiang 2006 Emerald on the Roof Zhou Nianzhong 2007 Love at First Fight Li Yashou 2008 Rouge Snow Xia Yunkai 2008 A Mobile Love Story Lu Yunfei 2008 Modern Beauty Yang Guang 2008 Love in the Forlon City Yan Fei 2009 Chinese Paladin 3 Xu Changqing 2010 New One Plum Blossom Zhao Shijun 2010 Detective Tanglang Tang Lang 2010 Go Yi Yi Go Cao Yan 2011 The Vigilantes in Masks Li Gexiao 2011 The Glamorous Imperial Concubine Liu Liancheng Special appearance 2011 Inspire the Life Han Zihang 2012 Lord of Legal Advisors Meng Tianchu 2013 Swordsman Linghu Chong 2014 Perfect Couple Jin Yuanbao also co-producer 2014 Incisive Great Teacher Li Daren Cameo 2014 Battle of Changsha Gu Qingming 2014 The Great Protector Liu Anshun 2015 The Journey of Flower Bai Zihua 2015 Love Me If You Dare Bo Jingyan / Simon Allen 2016 The Imperial Doctress Yingzong Emperor 2018 Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace Qianlong Emperor 2019 The Great Craftsman Shen Qinan 2021 Light the Night Ma Tien-hua

Discography

Albums Year English title Original title Album information 2004 Start Language: Mandarin Label: Sony Music Genre: Mandopop

Singles Year English title Original title AlbumNotes 2002 "Picking Stars" Star OST 2002 "Love is like Cotton Candy" with Romi Li 2002 "Come and Go Freely" 2002 "Happiness under the Umbrella" Star OST, My Secret Garden OST 2003 "Somebody" 100% Senorita OST 2005 "Your Number One" The Royal Swordsmen OST 2005 "That Time" 2007 "Angel's Wings" in memory of Beatrice Hsu; with various artists 2011 "Pass Away" The Glamorous Imperial Concubine OST 2013 "Free and Unfettered" Swordsman OST 2014 "I Will Remember You" Battle of Changsha OST with Yang Zi 2014 "Good Times" Perfect Couple OST with Ding Dang 2015 "Not to Mention" The Journey of Flower OST with Zhao Liying

Music video appearances Year Song title Singer Notes 1997"Love Story of Music" Saya Chang 2000 "Want to Escape" Kang Chin-chung 2003 "The Map of Love" Elva Hsiao 2006 "Big Fool" Miriam Yeung 2017 "Psudo-Single, Yet Single" A-Lin

Awards and nominations Major awards Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2004 39th Golden Bell Awards Best Actor At Dolphin Bay 2016 22nd Shanghai Television Festival Best Actor The Journey of Flower 2017 20th Shanghai International Film Festival Best Actor Our Time Will Come Other awards Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2011 Youku Television Awards Most Marketable Actor The Glamorous Imperial Concubine 2013 8th Chinese TV Audience Festival Top Ten ActorsSwordsman 2014 5th China Student Television Festival Most Popular Actor (Ancient Drama) Perfect Couple Most Popular Actor (Hong Kong/Taiwan)Perfect Couple, Battle of Changsha iQIYI All-Star Carnival Best Television Actor (Hong Kong/Taiwan) 2015 China Newsweek Artist of the Year 7th China TV Drama Awards Most Popular Actor Audience's Favorite Character 2016 2015 Conference on Big Data Index of Culture and Entertainment Most Popular Character 1st China Quality Television Drama Ceremony Most Marketable Actor The Journey of Flower, The Imperial Doctress Most Popular Actor 3rd Asia Rainbow TV Awards Best Actor (Historical Drama) 19th Huading Awards Best Actor Best Actor (Contemporary Drama) Love Me If You Dare 201824th Huading AwardsBest Actor Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace