Xu Zheng

Xu Zheng (; born 18 April 1972) is a Chinese actor and director best known for acting in comedic roles. Xu found fame with the comedy TV series Sunny Piggy. He followed with comedy TV dramas Li Wei the Magistrate (2001) and Love Through Different Times (2002), as well as comedy films Call for Love (2007) and Lost on Journey (2010). Xu is a frequent collaborator with director Ning Hao, in films such as No Man's Land (2013) and Breakup Buddies (2014). Xu directed, co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in Lost in Thailand (2012) and Lost in Hong Kong (2015), two of the highest-grossing films in China. He also co-produced and starred in Dying to Survive (2018), for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor. Xu ranked 38th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2013, 68th in 2015, 92nd in 2017, 4th in 2019, and 2nd in 2020.

Biography Growing up in Shanghai, Xu Zheng performed regularly in Children's Palace theatres. After graduating from Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1994, Xu portrayed mostly minor roles on television and film for years. His big break came in 2000 with the romance TV series Sunny Piggy, in which he portrayed the dimwitted protagonist Zhu Bajie. Sunny Piggy received high ratings nationally, paving way for other popular TV dramas such as Li Wei the Magistrate (2001) and Love Through Different Times (2002). Since appearing in Ning Hao's Crazy Stone (2006), Xu also began to turn more and more to comedy films, starring in Call for Love (2007) and One Night in Supermarket (2009). He also worked with Ning Hao again in Crazy Racer (2009) and No Man's Land (2013).

Xu had wanted to try his hands in filmmaking since acting was, in his words, "too passive". After the success of the comedy road film Lost on Journey (2010), Xu invited his co-star Wang Baoqiang to join his directorial debut Lost in Thailand, a film with the same premise. However, as a first-time director, Xu had a difficult time selling his story, meeting with 3 different production companies before convincing Beijing Enlight Pictures to invest US$4 million. Huang Bo, Xu's good friend and frequent co-star in Ning's films, also joined the project. Released in December 2012, Lost in Thailand raked in over US$200 million from about 40 million people to become the highest-grossing domestic film in China's history. Shot mainly in Thailand, the film greatly boosted tourism to the country, and Xu even received a private meeting with the Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2013.

In 2014, Ning's comedy road film Breakup Buddies starring Xu and Huang Bo grossed over US$195 million to become the highest-grossing domestic film of the year. Xu's second directorial feature Lost in Hong Kong (2015), which he again starred in, co-wrote and co-produced, broke Lost in Thailand'''s Chinese 2-D film grossing record with US$250 million.

In 2019, he produced the romantic comedy film Love You Forever, which was released nationwide on December 31, 2019. On February 5, the comedy sci-fi film Crazy Alien, in which he made a cameo appearance, was released. In July, he served as the director for the segment The Champion in the film My People, My Country, a tribute to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. On October 7, Xu Zheng's cumulative box office exceeded 10 billion yuan, ranking him among the top in Chinese film history. On October 16, the latest character reveal and trailer for Lost in Russia, the latest film in the Lost in series directed, starred, produced, and written by Xu Zheng, were released. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was made available for free streaming on Xigua Video on the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2020. In November, Xu Zheng won the Best Director Award at the 3rd Golden Screen Awards for the film My People, My Country. On December 8, Xu Zheng presented the Best Film award at the 2nd Hainan Island International Film Festival.

Personal life Xu first shaved his head while in college and has maintained the look ever since.

In November 2012, Xu was photographed by Fengxing Studio entering and leaving a KTV venue and hotel with Wang Xiran, a Central Drama Academy student. Xu denied an affair. In July 2017, Xu assaulted a female photographer from Feng Xing Studio.

Filmography Film

Miniseries

TV series

Reality shows 2016: Twenty-Four Hours (二十四小时) on Zhejiang Television 2016: Lost in Food (食在囧途) on Zhejiang Television 2018: I Am an Actor (我就是演员) on Zhejiang Television

Theatre A member of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Xu was a stage star before finding fame in television and film. He starred in Chinese versions of The Liar (as Lelio), Long Day's Journey into Night (as Jamie), Much Ado About Nothing (as Antonio), and Art (as Serge), as well as many Chinese plays in both Mandarin and Shanghainese. He also directed at least 3 plays as early as 1998. In 2005, he and Tao Hong starred in a 2-person play adapted from the Broadway comedy Last of the Red Hot Lovers'', which caused a sensation in Beijing.

Awards and nominations