TW-actor Peter Ho Gets Unexpected Popularity Spike After His 2012 Turn as a Gritty General in The Legend of Chu and Han is Compared to Pretty Boy Zhang Ling He in Pursuit of Jade
There is a Chinese phrase about being on the sideline and getting harmed without having anything to do with what is happened. Now the opposite needs a phrase lol because that’s what just happened to TW-actor Peter Ho. The star has seen his social media account follows increase exponentially as he’s been posted about on Chinese entertainment social media sites discussing his performance and visuals in the 2012 C-drama The Legend of Chu and Han (King’s War) where he played General Xiang Yu. C-netizens are holding him up as the epitome of playing an onscreen period General, physically tall and buff and portrayed as dirty and messy in battles. Whereas Zhang Ling He in Pursuit of Jade was too pretty boy, immaculate, and clean and looks like he’s cosplaying a general. That is all true but Jade was made to pretty up everything whereas Chu and Han is not an idol drama and is a prestige traditional period drama where characters had actors and actresses that looked the part rather than overly pretty. Bummer for Zhang Ling He to get flack for this.
lol I could not even begin to imagine any idol actors looking like Peter Ho as buff like that. Whoever represents them won’t allow it to begin with and if they do end up looking like that it is normally when they reach their late 30s into their 40s and above aged. These young actors are so skinny and slim what do you expect but I do notice he was not as skinny this drama as other dramas at least in his face. If zlh chose to look like that it would take a whole lot of training before he could even begin to film for the drama. I also noticed Peter Ho’s physique changed substantially over the years because he is going for body builder physique you can sense this in his cameo in prisoner beauty drama.
Peter Ho used to be my bias back in the day lol. He’s great and is an exercise enthusiast. Along with his tall physique (i think he’s over 6ft), he does make a very convincing general.
ZLH and a lot of c-actors typically have a very lean shape which hides their overall muscles, so their impact isn’t as visible. Peter Ho has bulk and thickness.
Actually a lot of trending vertical dramas now cast muscular men as MLs whose main selling point is…their body lol. Although their faces also need to be acceptable. As they become more mainstream though, i wonder if there will be demands for them to slim down as well
Totally agree. I think these days fans like the more androgynous and heavily filtered/highly edited version of beauty. You aren’t going to see skin pores or body hair here. Skin is smoothed out and lightened. It’s the idealized beauty that gets you the part. If viewers are lucky, we might get good acting and a decent screenplay and tight editing to complete the whole package..
Personally, I don’t mind some editing and these days in the entertainment business, plastic surgery is practically required. But I think in the process of achieving these highly stylized beauty ideals, you lose the diverse and unique richness of beauty. Sometimes when I look at many of these character posters, the faces become interchangeable and less interesting. And that’s too bad. With that much Botox, how can one emote via facial expression. Such are the trade offs. Actors fear one day AI generated projects won’t need live humans in the future. Then again, with the heavy editing, CGI, and extensive plastic surgery to meet standardized beauty ideal, one car argue we are partly there already.
I laugh so much scrolling. The general with the Estée Lauder foundation who gets up at 4 a.m. to do his makeup before heading to the battlefield at 6 a.m. Cnetizens are too funny.
Tencent and Iqiyi want to create artists for their platform. It all turned into a big joke. Everyone can became popular except the main actors. A drama reaching over 10,000 and 31,000 on two platforms with the highest visibility. I think neither even gained 1 million followers. Such sucess sees actors gain at least 5- 7 million followers.
What are you talking about! ZLH already gain almost 2 mill on Weibo since POJ aired, and his endorsements increases. XZ didn’t even gain 1 million followers when Zhanghai aired and it successful drama last year.
Zanghai is not a idol romance drama, POJ is an idol romance. Idol romance dramas have always had advantage in attracting followers. POJ viewership is supposedly almost 2x than LoZ. Even HMH gained a lot of followers with LITC. LITC is not even a hit dramas but it’s an idol fantasy romance drama.
It also doesn’t help that PoJ basically made ZLH a side character in his own drama 😆
His story was basically nonexistent and all the focus shifted to TXW’s character instead.
I say this with no hate towards either actors since I loved PoJ
Yes, that is what happens when your “general” has three tons of make up on and is caught “riding” a wooden horse that is being pushed around.
It is also not true you get actors won’t do rougher versions. We have seen in the recent years that those serious about acting will. That’s not zlh obviously but others are.
I like Peter Ho, good for him. Although his was not an idol drama. So no need to be “pretty”.
On Zhang Linghe: whenever an idol actor has a hit drama, there are people, obviously from other fandoms,that try to bring them down. And of course, they find numerous useful idiots on social media. This has happened to many actors before, and is happening now to Zhang Linghe. The worst part is that the instigators as well as the idiots hate it when it happens to their own bias.
It’s not a hit show. That’s the problem. It’s a show that was boosted by huge water views, so big that it outpaced China’s cult dramas. This was a platform mistake, to water it that much. Everyone knows what happened and is dragging it due to it.
ZLH made a bad gamble and tried to boost his status based on this water. How do you think that went down with the netziens? If he had kept his head down it would have been fine. Now he is getting dragged too. Live and learn. Nobody likes cheaters and fakers.
People on rednote said this is the first time they saw a drama where when the data hit a new milestone,no one celebrated even the main leads.. everyone knows including them..no memes, no plot discussion, no iconic scenes and memorable quotation. all i remember was hansome male lead, and beautiful female leads.
Whether PoJ is popular in China or not, no way to verify since that country has a history of data transparency issues for anything. lol. PoJ is definitely a massive hit outside China across 15 markets and different streaming platforms, legal or illegal, and beating Hidden Love that’s used to be the most watched Cdrama on Netflix. PoJ quickly overtook Legend of Zhanghai and Joy of Live in viewership and soon will surpass the Knockout, approaching Love’s Ambition on popular Cdrama pirate sites. lol
@Nena, great observation! I also noted the same rabid fans of my own fav had a fetish to come out witch-hunting other actors of hit dramas. As much as I adore my own fav, I have to say this fandom also has so many insecure talifans. They don’t appreciate other up and rising younger actors lest their rising popularity be a threat to the status of my fav. lol. There are always uneasy fans from other fandoms too joining this type of smear campaigns after one actor has a break-out hit. As much as I’d like my fav to stay on the top of popularity, I’m also happy to see a younger talent (acting-wise or visually lol yes, visuals are a gift) make great strides on his career paths.
@Nena “Whenever an idol actor has a hit drama”. The key word is hit drama, which PoJ certainly isn’t. The only reason other fandoms joined in on netizens ridiculing this drama is because this drama kept using their faves as a marketing tactic. For example, tons of hot searches were bought comparing ZLH with Chen Zheyuan, Wang Hedi, Wu Lei, Xiao Zhan etc. Funny how somebody can side with a drama that dragged her fave 😂, another proof that she isn’t a XZ fan.
This drama is manufactured with tons of water from the start, in both China and worldwide. Massive hit drama outside of China when K-netz kept questioning how this Chinese drama reached No. 2 on their Netflix region? Add ZLH’s SEA racist remark turning away SEA-netz to that? Did the remaining views come from Japan and Western countries? LOL.
They really need to keep lay low on the lipstick on these men. I hate seeing the men’s lipstick more red than the girls.
The problem with foundation… the head gear is silly also. In war enemy just need to pull the long tail. Reminds me of a parading peacock. And zhang linghe is a good acto, pretty also but he should be in xianxia series where he doesnt need to cos play general and still wear 10 inch foundation.
Peter Ho? He’s never been that successful in idol dramas anyway. lol.
Let bigots focus on “serious” lol dramas and other drama fans continue to be entertained by whatever is entertaining! Nobody is superior to anyone else. lol.
Although I had had trouble finishing any of ZLH’s prior dramas except for his debut work, Maiden Holms, I think he did a great job under the artful direction of the PD in PoJ. I’m happy for him to have finally a break-out hit drama under his belt. He’s got visuals. As long as he continues to strive for improvement, he’s got promising career prospects. I’m looking forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.
But hey it’s an idol drama and making ZLH pretty worked! My friend swooned over his looks every time he was on screen and forgave him for subpar acting because he’s so beautiful. She’s aware he’s not good enough to be a general but she’s content to just stare at his face. That’s why good-looking but mediocre actors are chosen anyway.
it’s either cnetizens are bipolar, or this is an unnecessary smear campaign by some specific people against this drama. The same Cnetizens dragging ZLH for looking pretty as a general are the same ones who called Chang Chen ugly as the god of war in love and destiny.
They should go and rest.
How do you know it’s the same netizens? China has millions of internet users, obviously they’re bound to all have different opinions on different things.
I don’t see the need for such a comparison.
Idol dramas are typically catered to viewers who want to see pretty boys with perfect hair and perfect faces on screen. The realism aspect in those, whether it comes to the plots, styling or characterizations, often takes a backseat in favor of entertainment. If someone wants to watch realistic and unfiltered men on screen, they can just watch non-idol dramas.
I just figured out the comparison was triggered by scathing criticism coming from CCP’s military media.
At 5:49 PM on March 27, the official Weibo account of Jun Zhengping Studio (run by the People’s Liberation Army Daily) posted a piece with a headline:
“The ‘generals’ in costume dramas wearing makeup cannot bear the social responsibility of embodying masculine vigor.”
Following the vitriol coming from the PLA media, the obnoxious comparison between Peter Ho and ZLH started to circulate on Chinese social media.
Welp! Then I can shrug off all this f*cking CCP bogus bullsh*t! LMAO. This regime is too petty and insecure about its’ own authority to not meddle in any small business in its citizens’ daily life, even as far as a remote pocket in entertainment. lol. The PLA should focus on purging its own top brass in the RIGHT way rather than sticking its nose into civilian life. lol
Fans love juicy gossips. Here we go, another one! lol
While PLA had someone come out to denounce ZLH’s image as a general in PoJ, Thailand’s military has been using his PoJ stills on the horse for recruiting purpose. lol. Different political systems, different views.
Talking about entertainment, I love ZLH’s visuals either as a warrior or a disguised villager in PoJ. So satisfying to not see a leading eyesore in an idol drama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL. However, it’s interesting C antis are ridiculing him a “foundation general” while they turned a blind eye to ALL the “BB cream and white powder” actors playing fighters in ALL other idol dramas. The double standards are telling. Cdrama fans should stop being freaked out by ZLH’s rising popularity thanks to PoJ. He won’t be a threat to your favs unless your favs can’t live up to the expectations of viewers. lol.
I love the book. I love the film adaptation as well. And if you read the book, it mentioned many times how handsome and flawless the main character is, battle-scarred and all. So, I don’t questioned how perfect he is, even during battle.
This is so ridiculous. Why blame the production when they were simply following the description of Marquis Wu’an ACCORDING to the novelist! The novel describes him as being very handsome with long eye lashes. Same with TXW’s role as the slim but super strong butcher.