Shanghai heart-throb TV star finds new passion behind the camera lens

One of Hu Ge's photos on display in the "Home?Town" exhibition. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Hu Ge has been appointed as the city's ambassador for being an example of "positive energy".

Born in Shanghai's Xuhui District in 1982, he was admitted to Shanghai Theater Academy in 2001 and immediately skyrocketed to stardom in 2005 after playing the leading actor in Chinese Paladin, a TV series based on a popular role play game of the same name.

However, one year later, Hu suffered from severe injury and disfigurement from a car accident, which killed his assistant. It took him approximately one year to recover and step back to the industry.

In 2015, Hu Ge had another career take-off thanks to the mega-hit TV drama Nirvana in Fire. In the series, Mei Changsu, played by Hu Ge, relies solely on his wits to avenge the betrayal of his father and fellow kinsmen after losing all his Kung Fu skills in a battle.

He won many awards at home and abroad for this role, among which the most recent is the Magnolia Award for Best Actor in the 22th Shanghai TV Festival. The TV series has also been exported overseas to countries including South Korea and Japan.

"I am very happy to see that the series can be enjoyed by foreign audiences. It not only showcased the quality of Chinese TV dramas but also the beauty of Chinese culture," Hu said.

When asked about the possibility of cooperating with foreign directors, he jokingly said that he wishes to have such opportunities but needs to improve his English first.