Li Hongyi (李宏毅)

Li Hongyi’s rise is a classic Cinderella story of China’s reality-TV era — a rebellious, game-addicted teenager who shot to fame through the 2014 hit show X变形计 (The Exchange), saw his Weibo followers explode from just 40 to over a million overnight. But unlike many reality stars who faded away, he stubbornly refused to be defined by his past. With a striking 188 cm frame, a face made for period dramas, and a quiet determination to prove that he could act, he slowly built a career from walk-on roles to leading man — earning the nickname "ancient costume mood god" and becoming one of the most recognizable faces in Chinese costume dramas.

Breakthrough Role Li’s breakthrough wasn’t a single moment but a series of milestones that marked his evolution as an actor. He first gained attention as the cold, arrogant school heartthrob Han Qilu in the 2017 youth web drama Devil‘s Kiss (恶魔少爷别吻我), then proved his range as the邪魅 ("evil and charming") anti-hero Shangguan Qiuyue in the 2019 hit The Spring and Autumn of the Thunderbolt (天雷一部之春花秋月). But his definitive breakthrough came in 2022 with the martial arts epic The Blood of Youth (少年歌行), in which he played Xiao Se — a seemingly lazy, money-obsessed innkeeper who is secretly a deposed prince with a brilliant strategic mind. The role demanded a performance of quiet restraint: a prince who had lost everything, hiding his pain beneath a veneer of detachment. Though initially criticized as "expressionless", as the series unfolded, audiences came to recognize the depth Li brought to the character — a performance so convincing that even the novel‘s author gave it his seal of approval. The series became a word-of-mouth phenomenon, one of the rare "low-start, high-rise" martial arts dramas of recent years, and cemented Li’s status as a leading man in the costume drama space.

Public Perception Li Hongyi occupies a uniquely complicated space in the Chinese entertainment industry — an actor whose talent is increasingly recognized, yet whose past continues to shadow him. On one hand, he has earned genuine respect for his growth: from the raw, untrained performances of his early career to the nuanced, restrained work in The Blood of Youth and the "medically obsessed" Fu Sheng in the 2025 drama Treasure at Dawn (天书黎明), which earned widespread praise for its扎实细腻 ("solid and delicate") acting. Industry insiders acknowledge his professionalism and his willingness to learn from directors and co-stars. On the other hand, public opinion remains deeply divided. Some audiences still remember his family‘s online antics and view him through the lens of his reality-show origins. Others criticize his occasional "stiff" expressions and limited range. Yet his fanbase — and even many casual viewers — defend him fiercely, pointing to his steady improvement, his refusal to rely on hype, and his surprisingly candid personality. One viral comment summed up the paradox: "He owes millions but still wins fans — because in an industry full of denials, he’s the rare one who admits his faults and doesn‘t make excuses". At 28, with a string of highly anticipated projects lined up — including the costume drama Blazing Fire Burns Plum Fragrance (烽影燃梅香) with Wang Churan and the fantasy A Madness of Ten Thousand Flowers (十万狂花入梦来) — Li Hongyi stands at a crossroads: an actor who has climbed from the bottom, still fighting to prove that he is more than just a face from a reality show, and slowly, role by role, earning the right to be called a serious actor.