The Bad Kids star Qin Hao recognised for his acting at last in China, not just for being an older woman’s husband
- Qin Hao is an actor to watch after his belated breakthrough playing the villain in The Bad Kids, rated by fans the best Chinese TV drama of 2020 so far
- The 41-year-old, who wed Taiwanese singer Annie Yi in 2015, was a classmate of Zhang Ziyi at Central Academy of Drama, but a virtual unknown in China until now
For years Chinese actor Qin Hao has better known for being the young husband of Taiwanese singer Annie Yi Nengjing (who is 10 years his senior) than for his acting.
That’s about to change. Thanks to the phenomenal success of recent Chinese TV drama The Bad Kids, in which Qin plays the male lead, the 41-year-old is emerging from Yi’s shadow.
Broadcast on video platform iQiyi over 10 days in June, the 12-part series racked up more than 200 million views in China and attained a score of 9 out of 10 on fan review website Douban, the country’s equivalent to Rotten Tomatoes. It is the highest-rated Chinese TV series on Douban so far this year.
The suspense thriller revolves around three children who unwittingly witness a murder and how the incident upends the lives of several families. The drama touches on a number of social issues, including runaway children and single-parent families.
Qin plays Zhang Dongsheng, a soft-spoken maths teacher and devoted husband who leads a double life as a serial killer. His portrayal of the show’s villain has been widely praised.