With time to reflect after getting kicked off the stage filming the most recent episode of Actors Please Take Your Place 3, Chinese idol turned actor Zhang Jiayuan said he only had two thoughts at the time. “The first was that my acting career is over so I should pivot and do something else.” Then he said his second thought was that he had to watch other people’s performances, “I had to respect them and learn from their performance and what the mentors advised.” Zhang Jiayuan is a Chinese idol and guitarist who debuted as a member of the project boy group INTO1. Last year, he starred in the web drama Jade’s Fateful Love as the second lead.
If you missed the most recent episode of the show, show mentor Zhang Ziyi lost her patience with the 22-year-old and told him to get off the stage. “Don’t say anything anymore, just get off…” The industry veteran who is known for not pulling her punches, angrily rebuked that idol status shouldn’t be an excuse for poor stage performance.
What Happened
Things started off positively enough with the mentors giving Zhang Jiayuan good feedback when he first stepped onstage with his guitar. However, the mentors started to look unhappy when he started acting. Now it wasn’t simply because of his poor performance that he was told to get off the stage as he gave the impression that he lacked respect for the acting profession, that it’s his backup plan as an idol.
While getting critiqued for a certain scene where he literally had to act as an idol, Zhang Jiayuan went on to explain he was going for comedy, “As an idol I have received too much attention and pampering in this industry. I want to reposition my role to be more comedic . In fact it is also a satire of my past self…” Zhang Ziyi in particular was less than impressed with his response, pointing out that his acting was insincere. More likely enough it was his mention of “being an idol” that really piqued the mentors, because even though it’s his profession, it’s also a title that implies being a role model—something the judges likely felt he hadn’t earned through his acting.
Starting Over with a Humble Attitude
Once the episode was finally out, Zhang Jiayuan posted an apology on social media. He said he had been taking time to reflect on his actions and felt ashamed every time he thought back on his actions. “Faced with fierce competition and a lack of confidence in my performance, I was seeking ‘to perform’ and tried to buy myself a chance to ‘survive a few more episodes’ by making jokes”.
“As a new actor, I should have treated acting with reverence, learning and growing with humility. But I didn’t correct my attitude and completely ignored the professionalism of acting.” Thanking the mentors for their tolerance and guidance, he promised to do better and to start again with a more humble attitude as he grows into an actor worthy of everyone’s recognition.
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