KNOW ALL ABOUT
XU KAI'S JOURNEY AS AN ACTOR
XU KAI
BIO
FULL NAME: XU KAI
NICKNAME : KAIKAI, SOSO
S.CHINESE : 许凯
T.CHINESE : 許凱
NATIONALITY : CHINESE
ETHNICITY : HAN
BIRTHDAY : 05.03.1995
ZODIAC : PISCES
BLOOD TYPE : 0
HEIGHT : 188CM
WEIGHT : 68KG
HOMETOWN : SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG
SPOKEN LANGUAGE :
MANDARIN | CANTONESE
PROFESSION : ACTOR
ACTING DEBUT : 2016
AGENCY COMPANY :
HUANYU FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION
GROWING UP
Born in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Xu Kai was born and raised in Shenzhen, Guangdong. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Dongguan to the north, and Huizhou to the northeast.
Guangdong is the native of Cantonese speaker hence Xu Kai is able to speak Cantonese. However being the younger generation, Xu Kai grew up speaking a mix of Cantonese and Mandarin language, primarily Mandarin with Guangdong accent.
Xu Kai is the youngest of two children. He has an older brother who got married in 2020.
EDUCATION
Passed the National Exam|Enrolled in a top University
During his primary school years, Xu Kai went to Buji Dexing Primary School and Buji Middle School. He later enrolled in Buji Shenzhen Senior High School.
Upon graduating from high school, he took the national exam and passed with good score enabling him to enrol in South Agricultural China University (often referred to as Huanong), taking up a course in College of Economics and Management majoring in Finance.
However in his first year of university, his family's financial crisis got worse and he decided to drop out and take up the offer of signing up as a Taobao model to help his parents.
MODELLING
Became a model to help family financial crisis
While still enrolled in the South Agricultural China University, Xu Kai was encouraged by one of his teacher to participate in the Guangzhou International Model contest and won the finals. He was approached by a modelling agent, who then signed him into his agency to become a full-time Taobao model.
On 6th January 2014, Xu Kai officially signed into a contract model of modelling agency, becoming a model on several street brands, appearing on Taobao website front page, shopping mall and billboard.
In order to help resolve his family financial crisis, Xu Kai worked hard by taking up a lot of modelling bookings - At one point he modelled 300 pieces of clothing per day lasting from 6am to 4am the next day.
His hard work paid off as he was able to resolve the financial crisis and even bought his parents a house within a year of becoming a model, all of which he accomplished by the age of 18 years old.
As a result of his hard work, despite being just a normal Taobao model, he was fully booked and was high on demand by various clients and even being booked by a modelling agency in South Korea to model for their brand where they fully sponsored his flight and accommodation to attend the photoshoot in South Korea.
BECOMING AN ACTOR
Changing career for the future of his parents.
Xu Kai decided to changed his career path after 4 years of becoming a full-time model. His decision was also carefully made after considering the short career-span of a model. He was originally approached by Yu Zheng in 2013, when he entered the modelling agency but he rejected the offer as he was not interested in the entertainment world.
However, when Yu Zheng approached him again in 2016, he decided to accept the offer and officially retired from modelling world on 22nd July 2016. On August 2016, he officially signed with Huanyu Film and Television Production.
He was immediately included in Huanyu's own big production, the drama 'Dreaming Back to Zhao Ge' where he played a supporting role - the character Yang Jian, a general of the Zhou State. This drama however, was never released until now.
PATH OF AN ACTOR
Sudden fame and facing challenges in entertainment world
"Xu Kai's first became interested in acting was when he was watching 'Chinese Paladin' in 2005, starring Hu Ge"
A couple of years after joining Huanyu, in 2018, Xu Kai starred in the historical romance drama 'Untouchable Lovers', followed by palace drama 'Story of Yanxi Palace'. He gained mainstream recognition with his role as Fuca Fuheng in Story of Yanxi Palace, which became a huge hit in China and across Asia, catapulting his name into a sudden stardom.
In 2019, Xu Kai made his big-screen debut in the romance film Autumn Fairy Tale. The same year, Xu Kai played his first lead role in xianxia drama 'The Legends'. Xu Kai's role as a loyal and reticent demon prince in 'The Legends' received positive reviews, and he experienced a rise in popularity.
The same year, he starred in the youth military drama 'Arsenal Military Academy'. His performance in the drama earned him the Best Actor award at the Hengdian Film and TV Festival of China and Singapore Starhub Night of Stars. Later, Xu Kai also starred in the xianxia drama 'Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain', based on the manhua 'Congqian Youzuo Lingjianshan' which further increased his popularity as the drama received a positive review from the audience for his ability to portray a slapstick comedy character.
Forbes China listed Xu Kai in their '30 Under 30 China 2019' list which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.
2019
2020
VLOG
2021
Zhao Ge
Trivia
The whole production was done in scenic location sites in Kanas Lake, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Being a supporting actor, there is no toilet prepared for them, so Xu Kai had to ride on a horse to the side of the gorge every time he needed to use the toilet.
Xu Kai's character, Yang Jian is an immortal and a famous character in Chinese folklore. However, a fusion of fantasy and history is banned in China, thus the drama has been banned from broadcast and was never released.