With 5 million followers and a variety show appearance, the actor of the hit short drama "became famous in a roundabout way"

This article deeply analyzes how short plays have become a new way for grassroots actors to become famous, explores how the traffic and turnover brought by short plays can promote actors to become stars, and provides a case study of the phenomenon of short plays creating stars. It is recommended for readers who are interested in the film and television industry, the path to fame for actors, and content creation.

With the trend of short dramas, grassroots actors have a new way to become famous.

They either use short dramas to earn high income and high turnover, such as Xu Yizhen, who switched from online dramas to short dramas, whose many short dramas became popular and attracted over 10 million yuan in payment; or they gain high traffic and high exposure because of the popularity of short dramas, such as Cheng Lei, who starred in the hit TV series "The Feather of the Cloud", has over 5 million fans online, and Jin Chao, who appeared on variety shows, has two short dramas as his representative works... The turnover and traffic brought by short dramas are driving more actors to become stars. The era of short dramas creating stars has arrived.

We have taken stock of some actors in hit short dramas to see how short dramas create stars and how actors can continue to move up the ladder.

1. Short dramas create stars: revenue + traffic

"3, 2, 1, Action!" As the stage manager said this, the girl in a white wedding dress smiled like a flower and looked at the man in a suit lovingly. The next second, the scene changed and the girl fell to the ground helplessly...

This is the filming site of the short drama "After Rebirth, She Was Spoiled to the Sky by Her Scumbag Enemy", and it is also the node where Xu Yizhen's destiny began to turn: because this short drama became a hit after it was broadcast, she truly embarked on the shining "road to stardom".

Xu Yizhen graduated from a media college in 2020. Although she was not an actor, she had a passion for acting and kept auditioning for roles without any background or foundation. However, due to her lack of experience, the web dramas she filmed did not make much of a splash.

By chance, she came into contact with short dramas and filmed "After Rebirth, I Was Spoiled to Heaven by My Scumbag Enemy". It was this short drama that became popular on the Internet and helped her gain fame as an actor. After that, she began to receive many audition invitations for short drama scripts and filmed many popular short dramas in succession, such as "After Rebirth, I Became a Billionaire", "Just Like Cold Light Meets Sunshine", "Oh, the Queen Comes to Work", "After a Flash Marriage, Mr. Fu's Vest Can No Longer Be Hidden", etc.

Among them, the top-up of "Oh, the Queen Comes to Work" quickly exceeded 10 million yuan after its launch, and "After the Flash Marriage, Mr. Fu's Vest Can No Longer Be Hidden" even exceeded 20 million yuan within 24 hours of its launch. Coincidentally, the male second "Gong Shangjiao" in the hit TV series "The Feather of the Cloud" directed by Guo Jingming last year, whose actor Cheng Lei also came from a short drama.

As a "science and engineering man" who graduated from the Environmental Design Department of the School of Urban Design of Hebei Academy of Fine Arts, he initially joined the crew just to help his actor friend, but he accidentally entered the entertainment industry. After several tepid micro-web dramas, he finally encountered a short drama that was very important to him - "Xu Yan".

As a well-made short drama, "Xu Yan" received a lot of attention at the time. Since its launch, it has won 15 daily championships on Mango TV and its cumulative broadcast volume has exceeded 500 million. This drama has brought Cheng Lei a lot of exposure and attention.

At that time, director Guo Jingming was preparing for the new drama "Yun Zhi Yu". Cheng Lei's role as the general Xiao Hansheng in "Xu Yan" was sharp and handsome, which was very close to Guo Jingming's idea of ​​the role of "Gong Shang Jiao" in the new drama. So Guo Jingming invited Cheng Lei to audition, and the audience saw the cold-hearted, warm-hearted and decisive Gong Er who later appeared on the screen.

It can be said that if there was no "Xu Yan", it would be difficult for everyone to see Cheng Lei's version of Gong Shang role, and Cheng Lei himself gained countless fans because of this and became a memorable male actor in the domestic entertainment industry.

Including the recently discussed reality show "Infinite Beyond Class", Jin Chao also gained a lot of popularity because of his appearances in the short dramas "The Princess Is Above" and "Donglan Snow", and his partnership with Qi Xiaxia also attracted many CP fans. Although he was so nervous that he "seemed to break" when facing mature film and television industry seniors and other film and television actors in the variety show, in the episode aired on March 9, the mentors had arranged him as the captain, which fully demonstrated from the side that Jin Chao has strength and topicality.

Before becoming a short drama actor, Jin Chao was a Hanfu model. He was introduced into the entertainment industry through many Hanfu advertising shoots and the fashion show at the National Style Ceremony. He became an instant hit after starring in the short drama "The Princess Is Above" and won the "Most Popular CP Award of the Year" together with Qi Xia Xia at the 3rd Golden Drama Awards.

With the help of short dramas, these amateurs or newbies who originally did not have strong resources and backgrounds now have the opportunity to become top stars.

2. Short play actors “became famous through indirect means”

Once upon a time, short plays were jokingly called the "fast food industry" by many people in the film and television industry, and these young short play actors, most of whom were latecomers, were called "fast food actors."

However, short dramas have proven themselves with their vitality and output value that they are "fast-moving but not instant." The people who appear in short dramas have also shifted from models and video bloggers at the beginning to more professional actors or idol contestants.

For example, among the popular actors in the TOP100 short drama hot list in December 2023, most of the actors were born after 1995, such as Chen Si, Julaiti Kutilai, Sun Yue, Shen Haonan, Hou Chengyue, etc. Nearly half of them have professional backgrounds, and some have transformed from idols to the short drama track.

"Short plays are now the fastest way for many grassroots people who dream of becoming actors to rise to prominence," said a short play practitioner.

According to incomplete statistics from Xinbochang, more than 10 actors have become famous through hit short dramas. After the short dramas they starred in became popular, they also attracted countless fans. For example, Cheng Lei has more than 5 million fans on all platforms, and actors such as Jin Chao and Xu Yizhen have more than one million fans on a single platform.

Why can a popular drama also make its actors popular? Why do short dramas seem to create stars faster than long dramas?

First of all, unlike long dramas, short dramas do not rely on popular stars as the highlight. As long as the story is outstanding and the actors have good acting skills, they can quickly gain the audience and recognition of users.

Secondly, short dramas are short and emotionally dense, which makes it easier to attract users' interest in a short period of time. A story ends quickly, and the audience can see the complete performance of the actors in the short drama, without the worry of "sudden turn" or "high opening and low closing".

In addition, most short dramas are broadcast on short video platforms, which can be more directly linked to the actors themselves, thereby diverting traffic. When the audience becomes interested in an actor, they can pay attention to the actor's account at the first time.

Moreover, compared with long dramas, the production cycle of short dramas is shorter, and actors can always play the same type of roles, thereby constantly strengthening their own labels.

For example, Xu Yizhen mostly starred in short dramas with sweet pet themes, which happens to be the main theme in female theaters; Li Fei is regarded as a new "treasure ancient style handsome man" by countless ancient idol girls. The short dramas starring him, such as "Chaoge Fu", "Raising Enemies as Trouble", and "Lin Ye Chuan", are all very popular on Kuaishou, and he has won the Golden Drama Award for Outstanding Actor of the Year for two consecutive years.

Because of these characteristics, short dramas do have the soil to create stars, giving actors a broader platform and more opportunities. If you open the search terms on Xiaohongshu, you can also see many posts about amateurs becoming the heroines of short dramas.

Actors who have gained traffic bonuses from hit dramas have achieved a roundabout way to fame. However, how to remain popular and continue to rise may be a challenge that cannot be avoided in the future.

Some actors in short plays are trying more possibilities. For example, Qi Xiaxia, who played the leading roles in "Donglanxue" and "The Princess Is Above", once told the media that she was planning to prepare a high-quality script that she would write and direct.

Some actors have also realized that the work intensity of short plays is higher and the content is more homogeneous. Moreover, as the trend of short plays continues to blow, more and more professional teams are coming to the stage, and the competition in the industry is becoming more and more fierce.

But at present, short plays are still the fastest way for grassroots to rise.

Author: Changmei ; Source public account: Xinbochang (ID: 1093973)