# Lin Gengxin

Lin Gengxin (Chinese: 林更新; pinyin: Lín Gēngxīn, born on February 13, 1988), also known as Kenny Lin, is a Chinese actor. Lin rose to fame for his role in Scarlet Heart (2011), and has starred in movies such as Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013), My Old Classmate (2014), The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014) and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017) as well as television series Princess Agents (2017) and The Legend of Shen Li (2024).
Lin ranked 77th on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2015, 43rd in 2017, and 84th in 2019.

## Early life

Lin was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China. He enrolled in the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2007. During his college years, Lin appeared in low-budget films, television shows, short films and advertisements.

## Career
### 2011–2013: Rising popularity

In 2011, Lin rose to fame with the hit drama Scarlet Heart, playing the role of 14th Prince Yinti. In 2012, Lin co-starred in xianxia drama Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky, which was extremely popular during its run and raised his profile. In 2013, Lin successfully made his crossover to film with his role in Tsui Hark's Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon. He was nominated for the Best New Actor award at the 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards.

### 2014–present: Commercial success

In 2014, Lin starred in youth romance film My Old Classmate with Zhou Dongyu. The film was a commercial success, and won the Jury Prize at the 21st Beijing College Student Film Festival. The same year, he starred in crime action film Black & White: The Dawn of Justice; and reunited with Tsui Hark in the period action film The Taking of Tiger Mountain. The Taking of Tiger Mountain was a success, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time in China with US$150 million.
In 2015, Lin was cast in Chinese historical drama God of War, Zhao Yun, based on the Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He plays General Zhao Yun, who falls in love with a girl named Xiahou Qingyi (played by Girls' Generation's Im Yoona). The drama premiered in April 2016, and reached viewership ratings as high as 2%, and recorded more than 10 billion hits through various Chinese online videos sites. The same year, Lin headlined action comedy For a Few Bullets and martial arts film Sword Master. He also featured in Zhang Yimou's historical fantasy epic The Great Wall.
In 2017, Lin starred in Stephen Chow's Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, playing Sun Wukong. The film grossed $239.5 million, becoming the highest-grossing film among the Journey to the West novel adaptations. The same year, he starred in historical action drama Princess Agents. The drama was a massive hit, and Lin gained renewed recognition for his portrayal of the male lead, Yuwen Yue.
In 2018, Lin reprised his role as Shatuo Zhong in Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings, the third installment of the Detective Dee film series by Tsui Hark.
In 2019, Lin was cast in the crime suspense drama Lost and Love as a policeman.
In 2022, Lin starred in the romance and fantasy drama The Legend of Shen Li, which was aired on March 18, 2024, on Hunan Television, Tencent Video, and Mango TV. This drama was also Lin and Zhao Liying's second collaboration after their first drama Princess Agents in 2017.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | English title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | The Immemorial Magic | 玩命魔术 | Tong Xing | |
| 2011 | The Blue Cornflower | 蓝色矢车菊 | Nan Haitian | |
| 2013 | Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | 狄仁杰之神都龙王 | Shatuo Zhong | |
| 2014 | Just Another Margin | 大话天仙 | Lin Chong | Cameo |
| 2014 | My Old Classmate | 同桌的你 | Lin Yi | |
| 2014 | Black & White: The Dawn of Justice | 痞子英雄2 | Chen Zhen | |
| 2014 | The Taking of Tiger Mountain | 智取威虎山 | Shao Jianbo | |
| 2015 | Jian Bing Man | 煎饼侠 | Himself | Cameo |
| 2016 | For a Few Bullets | 快手枪手快枪手 | Xiao Zhuang | |
| 2016 | Sword Master | 三少爺的劍 | Hsieh Shaofeng / Ah Chi | |
| 2016 | The Great Wall | 長城 | General Chen | |
| 2017 | Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back | 西游伏妖篇 | Sun Wukong | |
| 2017 | What A Day! | 有完没完 | Xiao Xin | Cameo |
| 2018 | Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings | 狄仁杰之四大天王 | Shatuo Zhong | |

### Television series

| Year | English title | Chinese title | Role | Network |
| 2011 | Scarlet Heart | 步步惊心 | Yinti | Hunan TV |
| 2012 | Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky | 轩辕剑:天之痕 | Zhang Lie | Hunan TV |
| 2012 | Drama Go! Go! Go! | 姐姐立正向前走 | Tong Shaotian | Hunan TV |
| 2013 | Dancing Legend | 舞乐传奇 | Burmese Prince Shu Nanda | CCTV |
| 2016 | God of War, Zhao Yun | 武神赵子龙 | Zhao Zilong | Hunan TV |
| 2017 | Princess Agents | 楚乔传 | Yuwen Yue | Hunan TV |
| 2020 | Lost and Love | 最初的相遇，最后的别离 | Yan Jin | Youku |
| 2021 | My Bargain Queen | 我的砍价女王 | Sheng Zhening | |
| 2022 | Master of My Own | 请叫我总监 | Lu Jiming | Youku Dragon TV |
| 2024 | The Legend of Shen Li | 与凤行 | Xing Zhi / Xing Yun | Tencent |

### Variety show

| Year | English title | Chinese title | Role |
| 2015 | Challenger Alliance | 挑戰者聯盟 | Cast member |
| 2017 | Baby, Let me go | 放开我北鼻第二季 | Cast member |
| 2017 | Three Yard | 三个院子 | Cast member |
| 2018 | Clash Bots | 机器人争霸 | Cast member |
| 2022 | The New Journey | 新游记 | Cast member |
| 2024 | Mystery in the Box | 盒子里的猫 | Cast member |

## Discography

| Year | English title | Chinese title | Album | Notes | Ref. |
| 2017 | "Love In A Life Time" | 一生所爱 | Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back OST | with Yao Chen | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Results |
| 2011 | Sohu Internet TV Festival | Best New Actor | Scarlet Heart | Won |
| 2012 | Sohu TV Drama Awards | Best Newcomer | Scarlet Heart | Won |
| 2012 | 6th Tencent Video Star Awards | Newcomer of the Year | Scarlet Heart | Won |
| 2012 | 8th Huading Awards | Best New Actor | Scarlet Heart | Nominated |
| 2012 | 1st iQiyi Award Ceremony | Best Newcomer | Scarlet Heart | Won |
| 2012 | 1st iQiyi Award Ceremony | Most Popular Actor | Scarlet Heart | Won |
| 2014 | 12th Huading Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | Nominated |
| 2014 | 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Newcomer | Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | Nominated |
| 2014 | 14th Chinese Film Media Awards | Most Anticipated Performance | Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | Nominated |
| 2014 | 9th Chinese Young Generation Film Forum Awards | Best New Actor | My Old Classmate | Won |
| 2014 | 11th Guangzhou Student Film Festival | Most Popular Actor | My Old Classmate | Won |
| 2015 | 15th Chinese Film Media Awards | Most Anticipated Actor | My Old Classmate | Nominated |
| 2017 | 11th Tencent Video Star Awards | Most Popular Actor | Princess Agents | Won |
| 2018 | 10th Macau International Movie Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings | Nominated |