# Zhang Songwen

Zhang Songwen (simplified Chinese: 张颂文; traditional Chinese: 張頌文; pinyin: Zhāng Sòngwén; born 10 May 1976) is a Chinese actor and acting coach. After gaining local recognition for his role in the Cantonese sitcom Cheng Long Guai Xu (Season 1) (2005), he struggled as an actor and mainly worked as an acting coach until his breakout success in the television series The Knockout (2023). His other notable credits include Lou Ye's films The Shadow Play (2018), Saturday Fiction (2019), and An Unfinished Film (2024), and television series The Bad Kids (2020), A Lonely Hero's Journey (2024) and Riverside Code at Qingming Festival (2024).

## Early life

Zhang Songwen was born in Shaoguan, Guangdong, on 10 May 1976. His father was a veteran, while his mother was a doctor. After graduating from Shaoguan Vocational High School, he held various jobs, including working at a printing factory, a food stall, and a beverage factory. From 1994 to 1999, he was employed as a tour guide with the China Travel Service. At the age of 24, Zhang first heard about Beijing Film Academy through a fellow tour guide and on the same day, he quit his job and moved to Beijing. He enrolled in the vocational class of the Performance Department at the Beijing Film Academy, where he served as class monitor and student union president. A few years after graduation from the vocational class, he was admitted into the BFA's vocational-to-bachelor’s program. After graduation, he worked as a teaching assistant at the academy for eight years.

## Career

Zhang has worked as an acting coach for films and TV series, including the first season of the Cantonese sitcom Cheng Long Guai Xu (2005), where he also played his first leading role, and the film Love on Credit (2011), where he coached the leading actress Lin Chi-ling.
In 2008, Zhang left his teaching position at Beijing Film Academy to establish his own acting studio.
In 2009, Zhang collaborated with director Lou Ye for the first time in Spring Fever (2009). Zhang later starred in the director's The Shadow Play (2018), Saturday Fiction (2019), and An Unfinished Film (2024), all of which received critical acclaim.
In 2017, Zhang appeared in End of Summer (2017), which won the KNN Award at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival.
In 2020, Zhang appeared in the web series The Bad Kids, based on the Zi Jinchen's novel, Bad Kid (坏小孩).
In 2023, Zhang achieved breakout success for his role as a fishmonger-turned-crime-boss in the TV series The Knockout (2023). He followed with Chen Kaige's Korean War film The Volunteers: To The War (2023) and Jonathan Li's crime film Dust to Dust (2023), and starred in four TV series within one year of 2024.

## Controversy

On December 30, 2024, former actress Jiang Chen heavily suggested that Zhang committed domestic violence and infidelity during their relationship, which had begun when she took acting lessons from him thirteen years ago. On January 5, Jiang confirmed Zhang as the subject of her allegations by releasing a recorded phone call with Li Zifeng, the producer of the film Sun at High Noon, in which Zhang stars. During the call, Jiang rejected the producer’s offer of hush money. Li refuted the recording, accusing Jiang Chen of maliciously editing it.He also publicly apologized to Zhang Songwen for his inappropriate remarks in the maliciously edited call, and revealed to netizens that Jiang Chen had falsely accused Zhang Songwen in order to gain heat for his own future sales of moxibustion on online platforms.In addition, the Actors Committee of the China Federation of Radio and Television Social Organizations issued and the People's Daily forwarded an important reminder statement that the hot search information of individual well-known actors (Zhang Songwen) has been verified to have a large amount of inaccurate content, and that no one shall unlawfully concoct, fabricate and disseminate false information. Once this tip came out, the Internet violence against Zhang Songwen was calmed down.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | English title | Chinese title | Role |
| 2009 | Spring Fever | 春风沉醉的夜晚 | Han Ming |
| 2011 | The First President | 第一大总统 | Ye Ju |
| 2012 | Love Lifting | 高舉·愛 | Chen Chao |
| 2012 | Guns and Roses | 黄金大劫案 | Pu Xiaotong |
| 2012 | The Four | 四大名捕 | Qian Jian |
| 2012 | The Last Tycoon | 大上海 | Bao Yunlong |
| 2013 | Ip Man: The Final Fight | 葉問：終極一戰 | Ip Chun |
| 2013 | Fake Fiction | 摩登年代 | Wei Jian |
| 2014 | Red Amnesia | 闯入者 | Policeman |
| 2015 | An Inspector Calls | 神探駕到 | Qi Shixing |
| 2015 | The Way Forward | 一路向前 | Dr. Li |
| 2017 | End of Summer | 西小河的夏天 | Gu Jianhua |
| 2019 | The Shadow Play | 风中有朵雨做的云 | Tang Yijie |
| 2019 | Saturday Fiction | 兰心大剧院 | Ni Zeren |
| 2020 | The Best Is Yet to Come | 不止不休 | Huang Jiang |
| 2021 | The Pioneer | 革命者 | Li Dazhao |
| 2023 | The Volunteers: To the War | 志愿军：雄兵出击 | Wu Xiuquan |
| 2023 | Dust to Dust | 第八个嫌疑人 | He Lan |

### Television series

| Year | English title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Cheng Long Guai Xu (Season 1) | 乘龙怪婿 | Jia Fa | Also as acting coach |
| 2006 | Empress Feng of the Northern Wei Dynasty | 北魏冯太后 | Wang Hui | |
| 2008 | Huo Yuanjia | 霍元甲 | Nong Jinsun | |
| 2009 | Bing Sheng | 兵圣 | Fuchai of Wu | |
| 2010 | The Legend of Yang Guifei | 杨贵妃秘史 | Yang Guozhong | |
| 2015 | Master of Destiny | 風雲天地 | young Kuang Junhao | |
| 2018 | The Inquiry In 1938 | 密查 | Sun Dawu | |
| 2020 | Detective Chinatown | 唐人街探案 | Wensong | |
| 2020 | The Bad Kids | 隐秘的角落 | Zhu Yongping | iQiyi web show |
| 2021 | Medal of the Republic | 功勋 | Li Tingzhao | |
| 2022 | Life is A Long Quiet River | 心居 | Zhan Xiang | iQiyi web show |
| 2023 | The Knockout | 狂飙 | Gao Qiqiang | |
| 2024 | The Boy Who Couldn't See a Shadow | 看不见影子的少年 | Wang Shitu | iQiyi web show |
| 2024 | The Hunter | 猎冰 | Huang Zongwei | Tencent Video web show. The role is based on Liu Zhaohua. |
| 2024 | A Lonely Hero's Journey | 孤舟 | Zhou Zhifei | The role is based on Huang Yizhai. |
| 2024 | Riverside Code at Qingming Festival | 清明上河图密码 | Zhao Buyou | Youku web show |

## Literary works

* Match Heaven (Reader: All Love) (《火柴天堂》（《读者：全是爱》）)
* The Person who Lights the Lamp in the Heart "(Tianya) (《在心里点灯的人》（《天涯》）)