Gong Jun
Gong Jun (, born 29 November 1992), also known as Simon Gong, is a Chinese actor and model. He gained attention for his role in "Lost Love In Times" (2017), and further recognition for his roles in "Begin Again" (2020), and "Word Of Honor" (2021). Early life. Gong Jun was born on 29 November 1992, in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. He grew up in an ordinary family. Gong's father fell sick during his time in middle school, while he was away for treatment, his mother opened a provision store, to help with the finances while taking care of her  son at the same time. He studied art in the second year of high school, a teacher came to the school to search for students to learn performance or choreography. Gong was selected by the teacher to study acting due to his appearance. At the beginning, Gong took the exam at Nanjing University of the Arts. He passed the preliminary examination, but did not have the courage to participate in the second examination, since he was not well prepared. Later, Gong went to Beijing to participate in intensive training. After a long and difficult training, Gong took his entrance examination  and was finally admitted to the Performance Department of Donghua University in Shanghai. He eventually graduated and moved to Beijing seeking opportunities in the entertainment industry. Gong had once signed with a company which promised to give him works and living expenses every month. Eventually, he did not receive any works or living expenses, so he terminated the contract. Prior to his debut, Gong was working as a model for various advertisements. Since he appeared in many advertisements, he was given a nickname: The Little Prince of Advertising. Career. 2015-2018: Acting Debut and Early Beginnings. In 2015, Gong made  his acting debut in the historical drama "Sword Chaos," played the upright and straightforward Bi Lu. In 2016, Gong co-starred with Xu Feng (徐峰）in the youth drama "Advance Bravely," adapted from the danmei novel with the same name (势不可挡) by Chai Ji Dan, in which he played Xia Yao, who becomes caught in a love triangle with a brother and a sister. He was selected by the novel author to act in her series after she saw his pictures on Weibo. On August 23, the urban adventure comedy film "Lost in Japan" was released. In 2017, Gong co-starred  with Chen Yao in the youth fantasy drama "The Player", adapted from the online game "Fantasy Westward Journey" which is inspired by the classic novel “Journey to the West”, he played Ren Yi Xia, a game expert. He gained recognition for his role as the frank, loyal, free and unrestrained 11th Prince Yuan Che in the fantasy historical drama "Lost Love in Times", based on the novel “Drunken Exquisiteness” (醉玲珑) by Shi Siye. Due to the success of the drama, Gong starred in a 12-episode spin-off of the drama as the main character with Xu Mu Chan. On  September 19, Gong was announced as a member of reality show "The Cute Teacher Arrives". On September 29, Gong science fiction film "Rebirth Partner" with Wang Wan Zhong was launched on Tencent Video, in which he played the helpful and cute student Yi Sheng. In December, he starred in the campus idol inspirational drama "Shining Like You". In 2018, Gong co-starred with Zheng Qiu Hong in the ancient costume drama "Unique Lady" "Part 1 and 2", based on the visual novel game “Lust for Gold” (好色千金), played the domineering and affectionate Prince Zhong Wu Mei. 2019-2020: Rising Popularity . In 2019, the French fantasy adventure animated film "Tall Tales from the Magical Garden of Antoon Krings" was released in mainland China. Gong dubbed the voice of Apollo. On November 7, the urban love drama "Flavor It's Yours" with Song Yiren was broadcast on iQIYI, in which he played Lu Wei Xun, a genius wine critic who is cold and unapproachable. In 2020, Gong starred in the campus youth drama "The Love Equations with" Liu Renyu, in which he played Zhao Fan Zhou, a seriously dedicated student in the forensic science department, based on the novel “The Sweet Love  Story” (舟而复始) by Zhao Qian Qian. On October 29, the urban emotional drama "Begin Again" with Zhou Yutong was broadcast, in which he played Ling Rui, a mature and kind surgeon. The series attracted attention, and Gong popularity became increasingly, with 1.8 billion views on Mango TV. On December 24, "Unique Lady 2" with Zheng Qiu Hong was broadcast on Youku. 2021-Present: Breakthrough. In 2021, Gong's ancient Wuxia drama "Word of Honor" with Zhang Zhehan was broadcast on Youku"," based on the danmei novel "Faraway Wanderers" (天涯客) by Priest. He played Wen Ke Xing, gentle, but also a  deep-minded, innocent and cruel Chief of the Ghost Valley. Ma Tao, the main producer of "Word of Honor" was not familiar with him, but several of her friends recommended him to her. This gave Gong the opportunity to audition, he got the role through auditioning with Wen Kexing's drinking scene and after Long Que's death. The series surprisingly became a hit, opened with 8.2 scored on Douban and steadily increasing to 8.6, became the highest rated danmei drama on the site. The drama also received over 11 billion views on China popular media platform Douyin. On April  12, he co-starred with Qiao Xin in the romantic suspense drama "Dream Garden", played Lin Shen, a professional psychological counsellor, the series was later aired on December. On July 5, Gong was announced as a member of reality show "Chinese Restaurant 5" along with Huang Xiaoming, Ning Jing, Zhou Ye, Ding Zhen and Annabel Yao. On July 8, the rescue emotional drama "The Flaming Heart" with Zhang Huiwen was broadcast, in which he played Huo Yan, an introverted and determined firefighter. On July 20, Gong began filming alongside Dilraba Dilmurat and Liu Yuning in the historical drama "Legend of  Anle", based on the novel "The Emperor's Book" (帝皇书) by Xing Ling, acting as Crown Prince Han Ye. On December 7, Gong attended the booting ceremony and began working on the new youth romance drama "Rising With The Wind" with Zhong Chuxi, based on the novel with the same name by Wei Zai (未再). He will be playing the role of Xu Si, an investor. Endorsements and ambassadorships. Endorsements. In 2019, Gong is named as brand ambassador for men's care products Mentholatum. He was chosen as brand ambassador for skincare Little Touch, spokesperson for clinical skincare DR.WU, and  officer for Youku in 2020. With the success of "Word of Honor" series, Gong commercial resources have been soaring. Partnered with 31 brands, his endorsements covered multiple categories such as sunscreen protection L'Oréal Paris, health supplements products Centrum, car brand Roewe, fast food KFC, beauty cosmetics 3CE Stylenanda, fruity instant coffee Nescafé, smartphone Honor, and sportswear 361 Degrees. He also the face of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co. In April 2021, Gong was announced as spokesperson for Vita lemon flavoured drink, but by July he has ceased his commercial cooperation with Vitasoy, after an employee circulated  a memo online offering condolences to the family of a worker who stabbed a Hong Kong policeman, then committed suicide afterwards. On his birthday, November 29, Gong Jun was promoted to brand spokesperson for YA-MAN and was awarded the brand ambassador title by Tiffany. On December 1, Honor launched the Honor 60 series in China and announced Gong Jun as the Honor 60 Series Global Spokesperson. Commercial Influences. In 2021, Honor launched the Honor 50 series in China and announced Gong as their smartphone spokesperson. This was the firm's first major smartphone release since it was sold by  Huawei. The series sales exceeded ¥500 million Yuan in one minute. This leads to their market share rose up by 14.6% and helped them return to top three brands in China's mobile market. Similarly, after 361 Degrees announced Gong as their global spokesperson, their stock price soared by 14.37%. By the first half of 2021, their net profit rose 32.9% into ¥401.4 million Yuan, gained 15.7% in revenue and 28.0% in gross profit. On June 17, Roewe announced the release of 500 Roewe RX5 PLUS Limited Edition and Gong was their global spokesperson, the first patch of  100 cars was sold out within 9 minutes 20 seconds, achieved a fastest record of a car been sold every 2 seconds in a single day. After selling 100 cars per day for 5 consecutive days, the series completely sold out and the total pre-sale value was at ¥644 million Yuan. On June 23, Gong was announced as brand ambassador for luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton, he is one of the fastest artists in China to receive the brand ambassador title from them in less than a year. On October 15, Gong was chosen as Beauty Ambassador for  the 18th Cosmo Beauty Awards. Recognitions. In the first half of 2021, Gong gained over 8 million followers and became the most-followed and most-searched artist on Sina Weibo platform, appeared 187 times on their real-time hot search trends list. Gong is named as the hottest actor of the second quarter and was listed as one of 23 GQ's Men of The Year. Gong has graced the front covers of various magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, SE Weekly, OK!, Madame Figaro, Elle, Glitz, Lifestyle, Esquire, T Magazine, and Cosmopolitan. Philanthropy. In 2018, Gong's first book  work, “1129”, was released, all proceeds from the book were donated towards charity to support the development of public welfare undertakings. In 2020, Gong donated ¥150,000 Yuan to China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to equip three rural schools in Nanjiang County, Sichuan Province with caring kitchen equipment, so that children can study hard and make progress every day while also getting continuous nutritional improvement. He was also chosen as Moji Weather Charity Ambassador and Officer for two consecutive years. In 2021, Gong was appointed as Hello Childhood Charity Ambassador, Charity Promotional Ambassador for World Book Day, Charity Communication Ambassador  for International Day for Biological Diversity, and Charity Advocacy Ambassador for World Environment Day. In April 2021, "Word of Honor"’s outfits were sold through online auction. Among them, the red costume of Wen Ke Xing played by Gong Jun was sold at the highest price ¥224,601 Yuan, the auction earned total ¥584,207 Yuan for Wen’s costumes and accessories. After the event, his red costume proceeds were donated towards China Social Assistance Foundation as part of public welfare project. On July 21, Gong donated ¥500,000 Yuan to China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation for flood relief efforts  in Henan. Gong Jun's Studio reached out to Lock & Lock donated 10,000 water bottles, 1000 blankets, 200 quilts, and 200 sets of bedding supplies to support the flood victims and disaster areas. Gong Jun's Studio along with Unif Beef jointly donated further 5000 boxes of noodles to support the frontline disaster relief. Gong joined hands with 361 Degrees donated ¥10 million Yuan in cash and materials to help with flood relief and future restoration work. On July 27, as part of the sustainability program “L’Oréal for the Future”, the Group has set up €50 million Euro  to help with the restoration of ecological.