Because how could we not dedicate an entire post to such an accomplishment? The 34th Hundred Flower Awards' list of nominees are out, and Liu Hao Ran becomes the youngest Best Actor nominee in the history of the awards show! This will serve as a Q&A for the awards itself - and relating it all back to Haoran, of course.
But if you don't care about the rest of it, here's the summary: Liu Hao Ran has officially gotten his first Best Actor nomination for a major film award!!
We did a full coverage on pics/performances from the actual awards show over on our Twitter, so make sure you follow us there!
First things first - why is a nomination for major awards such a big deal?
So - let's start out with this. Why do we (fans of Chinese stars) get so excited about award nominations? Why do the major Chinese award shows give out certificates just for being nominated?
One thing that other C-ent English accounts have mentioned before and bears reiterating - China is the home to 1.3 billion people, and as a result, its film and drama industry is much larger than most, in terms of the number of productions churned out on an annual basis, and the sheer number of actors trying to make it. This is why they're so much later to the game when it comes to English subs and international marketing. China's got investors, actors, directors, and an audience willing to shell out their money at the movie theaters. Their domestic market is already more than large enough to sustain itself (and it should be noted this includes Hong Kong and Taiwan as well - whatever the political waters may be, the entertainment worlds are mixed to a point where it'll be hard for them to ever separate).
This means that the industry is simultaneously easy to get into (because of how many productions there are: webdramas/dramas/films/web films, etc.), and incredibly competitive, especially as you get higher on the ladder.
It's especially competitive for male actors awards-wise, because Chinese male actors have such longevity in their careers that more often than not, you're going against veteran actors who have decades of experience on you.
Consider this - no mainland Chinese male actor born after 1980 has won a Best Actor award in any of the five major film awards (the Three Golds + Hundred Flowers + Huabiao), with the sole exception of Wen Zhang (1984), who has a Hundred Flowers Award, but then proceeded to ruin himself. Even in terms of nominees, the list is quite short. Off the top of my head, Dong Zijian (1993) and Peng Yuchang (1994) both have Golden Horse Best Actor nominations and Jing Boran (1989) and Liu Haoran have Hundred Flowers Awards nominations. That might be it for actors under 34.
This isn't because China doesn't have good young actors - it's purely because the industry is crazy competitive and overflowing with talent, especially among the veterans.
What are the Hundred Flower Awards? Are they actually that prestigious?
The Hundred Flower Awards is a mainstream industry award that was started in 1962 (but was stopped for a couple of decades due to the Cultural Revolution) and is held every two years. However, it's not considered to be one of the "Three Golds" - referring to Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards, and mainland China's Golden Rooster Awards, which are seen as the most prominent acting awards.
That doesn't mean it isn't a significant award by any means though - it's actually organized by the same team who puts together the Golden Rooster Awards (which is why the two award shows alternate, years-wise), and is considered to be one of the three main film awards in mainland China (alongside the Golden Rooster and Huabiao Awards). It's also national-level, meaning it's backed by the government and certified as such (I'm not sure of the details but I think you may get a tax break for getting nominated, and some were speculating that Haoran could possibly get college credits exchanged hahaha).
What makes the Hundred Flowers Awards different from the others?
The Hundred Flowers Awards are decidedly more slanted towards commercial films and quality box office hits, as they will only consider films that have surpassed five million yuan at the box office. When the Wiki entry on this compares it to the Golden Globe Awards, I'm assuming that's what it means.
Here's the truth - all the five major film awards in the Chinese industry have a particular bias (just like in any other industry) and tend to be slanted towards certain films and regional works. The Golden Horse Awards favors art and drama films, with a slant towards domestic (Taiwan) productions and actors. The Hong Kong Film Awards decidedly leans towards local productions/stars as well, and The Golden Rooster Awards focuses on mainland's mainstream drama films. The Huabiao...well, I'm actually not sure what they favor, but they're known for giving out multiple awards in the same category.
Cnetz call the Best Actor/Actress Awards at the Hundred Flowers Awards an entrance award, as in "entrance to becoming an A-lister actor". More so than any of the other awards, the Hundred Flowers gauges your commercial value/appeal as an actor, and your ability to bring people into the theaters. That doesn't mean acting is not a criteria (because of course it is - if you're a terrible actor would people want to see your movie?), but it encompasses more than just that.
Let's be clear about what it isn't though - this is not a popularity award (Look at the list of past winners and nominees).
How are the acting nominations decided? How do the different rounds work?
You can read about the different rounds here on the Wiki page.
There is a misconception that everyone who stars in the list of pre-candidate films will be up for an acting award consideration by default. That's not exactly the case. The most infamous example is the last Hundred Flowers Awards, which was held in 2016. Mojin: The Lost Legend, - which, like Detective Chinatown 2, featured two leads in Chen Kun and Huang Bo, - made the pre-candidate's list for Best Picture. However, only Huang Bo would make the pre-candidate's list for Best Actor. Eddie Peng was also notably absent this year for Operation Mekong.
In other words, Liu Hao Ran made it not because Detective Chinatown 2 qualified - he was considered for the award because industry members thought he deserved it.
One difference for this year rules-wise: the final 101 voting audience members are made up of a sizable number of college film professors and film critics. The rest of the audience underwent a pretty intense application and screening process to ensure they are unbiased audience members who can accurately represent the general public.
What is the reaction to Liu Hao Ran being nominated?
Not going to lie - even if I'm ridiculously biased towards Haoran, the fact that he's nominated for Detective Chinatown 2, the only non-war movie of the Best Picture nominees for this year, is a bit funny. Not because DC2 lacks in quality, but because it stands out like a sore thumb since the other ones all have a common theme.
Here are the other best actor nominees:
- Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior 2, box office history #1)
- Zhang Yi (Operation Red Sea, box office history #2)
- Zhang Hanyu (Operation Mekong)
- Zhu Yawen (Founding of An Army).
- Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior 2, box office history #1)
- Zhang Yi (Operation Red Sea, box office history #2)
- Zhang Hanyu (Operation Mekong)
- Zhu Yawen (Founding of An Army).
Most of these names may not mean anything to the international audience, but this is a pretty impressive list of nominees to be part of. Wu Jing is an action movie megastar; Zhang Hanyu is a regular at major film awards and was the first Chinese actor to win Best Actor awards from Golden Horse/Golden Rooster/Huabiao/Hundred Flowers (he's also a whopping 30 something years older than Haoran); Zhang Yi got into the film industry rather late (he spent decades in dramas) but just wrapped up Zhang Yimou's new film as the star; and Zhu Yawen, who's the second youngest of the group at 34, has a great reputation in the industry.
(The competition is ridiculous. You've got the highest grossing film in Chinese box office history going up against #2 and #3 - and all three had solid reviews.)
I will say this - I've seen three of the other performances (minus Operation Mekong because it was too intense for me), and can say that Haoran holds his own among the nominees. Operation Red Sea and The Founding of An Army are both films that feature ensemble casts, and while Zhang Yi and Zhu Yawen are excellent actors, they didn't have a lot of screentime and were limited in what they could do with the roles. Wu Jing isn't quite on the same acting level as those two, but he was the absolute star in China's biggest box office hit to date.
That's why Haoran being on here isn't controversial. He was not only on screen for pretty much the entirety of Detective Chinatown 2, he also gave a great performance as Qin Feng and was praised by many critics and audience members when the movie first came out. (reminder that Detective Chinatown 2 is the 3rd highest grossing film in Chinese box office history AND it only had two months to complete filming because they had a Chinese New Year's 2018 deadline and were limited by US labor laws. It also has a 9.0 out of 10 on Mao Yan which is the Chinese equivalent of Cinemascore).
Most C-netz share the same sentiment. As you may have seen from the Golden Eagle incident, the audience isn't against rewarding or promoting the younger generation of actors, but it has to make sense. Haoran also benefits from a sterling reputation that goes beyond Detective Chinatown 2 - even if Qin Feng wasn't the most challenging of roles, people know what he's capable of as an actor because they've seen his other performances. Should that be how actors are evaluated for acting awards? Probably not, but it's human nature.
The comment I've seen the most is 前途无量, meaning (his) future is boundless. Unlimited potential.
Are there those who think this nomination is unwarranted? Of course, but there will always be differing opinions on the Internet. What is most important is the industry's stance on this, and clearly they're on board.
(If you've read anything about the nominee list being controversial this year - yes, it was, slightly, but that mostly had to do with The Founding of An Army nominees, minus Zhu Yawen.)
So...what are Haoran's chances of winning?
He doesn't need to win - and frankly, he most likely won't win (narrator: he did not win, but as mentioned just the nomination is already a huge deal). Not because his performance isn't good enough, but because he's so young, and this is an industry that likes to reward veterans. He's already won solely by landing the nomination. He's made history!
Emphasizing this here: he's not going up against his "peers" as in post-95ers or post-90ers. He's running against some of the best actors in China who have at least a decade of experience on him and much more well known to the general audience. That's why just the nomination alone - the acknowledgement - is already awesome.
Emphasizing this here: he's not going up against his "peers" as in post-95ers or post-90ers. He's running against some of the best actors in China who have at least a decade of experience on him and much more well known to the general audience. That's why just the nomination alone - the acknowledgement - is already awesome.
Will this change anything for him career-wise?
To be honest? Probably not much. There's been some discussion by Cnetz on this the past few days, and the overall consensus is that: though Liu Hao Ran has created history and won the approval of those within the industry by getting this nomination, it doesn't actually change that much for him directly because this was already the trajectory that he's on. He is already considered one of the future faces of the Chinese film industry, and doesn't lack resources. So it's not like this puts him on the map (because he's already on the map).
This is a roundabout way of saying Liu Hao Ran's future was already super bright, and this just made it a little more brighter. His career thus far has pretty much been picture perfect - as Cnetz say, you couldn't replicate his path if you tried.
Someone pointed out that Haoran is younger than any of the Best New Actor nominees, which is a bit shocking. I'm a little conflicted because he pretty much skipped the Best New Actor stage and went right to Best Actor, but really that should be taken as more of a compliment.
I still find myself shaking my head at times because of the accomplishment he's had at young age. To give you some context, Zhang Han, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Wolf Warriors 2, said at the nomination ceremony that he's been in the industry for 10 years, and this was the first time he's ever gotten something like this. It really kind of hit home for me just how blessed Haoran has been in the 4 years he's been in the industry.
Not talking about just him being lucky, but how he's had the perfect storm of natural talent, opportunity, and hard work. He absolutely deserves everything he's been given, but it's also a reminder that he's walking an unprecedented road. Super excited to see what's next for him!
Congratulations, Liu Hao Ran! The 21st year of your life is off to an amazing start!
Some HQ and LQ snaps of Haoran at the 34th Hundred Flowers Awards nomination ceremony that took place on Nov 9.
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