Can Jackson Yee crack Hollywood? After Better Days’ Oscar nomination, what’s next for the Chinese pop idol and TFBoys member?
- Before starring in Derek Tsang’s Better Days, C-pop star Jackson Yee was already earning serious sums as the most valuable member of boy band TFBoys
- Could his lead role in Hong Kong’s surprise Best International Feature Film Academy Award nominee be his ticket to Hollywood recognition?
Such international critical success marks a historic moment: this is the first time a Hong Kong-born director has received such an honour. Two earlier submissions from mainland-born directors, Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern in 1991 and Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Columbine, represented the city in its colonial times.
Better Days sees Chinese star Zhou Dongyu portraying the fragile yet hardworking student Chen Nian, while Jackson Yee, of Chinese pop group TFBoys, brings gangster Xiao Bei to life.
Both turned heads, but it was 20-year-old Yee’s charisma and gritty character portrayal that seemed to impress audiences most. According to Jing Daily, critics on review site Douban commented on how the movie had transformed him from a pop idol to a mature actor.
As we wait for the winning film to be crowned at the official Oscars awards ceremony, on April 25 in US time, we take a look back at Yee’s upwards trajectory and ask: if the film nabs the Academy Award, could it be his stepping stone to Hollywood?
He got an early start in showbiz
Yee debuted as a child actor and began by appearing in variety programmes. In 2012, he took part in the Hunan television show, Up Young. He was soon eliminated, but this was a blessing in disguise: he caught the attention of TF Entertainment, which would soon propel him to fame with a new boy band the star agency was working on.
Fast fame