Zeng Jian, the ‘King of Actors’ in Hengdian, Dies at 50

Epoch Times reporter Tong Yijia reports that Zeng Jian, a mainland extra who appeared in over 400 films and TV series, was found dead in Hengdian late last month. He died in a rented house at the age of 50.

Mainland media Jimu News reported that Zeng Jian died in a rented house on August 30 without his family accompanying him. His body was taken to the funeral home by the police and then cremated. Although the specific cause of his death is unknown, many people in Hengdian posted their condolences and revealed that he may have died of illness.

Zeng Jian’s health had deteriorated dramatically in recent years, and his living conditions were very difficult. His face was sallow, his body was thin, his work income was unstable, and he had no savings. Despite his poor health, he was reluctant to go to the hospital due to financial difficulties. Mr. Wang, a friend who had known Zeng Jian for 20 years, said he met Zeng Jian five months ago and revealed that “he was weak, perhaps because of a liver problem.”

Zeng Jian was last seen on August 28, when he appeared in a short film. He looked very emaciated and said faintly in a video on Weibo: “Some people urged me to go to the hospital for treatment, but it costs a lot of money to go to the hospital. How can I get money to go to the hospital? I can’t walk, so there’s really nothing I can do.”

Zeng Jian was originally from Meizhou, Guangdong. He used to work in a plastic factory before pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. He went to Hengdian Film and Television Base in Zhejiang in 2000 to work as an extra. This is the largest film and television filming base in China, and the hundreds of thousands of extras who roam here are called “horizontal wanderers.”

Zeng Jian had appeared in over 400 films and TV series, including “Step by Step” and “The Fairy Princess”. He was known as the “King of Actors” and “The Best Actor” among the hundreds of thousands of “extra actors” in Hengdian. Despite his aspirations to surpass grassroots actor Wang Baoqiang, he never became popular or a professional actor. His death is a sad reminder of the struggles faced by many extras in the film industry.