Zhang Zhehan; is the Chinese actor the next crossover music star, as he shoots up global streaming charts?

I’m a bit of a fan of spreadsheets and data, if the previous articles I’ve written with graphs didn’t give you that suggestion. So it should come as no surprise to you that, as a music writer for Peopleworld, I often find myself looking at real-time streaming charts and that whole shebang. However something caught my eye today while confirming that Miley Cyrus was once again number one with “Flowers” in terms of iTunes global streaming success; at number two was a song that was only 541 points behind Cyrus despite only being released two days ago.

“Believer” is the latest single from Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan, who might not be a household name in the West (yet), but has been a prominent actor in his home country of China since his acting debut in 2010 - including a brief moment of drama involving a domestic boycott of his works.

Born in Xinyu, Jiangxi province, China on May 11, 1991, Zhang graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy and made his acting debut in 2010 in the romantic drama "Why Love You". He later signed a contract with Yu Zheng's studio and acted in various supporting roles in dramas produced by Yu Zheng. 

In 2015, Zhang played the male lead in historical drama "Legend of Ban Shu", followed by lead roles in the spy drama "Decoded" and both seasons of the fantasy web series "Demon Girl". In 2018, he starred in the historical romance drama "Legend of Yunxi". In 2021, Zhang starred in the Wuxia drama series "Word of Honor" alongside Gong Jun, which gained popularity in and outside China, especially after airing on Netflix. 

However, Zhang faced a domestic boycott in 2021 after photos of him posing in front of Japan's Yasukuni Shrine and attending a wedding ceremony at Nogi Shrine in Japan in 2018 and 2019 respectively surfaced online. The shrines are controversial in China due to their honouring of imperial Japanese military officers who invaded China. 

The photos sparked outrage among Chinese netizens, leading to the China Association of Performing Arts calling for a boycott on Zhang due to the controversial photos. As a result, numerous brand endorsements terminated their association with Zhang, and his upcoming films and television shows also ended their associations with him. An association that seems to have only restarted in the last 12 months.