Shining his star onscreen

Actor stays focused and meticulous during filming, but offscreen, proves to be a regular guy, Xu Fan reports.

When you picture celebrities heading from their hotel to a film set, the scene is usually predictable: sunglasses on, masks up, and a quick dash to a waiting luxury van.

But actor Wang Xingyue does not play that role.

The 23-year-old rising star, who has gained international attention through costume dramas, such as The Wanted Detective and Perfect Match, has a habit of skipping the chauffeured ride. Instead, he jogs through Hengdian — China's "Hollywood" in Zhejiang province — a 20-minute low-carbon commute from his apartment to the set.

Sometimes he goes even more low-key. On Tuesday, fans spotted him at a traffic light, perched on a bright yellow shared bike, casually dressed in a white tank top and a pair of blue jeans, pedaling his way to a recording studio. No entourage. No tinted glasses. Just another guy weaving through traffic.

That unpolished, everyday energy defines Wang offscreen. But the moment the cameras roll, he becomes something else entirely — focused, meticulous and relentless.

In his latest costume drama, The Wanted Detective, Wang plays a Sherlock Holmes-style investigator in ancient China who is framed for his mentor's murder and must clear his name. The character embodies xia — the martial-arts ideal of righteous chivalry rooted in Chinese knight-errant traditions.

To prepare, Wang immersed himself into the part. He dissected the script, binge-read martial arts novels, and dived into the tension between honor, loyalty, and human nature.

The Chinese title of The Wanted Detective is Ding Feng Bo, inspired by a poem written by Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) poet Su Shi during his exile in Huangzhou (now in Huanggang, Hubei province), then an impoverished region far from the dynasty's prosperous capital. Su was banished there after being falsely accused of treason by political rivals who envied his literary influence and outspoken nature.

Referring to a well-known line in the poem — where Su humorously compares his bamboo cane and straw sandals (hinting at his humble circumstances) to feeling "lighter than riding a horse" — Wang draws a parallel to his protagonist's journey: a man learning to adapt to harsh circumstances with resilience and grace.