Hengdian, currently China's largest film and TV shooting base, has for 30 years seen countless actors seeking to realize their acting dreams here.
Entering 2026, AI virtual actors have quietly entered the public eye, dealing a blow to physical filming. Now, Hengdian is no longer bustling, and many shooting locations have transformed and expanded into the business of shooting short dramas for tourists. Meanwhile, a group of actors from Hong Kong are standing at the crossroads of the film and TV winter and the wave of AI technology, meeting the challenge head-on.
From 'going big' to 'going vertical,' Hong Kong actors experience changes firsthand
This year is the sixth year that Hong Kong actor Otto Chan has been developing his career in Hengdian. He once witnessed Hengdian's peak period, "Sets could be a whole desert; hills could be five or six stories high." Chan admitted that at the time, the production scale and budgets of Hengdian's crews truly opened his eyes. In his view, its reputation as "China's Hollywood" is well deserved.
Regarding the changes today, Chan believes this is a shift in focus accompanying changes in audience tastes, gradually moving from big-budget dramas toward fast-paced thrillers and short dramas.
"As actors, we should also follow the trend; we must follow the audience," Chan said.
Fellow Hong Kong actor Lee Yuen-yuen entered the industry last year. By the time she came to Hengdian, it had already entered the era of vertical-screen short dramas.
Lee has currently appeared in about 10 works, most of them vertical-screen short dramas. According to her, most newcomer actors can only get short drama projects. Unless one is a top-tier actor, an ordinary actor can currently get at most one or two acting offers a month.
AI: A tool or a competitor?
In August this year, AI-generated images authorized by actress Joey Wong sparked heated discussion. AI recreated her classic role Nie Xiaoqian. Some netizens looked forward to more works featuring the AI version of Nie Xiaoqian, while others argued that AI cannot replace the classic images and acting of real people.
In fact, in addition to Joey Wong, Hong Kong actors such as Lawrence Ng have already authorized their likenesses to producers for use in AI film and television content production.
Regarding AI's presentation of performance, Chan believes that AI dramas are not bad at emotional expression, but the emotional layers are relatively single. He gave an example: if the full score for an emotion is 100 points and 70 points need to be presented now, AI might directly deliver a 70-point performance.
"A real actor's range builds from 50 points to 60 points, maybe to 70 points; there is a curve of change." Chan also mentioned that real actors interacting in real time with their counterparts on set will give rise to many performance variations.
He also mentioned that some "strokes of genius" in performance even come from accidental mistakes on set—things that are relatively difficult for AI to achieve.
"For actors, I think it depends on how you use it," Lee believes. If AI is used to reproduce an actor's appearance from 20 or 30 years ago, AI might produce better results, and for explosions and high-risk action scenes, if AI can help actors share the risk, that is also a good thing for actors.
Beyond recreating real people's images, "native" AI actors are also gradually entering the public eye. AI actor Fang Taozi, who emerged from the AI short drama "The Laid-Off Girl," has already gained more than 500,000 real followers on short video platforms. Industry insiders judge that such AI virtual actors will become more and more numerous in the future, which has also sparked discussion about whether the living space of real actors will narrow.
"The acting industry is an industry that does not retain people; it depends on how long you can persevere," Chan said. Back then, more than 20 classmates in his actor training class ultimately all left the performing arts industry. At present, the emergence of AI dramas has lowered the production budgets of short dramas. As for whether to continue staying in the industry, he believes it depends on one's personal love for the acting career.
Lee mentioned that an actor friend who came to Hengdian with her had already left for the short drama base in Hengqin to learn to operate AI for short drama production, shifting to behind-the-scenes work. Whether she will return in the future is unknown.
However, Hong Kong newcomer actors are still coming to Hengdian one after another to look for opportunities. Newcomer actor M.T. Lee said she came to Hengdian after this year's Spring Festival, and the number of scenes actually starting production was less than expected. She is focusing on doing well in the present and has not set a time to leave.
Fellow Hong Kong newcomer actor Yu admitted that future development is full of uncertainty, and one can only persist and work hard in the present, hoping to strive for bigger roles.
Facing changes in the industry, Chan believes that AI will compress actors' job opportunities in the short term, and actors need to polish their own strength as much as possible: "At the very least, we have to out-act AI actors."
Lee encourages her peers to maintain a good mindset. She believes that as actors, they should improve their competitiveness, "When the audience is willing to choose you, then you are safe."
(Reporters: Tracy, Laura Cheung; Camerapeople: Sammi, Peter Poon; Video Editor: Sammi; Editors: Laura Cheung, Kelly Yang; English Editor: Darius; Producer: Tracy)
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