C ULTURE
E
ddie Peng Yu-yen was fifteen minutes early for the interview.
He was wearing a light-grey T-shirt and black jeans, showing
off a recently acquired tan for his role as “Blackie Lau,” a
guerilla outlaw in the recently released war film Our Time Will Come.
Another film, Wukong, also premiered this July, in which he played
the rebellious Monkey King Sun Wukong, the subject of dozens of
Chinese films.
His perfect physique with clean-cut looks, beautiful athletic body,
and his signature pecs and abs has made him one of the biggest eye-
poppers in the Chinese film industry. The media prefers to call him
xiao xianrou, which literally translates as “little fresh meat,” a term that
evokes a desirable young man, fearless, successful, and, most impor-
tantly, enviably good-looking.
For years, Peng has worked hard to shed the “little fresh meat,”
“sexy icon,” and “boy-next-door” persona and stunned both industry
players and audiences with his impressive work ethic as an actor who
always goes to extremes to hone the skills required for each role. The
35-year-old has taken 15 years to grow from a fledgeling face to a
mature actor, and starred in a wide variety of hits along the way.
Eddie Peng
JUmp! JUmp!
Eddie Peng Yu-yen, one of the most sought-after
Asian male leads of his generation, talks with
ChinaReport about his philosophy of acting
By Zhou Tian
Eddie PengPhoto by Dong Jiexu