George Hu

George Hu 胡宇威
Chinese name	胡宇威
Pinyin	Hu Yu Wei (Mandarin)
Birth name	George Hu
Born	(1982-07-24) July 24, 1982 New York City, New York
Occupation	Actor, singer
Years active	2006-present
Associated acts	Wu Hu Jiang
Official Website	George Hu's Wretch blog Polyland.asia George Hu official Facebook

George Hu (Chinese: 胡宇威; pinyin: Hu Yu-wei) born on July 24, 1982 in New York City, New York.^[1] is an American born Taiwanese actor. He speaks fluent Taiwanese, Mandarin, and English. He was formerly managed by media tycoon Yang Dengkui's First Media Corporation (第一媒體國際有限公司). Since 2011 he has been signed under Yang Dengkui's new management company Polyland International Entertainment (寶麗來國際娛樂).

Early Life

George Hu was born and raised in New York City, New York on July 24, 1982 to parents of Taiwanese descent. Eldest of a 2 children family, he has a sister younger by 2 years, mother and father who all currently still reside in New York. At age 7 he began training in Chinese martial arts.^[2] His mother who had martial arts training herself was a huge influence on him learning martial arts.^[3] He studied under Master Marlon Ma at NY Wutang Chinese Martial Arts Institute where he learned the fighting style of the long fist, praying mantis, and baji. He participated in several martial arts competitions in the US and has won several competitions such as 1995 S. Henry Cho America Open, Shi Fu Yang Shu-Ton Martial Arts Association of Ohio Chinese Martial Arts Tournament, Huang Chien Liang U.S.C.K.F, and Wushu Kung Fu Federation. At age 17 he was appointed as an instructor at Wu-Tang.^[4] He attended St. John's University located in Queens, New York, graduating in 2004 with a bachelors degree in Computer Graphic Design. While visiting family and friends in Taiwan after graduating from college he was scouted and asked to audition for a talent agency due to his boyish good looks and 5' 11" (180cm) height.^[5] Besides marital arts, he also enjoys playing the viola and electric guitar.

Acting Career

In March 2005 he signed under Yang Dengkui's First Media Holdings Corporation and moved to Taiwan to pursue a career in acting. He lived at his uncle's house and shared a bedroom with his cousin when he first moved to Taiwan. As he was unfamiliar with the Chinese language since he only spoke a few words and couldn't read or write Chinese he spent his entire first year in Taiwan learning basic Chinese and memorizing the lines to his first drama "Emerald on the Roof".

In 2006 he made his acting debut as the 2nd male lead alongside Wallace Huo in the idol drama "Emerald on the Roof". As his Chinese pronunciations wasn't fluent his voice was dubbed by a voice actor in the drama. His next drama, 2007's pre-war China comedy, romance, action drama "Love at First Fight" starred mostly the same cast from "Emerald On the Roof" with the addition of Hong Kong actress/singer Miriam Yeung as the female lead. His voice was once again dubbed in both Mandarin and Cantonese for this drama.

In late 2007 he moved to more mainstream idol drama "Romantic Princess" playing Taiwanese boyband Fahrenheit member Wu Chun's younger brother. This is the first drama his real voice can be heard. That same year he also had a minimal role in the 2nd installment of popular Taiwanese idol K.O. drama franchise "The X-Family" starring alongside the rest of the other Fahrenheit members. In early 2008 he once again played Wu Chun's younger brother in a supporting role for the idol drama "Hot Shot" working alongside popular Taiwanese idols Jerry Yan and Show Luo. In early 2009 he starred alongside Rainie Yang and Jiro Wang from Fahrenheit in the idol drama "ToGetHer" as Jia Sen aka Ah Gan. For this role he had to play a 20 year old college student/swimming captain with the mind of a 8 year old boy, he also had to train his body to resemble a championship swimmer.

In late 2009 till early 2010 he starred in his first leading role in the 3rd installment of the K.O. drama franchise "K.O.3an Guo" as a modern version of Chinese historical general Guan Yu. During the filming period for "K.O.3an Guo" he was involved in a traffic accident while on his way to the film set. His left leg was injured, because of his injury he was not able to perform much of his martial arts skills for the drama. Also due to the popularity of the drama he and his co-stars were formed into a 5 member boy band called "Wu Hu Jiang" or "Tiger Team" in English. His next significant role was as the lead in 2011's "Hayate the Combat Butler" based on the popular Japanese manga of the same name. His leading lady for this drama was popular Korean actress Park Shin-hye from Korean drama "You're Beautiful" fame.

The turning point in his career came in late 2012 starring as the male lead alongside Annie Chen as the female lead in SETTV's romance drama "Love, Now". In an interview for LETV he stated that he had accepted the project during the early stages of development and without even knowing the story line or seeing a script to the project in order to re-establish his presence in Taiwan since he had been filming dramas in Mainland China for the past year.^[6] He received a lot of notice for his role as Lan Shi-da a cold but caring business family man. His pairing with Annie Chen was so well received that SETTV decided to pair them up again as an couple less then 3 month after "Love, Now" ended in 2013's "Love Around".

His fame continued to rise in late 2013 after starring in the joint mainland China and Taiwan historical drama "Lan Ling Wang" as the lead character's younger half brother An De Wang. He's voice was dubbed for his mainland China dramas since he still cannot pronounce Chinese Mandarin with hundred percent fluency and still maintains a foreigner accent when speaking Chinese Mandarin.

Music Career

In 2009 due to the popularity of "K.O.3an Guo" George, alongside co-stars Benji, Bo Yan, Shao Xiang and Si Wei Hong Zheng were formed into a five member boy band called "Wu Hu Jiang" (武虎將 / Tiger Team). The leader of the group was Benji with George as the spokesperson for the group. The group received moderate success and won the Best New Artist Award at Channel V's 14th Annual Global Chinese Chart And Asian Influence awards. Due to the members busy schedules with individual projects and restructuring of their agency the group's activities as a band ceased sometime in 2011 and officially disbanded in 2013. The group have never officially released an album.

Injuries

On January 14, 2009 while on his way to the film set of K.O.3an Guo he was injured in a car accident when a taxi after running a yellow traffic light collided with his motorbike.^[7][8] He described the accident as being in the movie "The Matrix" after he was thrown mid air from his bike and landed on the ground heavily. He received minor cuts and grazes on his legs and suffered a fractured left shin. For a month he depended on crutches and a wheelchair for movement. Surgery was not needed and he recovered with no further complications.

During the Summer of 2011 his right lower front leg suffered a minor gash while filming a bike paddling scene for the drama "Summer Fever".^[9] The wound has left a scar on his right front lower leg that is still visible in his later works when not covered with makeup.^[10]

Television series

Music video appearances

• 2007 - So I Love You 原來我愛你 by Sara
• 2008 - Cold War 冷戰 by Rainie Yang 楊丞琳
• 2009 - 24 Hour Madness 24小時瘋狂 by Nylon Chen 陳乃榮
• 2010 - Like Crazy 像瘋了一樣 by Chyi Chin 齊秦
• 2011 - Buddy by Thomas·Jack 東于哲
• 2011 - Do Not Ask Me 別問我 by William Wei 韋禮安

Publications

George Hu - GEO Photobook
Hardcover Image
Author	George Hu 胡宇威
Country	Taiwan
Genre	photobook, biography
Published	2013 Shui-Ling Culture & Books 水靈文創
Media type	Print hardback
Pages	152
ISBN	ISBN 9789868999411

• 15 October 2013 : George Hu - GEO Photobook (胡宇威‧GEO 同名精裝寫真) - ISBN 9789868999411

Shot by star photographer Zeng Jing Fu and styled by internationally renowned stylist Liu Da Jiang, George's self-titled 152-page photobook briefly details his struggles and early days in Taiwan to his current rise in the Asian entertainment circle.^[11]

• 30 September 2013 : Love Around Official Photobook (真愛黑白配 寫真書) - ISBN 4717095572034
• 15 August 2013 : Lanling Wang Photobook (蘭陵王影像書) - ISBN 9789868901087
• 25 June 2011 : Hayate the Combat Butler Photo Essay (旋風管家 首本官方寫真書) - ISBN 9862872349
• 10 September 2009 : I Love Wu Hu Jiang (我愛武虎將) - ISBN 9789862372548
• 17 February 2009 : ToGetHer Photobook (愛就宅一起甜蜜寫真) - ISBN 9789578037236
• 20 September 2007 : Romantic Princess Photobook (公主小妹 幕後寫真) - ISBN 9789575657932

References

External links

• (Chinese) George Hu's Wretch blog
• (Chinese) George Hu's Sina blog
• (Chinese) George Hu's Weibo blog