George Hu

George Hu (Chinese: 胡宇威; pinyin: Hú Yǔwēi) born on July 24, 1982 in New York City, New York.^[1] is an American actor and singer based in Taiwan. 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 Wutang.^[4] He attended St. John's University located in Queens, New York, graduating in 2004 with a bachelor's 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" (180 cm) height.^[5] Besides martial arts, he also enjoys playing the viola and electric guitar.

Acting career

2005: Move to Taiwan and learning Chinese

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".

2006-2007: Acting debut

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.

2007-2009: Collaboration with "Fahrenheit" members

In late 2007 he moved to more mainstream idol drama "Romantic Princess" playing Taiwanese boyband Fahrenheit members Wu Chun and Calvin Chen . 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 the summer of 2008 he starred alongside Rainie Yang and Jiro Wang from Fahrenheit in the idol drama "ToGetHer" as Jia Sen aka Ah Gan. The drama was aired in early 2009. For this role he had to play a 20-year-old college student and swimming captain with the mind of an 8-year-old boy, he also had to train his body to resemble a championship swimmer.

2009-2010: First leading role and music career

In early 2009 till early 2010 he starred in his first leading role for the 3rd installment of the K.O. drama franchise "K.O.3an Guo" as a modern version of Chinese historical general Guan Yu. The drama was filmed as it aired. During the beginning filming period of "K.O.3an Guo" he was involved in a traffic accident while on his way to the film set. His left leg was injured, he relied on crutches or a wheelchair to get around for 3 month, because of his injury he was not able to perform much of his martial arts stunts for the early episodes of the drama. Also due to the popularity of the drama he and his co-stars were later formed into a five-member boy band called "Wu Hu Jiang" or "Tiger Team" in English.

2010-2011: Difficult times and change of management

Most of 2010 and early 2011 was a difficult year for Hu. His band "Wu Hu Jiang" ceased activity due to restructuring of their management company and he received little to none filming offers. His only work during this period was in a minor role for the idol drama "Me & My Brothers". Due to the minimum work offers he received during this time his father had said to him that if he wanted to quit show business and return to New York it will be fine with his family, but he persisted and signed with Yang Dengkui's new management company Polyland International Entertainment in 2011.^[6] His first role under Polyland's management 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.

2012-2013: Turning point and popularity rising

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.^[7] 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 a couple less than 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. His popularity in Taiwan also continued to rise after his 2nd successful collaboration with Annie Chen in the drama "Love Around".

2014-Present: Movie debut & Love Cheque Charge

After production of "Love Around" ended Hu took a few months off from acting, only focusing on advertisement work and to prep for his film debut. In March 2014 Hu began filming in Mainland China for his film debut, "Where the Wind Settles 風中家族", a film about China during World War II wartime period. The later half of the movie will be filmed in Taiwan depicting early Kuomintang rule in Taiwan. Hu will be playing a Chinese soldier who flees to Taiwan after the Communist party takes over China. To prep for the role he had to go through a strict diet in order to lose over 10Lbs from his regular weight of 70 kg (155Lbs).^[8][9]

After Where the Wind Settles finished filming in mid 2014, Hu accepted the lead to star in SETTV's weekly drama Love Cheque Charge, a romantic fantasy comedy about a man who is haunted by the ghost of the man he was ask to deliver a message to his girlfriend before he died.

Music career

2009-2011: Wu Hu Jiang

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.

2014-Present: Debut album

In 2014 Hu signed with music company "More! Entertainment Music" for his self-titled debut album. The album was published by Sony Music Taiwan. The first single from his album is Do Not Say Good Bye (別說Good Bye). The music video for Do Not Say Good Bye (別說Good Bye) starred his good friend and former Hayate the Combat Butler co-star Tia Li.

Personal life

George Hu has been rumored since December 2012 to be in a relationship with his "Love, Now" and "Love Around" co-star Taiwanese actress model Annie Chen whom he met during filming of "Love,Now".^[10] News of the two dating in real life first started circulating when it was reported that Hu was exclusively carpooling Chen in his personal car to and from filming locations everyday, the two holding hands backstage during SETTV 2013 New Years countdown show, and both were caught at a movie theater together.^[11] The two have been caught numerous times by gossip news photographers on private outings together. Sightings of the two by Taiwanese netizens has also been posted on the internet claiming to have witnessed them dining alone together and acting like a loving couple.^[12] In February 2014 the two admitted to going on a trip together to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida USA during their vacation time off when reports of fans overseas recognizing them were published. When questioned by reporters about their private relationship both have neither admitted or denied being in a relationship together, both would only say they are "good friends, good good friends, who enjoy each others company", although Chen has stated in interviews that if the other party is willing to go public with the relationship she is willing too also.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]}

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.^[21][22] 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".^[23] 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.^[24]

In 2013 while filming the constant baseball batting cage scenes in "Love Around" Hu sustained a back injury. It was last reported that he had been seeking treatment for over two months and was also going through acupuncture sessions to try to heal his injury.^[25]

Television series

Filmography

Discography

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	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.^[28]

• 30 September 2013 : Love Around Official Photobook (真愛黑白配 寫真書) - barcode 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

Endorsements

• 7-Eleven
• THE89
• REEBOK
• VICTORINOX
• MJ-BOX
• Etude House
• Whisper Sanitary Pads
• SK-II
• THERMOS
• JILLSTUART
• Happy Socks
• Cafe Perfume Dance
• Merrell
• Gate 9
• MULTIFORT
• SHISEIDO
• FORMOSA-OPTICAL
• TAIHAO
• CARNIVAL suits

References

External links

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