Online comedy breathes life into career of struggling actress

Poster for I Belonged to You. [Photo/Mtime]

Zhang played a Japanese doctor in a World War II-themed TV drama series, The Legendry Sniper (2014). Though the role was critically acclaimed and won her the best supporting actress prize, the Wenhong Award, from Hengdian World Studios, China's largest TV and film production hub located in East China's Zhejiang province, Zhang struggled to get major roles until Go Princess Go came along.

"Being good is the biggest adversary of being better," says Zhang.

"Perhaps, roles like the one in Go Princess Go only appear once in a lifetime. So, I won't deliberately try similar roles to surpass it, but comedy will certainly be my type."

Meanwhile, before the audience could enjoy another Zhang-style comedy, I Belonged to You, a romantic film starring A-list actor Deng Chao, was premiered on Sept 29.

It is the first film with Zhang as the leading actress.

The film, based on a work by novelist Zhang Jiajia, has earned more than 800 million yuan ($118 million) at the box office.