The Story Behind Hu Ge’s Multi-Million Dollar Wealth

After the airing of critically acclaimed drama Nirvana In Fire <琅琊榜>Hu Ge (胡歌) can once again be seen in the currently airing Good Time <大好时光>. Transitioning from his early days as an idol star, Hu Ge has become a character actor. In an interview to promote Good Time, Hu Ge shares about his family background as well as pursuits outside of acting.

Family Background

Hu Ge 16Hu Ge came from a very ordinary family in Shanghai – his father was a tennis coach and his mother was a teacher. Their family was not very wealthy, but his parents took pains to develop Hu Ge’s talents.

This paid off, as Hu Ge started appearing on television when he was 14, with his first role as a children’s television host. Subsequently, he successfully enrolled into the Shanghai Theater Academy, and this was followed by his breakthrough role in the Chinese Paladin <仙劍奇俠傳> series.

Car Accident Changed Outlook in Life

Due to a car accident in 2006 that killed his assistant and left Hu Ge with serious injuries, his outlook on life and financial planning changed. Whereas Hu Ge previously only relied on insurance provided by his management company, after the accident, he bought additional insurance policies. He commented, “Buying insurance is also a form of investment. As an actor, your life is pretty tough. There is no stability to your flow of work, and you are often in situations where you are prone to injury. I have learned to better protect myself.”

The car accident, which affected Hu Ge both physically and emotionally, took place at the moment when his career was just rising. He was in the middle of filming a reboot of the classic, The Legend of the Condor Heroes <射雕英雄传>. After the car accident, Hu Ge had to undergo almost 100 stitches on his face and neck, leaving scars on the right side of his profile that have yet to fade today. Hu Ge also had to undergo numerous reconstructive surgeries due to the impact the accident had on his physical appearance. To cover up some of his scars, Hu Ge had no choice but to don bangs for most of the roles he took on in the three years afterward.  This naturally had a negative effect on Hu Ge’s popularity, as much of it had stemmed from his good looks.

Nevertheless, Hu Ge worked hard and focused on improving his acting skills. It worked. After his performances in The Disguiser <伪装者> and Nirvana In Fire, Hu Ge’s popularity re-surged. While Hu Ge was previously a classic idol, he has now graduated to become a bona fide actor, known not for his looks but for his solid acting skills.

Running His Own Restaurant

Initially clueless about financial planning, Hu Ge admitted that most of his money went straight to a bank account managed by his mother. In an interview in 2008, he had said, “I basically give most of my earnings to my mother, and keep a small portion for my own allowance.”

In 2010, Hu Ge made the bold move of investing about $5 million RMB into a restaurant with a friend. At the official opening party of the restaurant, “匚Fount”, numerous celebrities turned up to support Hu Ge, including Tiffany Tang (唐嫣), Angelababy, and Cecilia Liu (刘诗诗). Hu Ge recalled how nervous he had felt at the time, “I was more nervous than when I first started filming. It felt like I was getting married!”

It turns out that Hu Ge had no reasons to be nervous, as the restaurant performed very well, often being featured on various food and lifestyle magazines as well as television programs. Many well-known films and television dramas have also filmed scenes in Hu Ge’s restaurant. In spite of all that, Hu Ge said, “I have never deliberately asked friends to come to my restaurant for publicity. I want my restaurant to attract customers because of its inherent qualities. I can’t just rely on celebrity publicity, which is short-term.”

Running the restaurant helped Hu Ge learn lessons about being a smarter businessman. He initially gave heavy discounts to friends who visited the restaurant. After being shown the balance sheets by his manager, and seeing that the discounts were causing his restaurant to suffer significant losses, Hu Ge realized that there had to be a limit to his discounts.

He mused, “One of the biggest takeaways from running this restaurant is that it has allowed me to gain a clearer perspective of how diverse and multi-dimensional this society is. I used to be very idealistic and viewed society with rose-tinted lens, thinking that everyone around me is good and kind. That is not always true. I have, however, learned to be positive despite this.”

Hu Ge houseThe restaurant’s revenues, as well as Hu Ge’s lucrative filming and endorsement fees, have put Hu Ge firmly in the category of the wealthy with assets worth more than 100 million RMB. He now lives in a lavishly decorated house. Photos of his house in Shanghai were recently leaked.

 

Personal Aspirations

In Good Time, Hu Ge has a scene where his character proposes to his love interest by the Whampoa River in Shanghai. Hu Ge raved over this scene and expressed that he longed for such a romantic moment to enter his real life one day. He said candidly, “I really want to get married, but because of the nature of my job, this will not be happening anytime soon.”

Hu Ge’s character in Good Time goes through three relationships in the span of the entire drama. He laughed, “This must be the drama where I have romantic interaction with the most number of women.”

On what Hu Ge’s aspirations are, he said that his biggest wish was to spend more time at home. He said longingly, “I want to be able to stay at home and cook, have a cat, garden, read books, watch movies, make tea or freshly ground coffee.” These may sound like the most mundane and ordinary things, but to Hu Ge, who is often busy working as dictated by his hectic schedule, these things would make his life more satisfactory.

Source: QQ.com

This article is written by Jingles for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. Im a big fan over Hu Ge so i hope that he can find someone that loves him and isnt needy over his hectic schedule.

    1. @akinu
      I love Hu Ge too and glad to know he is doing well. I also hope he finds someone who is independent and loves and treasures him. Hopefully,he does not run into a gold digger that is after his money and stuff. He has been through a lot so hope he is happy from now on.

      1. @hetieshou yea, when i read about him breaking up with Maggie Jiang, i felt really bad for him as it seem that this workaholic (lol) seemed to have just finally met his first love. Which, when it’s ur first break up from a pretty darn serious relationship, it’s gunna suck for quite some time. And yes, just hope he finds a independent person that loves him dearly.

  2. All successful actors, especially lead popular actors are multi millionaire. He is not any different, more so with own productions, investments, real estate portfolio and also plenty of endorsements. Also the fact that maybe some don’t live lavishly or have drug habits or seek escorts.

    1. @funnlim
      Yes, many leading actors are millionaires but that does not mean they need to live lavishly. As we have seen with Chow Yun Fat,Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung,etc… ,they are all very wealthy but yet live very modestly and frugally. I really admire people like that.

      By the way,Hu Ge was very cute as a child.

  3. I like Hu Ge but never thought he was that good looking. He looked better as a young child!

    1. @anoninhk i agree he’s not the best looking but in his drama Xuan Yuan Sword, although people loved Jiang Jingfu, i loved him instead. i didnt like Jingfu’s character too much but i pitied Hu Ge’s character a lot. and plus, Hu Ge looked awesome in that hairstyle (my opinion lol)

      1. @akinu I think Hu Ge is not the best-looking actor around but he is extremely charismatic and his personality is very endearing.

        I really didn’t pay much attention to Hu Ge (sorry, was a Yuan Hong fan back in the days) until Xuan Yuan Jian but then I thought Hu Ge’s acting really improved and matured when dealing with the many sides of Yuwen Tuo. (Plus I thought he was hot as well! :D) And then I watched “The Disguiser” and then yikes!

        He seems like a guy with a lot of sense in his head and seems to be in control of his career and not let his fame get over his head. I heard he wants to take a break next year after his planned schedule and I do hope he gets a good rest so he can bring us more good work in the future. (If he can find a girlfriend then that’s even better! :D)

      2. @elizabeth He is really charismatic. I loved him in Chinese Paladin and The Little Fairy/Fairy from Wonderland (with Ariel Lin). Honestly saw Fairy from Wonderland before watching Chinese Paladin 1 (never watched 3 where he is paired with Yang Mi) and i loved both characters and his acting really captured my heart. im definitely more into period dramas then i am into “modern” or pre-modern (guessing from the synopsis of The Disguiser) dramas so i have never watched how he fairs away from period dramas. STILL a big fan of him and hope this workaholic gets a rest soon xD

        AND i agree, thought he was very hot as Yuwen Tuo

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