Cover Miss Deng Kai? As one of the underrated C-drama actors of 2026, you might be seeing more of him in the future (Photo: IMDB)
Miss Deng Kai? As one of the underrated C-drama actors of 2026, you might be seeing more of him in the future (Photo: IMDB)
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Meet the underrated C-drama actors gaining attention in 2026, from standout supporting performers to rising leads
C-drama’s next wave of stars isn’t necessarily hiding in the opening credits. Some have spent years working their way up through supporting roles; others are only now getting characters that put them closer to the centre of the story. What they have in common is that 2026 has given audiences more reason to remember their names—and pay attention to what comes next.
That distinction matters. This isn’t a list of established stars who happened to have a busy year. It is about underrated C-drama actors whose recent work has expanded their visibility, whether through a standout supporting performance, a run of high-profile releases or a move into a more prominent role.
Some already have years of credits behind them. Others have been acting since childhood. But after the dramas they have appeared in this year, all six have a little more reason to be on viewers’ radars.
In case you missed it: Rising C-drama stars: 9 up-and-coming Chinese actors set to dominate 2026
Deng Kai
Above His obsessive prince in ‘Pursuit of Jade’ turned a relatively under-the-radar actor into one of the drama’s most talked-about supporting performers
Deng Kai arrived in Pursuit of Jade with a relatively modest profile compared with its leads, but his Prince Sui Yuanhai, also known as Qi Min, quickly became one of the drama’s most memorable supporting characters. The actor reportedly joined the production at the last minute after another performer withdrew, making the attention that followed all the more striking.
Qi Min is the sort of character who could easily become a one-note villain: a white-haired prince whose fixation on Yu Qianqian, played by Kong Xue’er, becomes increasingly disturbing. Deng gives him enough vulnerability to make that obsession more complicated. His performance moves between entitlement, desperation and menace as Qi Min’s feelings become increasingly difficult to control.
Deng received a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 2026 Global OTT Awards, part of the Korea International Streaming Festival, putting his performance in the same conversation as a number of more established names.
Now everyone is waiting with bated breath for what happens when Deng moves beyond Qi Min. After a role this visible, he is no longer quite as easy to overlook.
Lin Muran
Above After acting since childhood, Lin Muran is finally getting the kind of roles that allow audiences to see him as an adult performer
Lin Muran has been in front of cameras since childhood, making his screen debut in Golden Marriage. He went on to build a résumé that includes The Lost Tomb, Detective Chinatown 3 and Nothing But You.
The year 2026 has offered a different kind of visibility. In Pursuit of Jade, Lin plays Sui Yuanqing, the calculating crown prince whose political ambitions make him an important figure in the drama’s power struggles. It is a useful role for an actor moving into adult screen presence: there is little of the child-actor image here, with Lin instead having to project calculation, authority and menace.
And Pursuit of Jade is only part of his 2026 run. Lin also appeared in Ice Lake Rebirth and The First Jasmine, giving him several opportunities to be seen across different productions rather than relying on a single breakout role.
That momentum has also received industry recognition. At the 2026 Asia Content Awards and 2026 Global OTT Awards, Lin was nominated for Best Newcomer for Dead End.
There is something particularly interesting about Lin’s trajectory because he is not a newly discovered actor. He has already spent years working in the industry. What is changing is the kind of attention those years of experience are now attracting—and the kinds of characters he is being trusted to play.
Kong Xue’er
Above The former The9 member has spent years building an acting career—and ‘Pursuit of Jade’ has given audiences a much closer look at what she can do
Kong Xue’er is hardly a newcomer. Before acting became the focus of her career, she competed on Youth With You 2 and became a member of The9. After the group disbanded in 2021, she steadily built an acting résumé that includes The Double, Blossom, The Prisoner of Beauty, Legend of the Female General and Moonlit Reunion.
Then came Yu Qianqian in Pursuit of Jade.
As a restaurant owner who becomes entangled with Deng Kai’s Prince Sui Yuanhai, Kong is given a character with enough personality to stand apart from the drama’s central romance. Her storyline also gives her an unusual pairing with Deng, whose increasingly disturbing prince provides a darker counterpoint to the series’ main love story.
What makes Kong particularly worth watching is the direction of her career. She has already made the journey from idol competition to group activity to acting. Now, with roles such as Yu Qianqian giving her more room to establish a character, the question is whether her next projects can push that acting career even further forward.
Li Qing
Above His supporting strategist in ‘Pursuit of Jade’ proved that sometimes the smallest unscripted moments are the ones audiences remember
Li Qing plays Gongsun Yin, a scholar and military strategist who becomes involved with Princess Qi Shu in Pursuit of Jade. Before the series, he was primarily known for supporting roles in dramas including Nothing But You, A Dream Within a Dream and Legend of the Female General. A graduate of Beijing Film Academy, he made his screen debut in 2019.
What makes his performance particularly appealing is that Gongsun Yin is not played as an immaculately composed genius. Li lets him be awkward, funny and occasionally a little ridiculous—qualities that become especially apparent in two moments that were never originally intended to be part of the performance.
During a livestream with Yu Zhongli, Li explained that he genuinely slipped during a rehearsal for a scene in which Gongsun Yin gives military advice outside Xie Zheng’s tent. The director liked the accident enough to keep it in the final sequence. In another scene, Li’s sleeve accidentally became caught on a bridge parapet while Gongsun Yin was running after Princess Qi Shu. That moment also survived into the finished drama.
They work because they add to rather than undermine the character. Gongsun Yin can be clever and capable while still behaving like an actual person who occasionally trips over his own clothes.
His visibility extended beyond the drama itself. Numerous reports found that Li gained approximately 1.305 million followers during Pursuit of Jade’s run.
See more: 10 beginner C-dramas to watch if you miss ‘Pursuit of Jade’
Tang Xiaotian
Above After years of steady work, Tang Xiaotian has had one of his busiest stretches yet, with two 2026 costume dramas putting him in front of new audiences
Tang Xiaotian is a useful reminder that a career boost does not always look like a completely unknown actor suddenly becoming famous. He has been working for years, but 2026 has given him two costume dramas in quick succession.
He appears in How Dare You!?, the 2026 drama starring Wang Churan and Cheng Lei, and also plays Xie Yanfang in Ashes to Crown, alongside Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran.
In the latter, Tang is part of the political machinery surrounding Chu Zhao, the general’s daughter who plays the lead. Xie Yanfang is not simply a background court figure: in one episode, he engineers an invasion on the frontier, putting him directly into the drama’s political conflict.
That gives Tang a different kind of visibility from the underrated C-drama actors on this list who have gone viral for a single supporting character. His 2026 story is more about accumulation—two costume dramas, two ensembles and another opportunity to establish himself in roles aimed at an adult audience.
Through the years, Tang has already put in the years of work. But right now, the scale and concentration of the opportunities are growing.
Ci Sha
Above After making his mark as a second male lead, Ci Sha has moved into the centre of the romance in ‘A Splendid Match’
Ci Sha’s career has taken an especially interesting turn because 2026 has allowed him to revisit a familiar screen partnership from a completely different position.
He previously appeared in The Rise of Ning, playing Lu Jiaxue, the second male lead in the 2024 historical drama alongside Ren Min and Zhang Wanyi. It was a substantial role, but he was still positioned outside the central romance.
Two years later, Ci Sha and Ren Min are together again in A Splendid Match. This time, he is one of the drama’s principal male leads. The series premiered in May 2026, with Ren Min playing Gu Jinzhao and Ci Sha playing Chen San Ye. Their characters eventually become romantically involved.
That progression is more interesting than simply calling Ci Sha a “rising star”. It shows how quickly an actor’s place in an ensemble can change when the right opportunity arrives—and how a successful pairing can be revisited from an entirely different angle.
Ci Sha also provides a useful contrast to several other underrated C-drama actors. Deng Kai and Li Qing gained attention through supporting performances, while Lin Muran is moving into more prominent adult roles. Ci Sha’s 2026 story is about moving in the opposite direction: from a recognisable second-lead position into the romantic centre of a costume drama.
Whether A Splendid Match becomes the role that permanently changes his billing remains to be seen. But the move itself is significant: two years after playing the second male lead opposite Ren Min, Ci Sha is now sharing the top billing with her.
Sasha Lim Uy Mariposa is a lifestyle journalist who is known for her food writing. Based in Manila and currently a marketing content specialist, she still dabbles in entertainment, beauty and dining coverage. She was the former managing editor of Esquire Philippines and was the food editor at SPOT.ph. She also edited several best-selling books about food.
She now writes for the different Tatler Asia markets as a contributing writer for T-Labs.
