Dong Chengpeng

Dong Chengpeng (born January 12, 1982), commonly known by his stage name Da Peng, is a Chinese actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He received widespread recognition in China for his directorial debut in the 2015 film Pancake Man, which achieved 1.16 billion yuan ($178.16 million) in China. The movie also gave him a certain degree of visibility in the United States. In 2023, the film Johnny Keep Walking!, starring him, grossed more than 1.29 billion yuan ($179.31 million) in China.

In 2018, Da Peng won the Best Live Action Short Film Award at the 55th Golden Horse Awards for his film A Final Reunion. In 2023, he won the Golden Goblet Award for Best Actor at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival for his leading role in the film Dust to Dust, for which he was nominated for the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor on February 6, 2024.

Da Peng's directorial works include Pancake Man, City of Rock, A Final Reunion, The Reunions, One and Only, and Post Truth. In his acting career, he played roles in films by renowned Chinese directors, such as Feng Xiaogang's I Am Not Madame Bovary, Tsui Hark's Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (produced by Stephen Chow), Yuen Woo-ping's The Thousand Faces of Dunjia, and Cheng Er's Hidden Blade.

In the early 2010s, Da Peng made his name on China's new streaming platforms. In 2012, when he was the presenter of the talk show "Da Peng Debade" (meaning 'Da Peng Yakking'), he was widely covered by the U.S. mainstream media for his distance interactions with Conan O'Brien. In the same year, he became a star in China with a hit web series called "Diors Man", which ran for four seasons. As of July 2015, the series accumulated more than 3.6 billion views.

Early life and education
Da Peng was born on January 12, 1982 in Ji'an City, Jilin Province. His father was a machine factory worker and his mother was an actress in a Ping opera troupe. He admired the Hong Kong band Beyond and formed his own band in high school. Later, he was enrolled in the School of Management at Jilin Architecture University, majoring in engineering management.

2004–2014
In May 2004, Da Peng joined Sohu as the host of the celebrity talk show "INSTAR". In 2007, he hosted the talk show "Da Peng Yakking". In January 2009, he played the lead role in the film Radish Warrior.

On February 14, he joined the love story film Contract about Status Interchange. In May, he hosted an entertainment information program from Sohu called "Songs Be Unfit for My Halls" with Aya.

In 2012, he directed the mini comedy "Diors Man". In the same year, he joined the show "Your Face Sounds Familiar", and became its champion. In 2013, he directed and starred in "Diors Man 2".

In January 2014, he headlined the film Hello Babies. Later, he joined the CCTV New Year's Gala to performed a skit "Disturbing" with Cai Ming and Yue Yunpeng. In 2013, he directed and starred in "Diors Man 3".

2015–2017
On June 20, 2015, the film Pancake Man, which he directed and starred in, won 'Best New Director' and 'Best New Actor' awards at the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival.

In October, he was selected to participate in the "Sino-American Film Talent Exchange Program", jointly initiated by the Motion Picture Association of America and China's SAPPRFT in 2013, and was sent to study at Paramount Pictures.

In November, he received the Outstanding Chinese Young Director Award at the 11th Chinese American Film Festival in Los Angeles. On December 4, he joined the sci-fi comedy Impossible.

In 2016, he played a starring role in the film The Thousand Faces of Dunjia. Then, he acted in Feng Xiaogang's movie I Am Not Madame Bovary. He was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor at the 11th Asian Film Awards for this movie.

In January 2017, he played a role in the movie Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back. In July, he took a starring role in the movie Father and Son. On September 29, the film he directed, City of Rock, was released.

2018–present
In 2018, he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his film A Final Reunion. In July 2020, his film The Reunions was shortlisted for the Golden Goblet Award for Best Film in the main competition of the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival. In November, he was nominated for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor for the movie My Dear Liar.

In January 2021, his third directorial film, The Last Reunion, was screened. On February 12, he acted in the movie Detective Chinatown 3. On March 5, he appeared in the film The Eleventh Chapter, directed by Chen Jianbin.

On September 9, he was cast in the lead role in the web series "Double Detective". In January 2023, he took the lead role in the film Hidden Blade. On March 10, the movie Post Truth, which he directed and starred in, was launched.

In July, the Asian Games-themed film One and Only, which he directed, was shown in theaters. On September 9, he headlined the movie Dust to Dust. He headed the cast of Johnny Keep Walking!, which hit theaters on December 29th.

In December, he served as a jury member for the Golden Coconut Awards at the 5th Hainan Island International Film Festival. On January 12, 2024, the IMAX space-themed science fiction film Asteroid Hunter, narrated by him, was screened in China.

In January, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 30th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards for his role in Dust to Dust. On February 6, the film earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards.

On March 21, Da Peng served as one of the official voices for the Chinese version of The Boy and the Heron, a Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. On April 3 of the same year, the film was released in China.