Why Jing Boran is the sexiest man on TV right now

There is a particular moment in The Early Spring when Jing Boran looks at Sun Qian’s character and says almost nothing. He doesn’t need to. The pause, the barely perceptible shift in his expression, the low-key confidence — suddenly, you understand why the internet has collectively decided that Jing Boran is very, very sexy.

At 37, the Chinese actor has arrived at a particularly potent stage of his career: mature enough to have shed the shiny-boy idol image, established enough to possess an effortless confidence, and still impossibly handsome. As Luan Nian, the sharp-tongued creative director at the centre of Netflix’s hit workplace romance, he is sophisticated, intimidating and just vulnerable enough to make you want to know what lies underneath.

And audiences are very much paying attention. Since its August 26 premiere, The Early Spring debuted at No. 2 on Netflix’s Global Non-English TV chart, with 2.4 million views in its first week, while entering the Top 10 in 22 markets. Netflix itself has dubbed Jing’s character the “ultimate heartthrob.”

But calling Jing Boran simply a heartthrob doesn’t quite capture the appeal.

The face

First, obviously, there is the face.

Jing has the kind of handsome that doesn’t look as though it has been engineered specifically for a boy-band poster. There is something slightly lived-in about him — sharp features, expressive eyes and a cool, almost detached expression that becomes exponentially more attractive when he finally lets his guard down.

It helps that he doesn’t appear to be trying too hard. And that may be the first lesson in the Jing Boran effect: the less he performs being sexy, the sexier he becomes.

The age

At 37, Jing also occupies a different space from the endless parade of youthful C-drama male leads.

There is a certain adult sensuality that comes with watching a man who has been in the industry for almost two decades. Born in Shenyang in 1989, Jing first became famous not as an actor but as a singer, winning the 2007 Chinese talent competition My Hero. He subsequently formed the duo BoBo with fellow contestant Fu Xinbo, releasing music before eventually moving into acting.

That history matters. Jing isn’t a newcomer who has suddenly been handed a romantic-lead role because he photographs well. He has spent years figuring out how to command a screen.

His film career includes Hot Summer Days, Monster Hunt, Time Raiders and Us and Them, while his television work has included Love O2O, Road Home, Regeneration and Sunsets, Secrets, Regrets. Along the way, he has collected acting nominations and awards, including a Best New Actor win at the Beijing College Student Film Festival.

So, no, Jing Boran isn’t an overnight sensation. The hotness has a commanding history.

The clothes

Then there is the wardrobe — and this is where Jing Boran’s real-life fashion credentials make his Early Spring transformation even more interesting.

Jing isn’t simply an actor who happens to look good in a suit. Fashion has been part of his public identity for years. He became a Chanel brand ambassador in 2020, following his 2019 collaboration with the house for its Coco Crush Qixi campaign alongside Chinese supermodel (and rumoured girlfriend) Liu Wen.  

In The Early Spring, Jing’s instinct for fashion becomes part of Luan Nian’s appeal. As the demanding creative director, he wears immaculate tailoring, crisp shirts and sophisticated neutrals, with just enough undone detail to make everything feel seductive rather than corporate.

And the clothes aren’t simply costume. According to Vogue Hong Kong, Jing brought more than 120 pieces from his own wardrobe to help shape Luan Nian’s look, drawing on his own fashion sensibility to create the character’s polished aesthetic.

Which explains why he never looks like a man simply wearing designer clothes. He looks like a man who knows exactly what to wear — and exactly what it does to the room.

The attitude

And then there is that attitude.

Luan Nian is not the endlessly agreeable, impossibly perfect boyfriend fantasy. He’s aloof. He’s demanding. He’s occasionally infuriating. He’s intelligent and self-assured, with the sort of presence that suggests he is accustomed to being the smartest person in the room.

Which, inconveniently, makes him even more compelling.

There is something particularly seductive about a male character who doesn’t constantly seek approval. Luan Nian doesn’t enter a room asking to be liked. He simply occupies it.

Jing understands this distinction instinctively. His performance is built around restraint: the sideways glance, the pause before answering, the tiny change in his expression when his character’s feelings begin to betray him.

The female gaze

Perhaps this is why Jing feels so different from the standard romantic male lead.

He isn’t sexy because the camera is constantly telling us that he is. There are no endless declarations, no need for him to flex his way into desirability. Instead, it is the details — his voice, his posture, the way he looks at Sun Qian’s character Flora, the moments when his otherwise controlled character loses his composure.

The camera gives us time to watch him.

And that changes everything.

The Early Spring is ultimately less interested in the fantasy of the perfect man than in the tension between two adults figuring out how to become equals. Netflix describes the series as a more mature take on love, and that grown-up quality is precisely what makes the chemistry between Jing and Sun Qian feel so addictive.

From Pop Idol to Screen Powerhouse

Perhaps the most entertaining thing about Jing Boran’s current renaissance is knowing where he started.

Before the tailored suits, serious film roles and smouldering creative-director persona, there was a much younger Jing winning a televised talent competition and becoming a pop idol. In 2007, he took first place in My Hero and went on to form BoBo with Fu Xinbo; the duo released their debut EP Glory and became one of the early stepping stones in his entertainment career.

Nearly two decades later, the transformation is rather satisfying and perhaps that’s the real appeal of Jing Boran in The Early Spring: maturity, mystery and the kind of quiet confidence that makes you lean closer to the screen.

The boy-band days may have introduced audiences to Jing Boran. Nearly two decades later, he has evolved into something far more compelling: an actor whose sex appeal comes not from playing the perfect man, but from the sheer force of his presence.