Chinese actor Wang Xingyue has garnered plenty of attention for starring in historical romance drama, The Double.
While the 22-year-old star has been praised for putting up an impressive performance in his role as a duke, there’s been some controversy about his age.
Eyebrows were raised when it was revealed that Xingyue started college at the age of 15. Curiosity piqued, netizens did a deep-dive into his background, seeking to uncover if Xingyue was really born in 2002, the year stated in his official bio.
Netizens quickly discovered that Xingyue’s birth name is Wang Tao, and he was indeed born in 2002, in the city of Yueyang, Hunan. He took the art college entrance examination at the age of 15, and later gained acceptance into the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.
At 18, Xingyue inked a contract with Huanyu Entertainment, and has been managed by the agency until today.
Since he was able to fast-track his education, there have been multiple times when doubt was cast over Xingyue’s age. However, Xingyue has never addressed the rumours.
A netizen recently posted a photo of the actor’s train ticket, which revealed his year of birth as ‘02.
Another fan also shared a screenshot of Xingyue’s university acceptance document and it came with the number 43060220, which is assumed to be part of his social security number.
In China, the fifth and sixth digits in a social security number reflect the district code, while the seventh to 10th digits indicate year of birth. The seventh and eighth numbers in Xingyue’s security number are ‘20’, whihc means he was really born in the 2000s.