Students like Li Shuaizhen, who had acted in several TV dramas before enrolling in the Central Academy of Drama, were everywhere, though not famous, they weren't considered newcomers in the industry.
Twenty years ago, students like these were rare at the Academy, but now they are plentiful. The truth is, twenty years ago, audiences were all about acting skills, and poor acting could break the immersion in minutes. At that time, the veteran actors either came from the realm of stage plays, drama, or were involved in performance arts in some other way.
For example, in her past life, Ren He liked a veteran actor who later became hugely popular as Secretary Dakang, played an opponent of Sun HongLei in "Undercover", and an opponent of Liu QingYun and Leung Chiu-wai in "The Great Magician". This kind of person typically emerged from drama troupes.
They possessed a mastery of acting skills, what they played, they became flawlessly.
