Shaving one’s head for a role certainly isn’t unusual when you're an actor. However, while most folks who have done it had no trouble growing out their hair again, Chinese actor Meng Zhichao, 34, was not so lucky.

The former child star shot to fame in 1996 after playing the titular character in Chinese TV series Adventures of Sanmao. Although not particularly well known in this part of the world, Sanmao is considered one of China’s most beloved comic book icons.

In order to achieve Sanmao’s signature look — he only has three strands of hair on his head, hence his name, which literally means “Three Hairs” in Chinese — Zhichao needed to shave his head once every few days while leaving three sections that would be combed over to form the ‘strands’.

After Adventures of Sanmao, Zhichao went on to appear in other projects, mainly period dramas. One role required him to go bald (again) before having a wig attached to his bare scalp with “large amounts of alcohol and chemical adhesive”.

It sounds like safety standards for actors were clearly lacking back then — the make-up artist apparently failed to properly remove all those harmful substances from Zhichao’s head whenever filming was done for the day.

As a result, the poor lad ended up getting folliculitis, a skin condition where the hair follicles become inflamed, and suffered from severe hair loss.

Needless to say, this really hurt Zhichao’s self-esteem. He became depressed, distanced himself from people, and turned down many acting roles, slowly fading away from showbiz.

In 2014, he finally returned to the spotlight after a long hiatus, sharing in an interview that he had undergone hair transplant surgery in an effort to salvage his scalp and career.

According to Zhichao, the painful-sounding process involved two operations, during which he got over 300 stitches on his entire head (yikes).

“I endured so much ‘cos I really wanted to return to the stage,” he explained.

Fortunately, it was all worth it. Check out what he looks like in the below pics that he posted last month:

Now that he’s got his lush locks (and confidence) back, Zhichao has been more active on social media and has returned to acting as well.

While his popularity isn’t exactly at the level that it used to be when he was a kid, fans were still happy to see him again and the media has been gushing over how handsome he looks.

Photos: Meng Zhichao/Weibo