By now, should be familiar with the heartbreaking story about how Taiwanese-Canadian actor Godfrey Gao died from a heart attack while filming Chinese variety show Chase Me last year.

Prior to his ill-fated appearance on Chase Me, Godfrey was filming the drama series We Are All Alone, which premiered on Chinese online video platform iQiyi yesterday (Jun 8).

In the 36-episode series, which would turn out to be the Godfrey's final onscreen performance, he stars as a lawyer opposite Story of Yanxi Palace actress Qin Lan, who plays love interest.

As a tribute to the late star, a television special titled “Godfrey Gao Memorial Special” was aired before the drama’s premiere. The eight-minute video featured a series of behind-the-scenes clips of the actor during the production of the show.

In the special, Godfrey was seen apologising for his weak command of Chinese during a script reading session. “Sorry, my Chinese isn’t very good. But you can romanise the words [into hanyu pinyin] and I’ll be fine,” he said humbly.

The video showed how warm and generous Godfrey was. He would make coffee for the entire crew and at one point of the clip, he was seen using his sleeves to wipe rain water off items that his fans had handed him to autograph.

The vid also showed how professional he was. As it turned out, the actor had gotten punched for real during a fight scene.

“It’s okay, it’s like getting hit when you play ball with others,” a smiling Godfrey told the cameras. “Just that… It’s for real now!”

Fans who watched the tribute quickly got emotional.

“I can’t bear to watch it, it’s so uncomfortable. He was obviously a very kind gentleman,” wrote a heartbroken netizen. Damn it, I cried so bad. A life gone like that. Zhejiang TV, do you even feel remorse? sobbed another netizen, who directed her anger at the TV station responsible for Chase Me.

As for We Are All Alone, which aired after the tribute, there were those who couldn't bear to watch Godfrey’s final performance. The late star's girlfriend, Bella Su, being one of them.

Although the 23-year-old promoted Godfrey’s drama on her Instagram, she confessed that she “may not have the courage” to watch it.

“[I'm so] Proud of you! Your new drama is finally going on air today! Although I may not have the courage to watch it, I hope that everyone can still lend their support,” wrote Bella, who also posted a pic of her and Godrey drinking bubble tea a month prior to his untimely passing.

Photos: Weibo and Bella Su’s Instagram