The highest earning Taiwanese actors of 2020 have been revealed by Apple Daily, who conducted a survey with producers, management company executives, and advertisers. While everyone’s income has unsurprisingly been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the figures are still pretty impressive.

This year’s ‘champion’ is Mark Chao, who has been getting a lot of exposure thanks to his office drama The Ordinary Glory, which finished airing about two months ago, and various other projects. The 36-year-old wrapped up his shoot for the big screen adaptation of Japanese novel series Onmyoji in April and is currently working on The Ideal City with Chinese actress Sun Li.

And then there are his endorsement deals. In addition to skincare products, Mark is also the celeb ambassador for Nespresso and children’s furniture company Stokke, which earned him about 10mil yuan (S$2mil). Add that to the 20mil yuan (S$4.1mil) he made from his dramas, and that’s an extra 30mil yuan (S$6.1mil) in his bank account this year.

While that’s certainly an impressive amount, it’s actually over 70 per cent less than what last year’s highest paid star, Taiwanese actress — and Mark’s ex-girlfriend — Janine Chang, made in 2019, which was NT$500mil (S$23.6mil). This shows just how badly the entertainment industry was hit by the outbreak.

In second place is “dark horse” David Wang (also known as Wang Yaoqing), who became lovingly known as ‘the Nation’s Uncle’ thanks to his role in Chinese rom-com Find Yourself opposite Victoria Song and Song Weilong. The 46-year-old has been focusing on his career in China for the past decade or so.

The pandemic doesn’t seem to have affected his career that much. David is a regular cast member in two Chinese variety shows, The Irresistible and Wonder Agency, and he has a new drama with Alyssa Chia and Anita Yuen called Pride and Price. He also has endorsement deals with Skechers and a milk powder brand, and hosts live shows and does musical performances. His busy schedule has literally paid off — David reportedly earned at least NT$100mil (S$4.7mil) in 2020.

Last year’s highest paid actor Janine Chang may have dropped to the number three spot as she hasn’t been in as many productions lately, but she is still the unrivalled queen of endorsement and is currently the face of at least eight brands. She also recently joined Chinese reality series National Treasure, which is said to be a “great honour” as it isn’t a show that anyone can take part in.

Other than that, the 38-year-old has been working in Taiwan a lot more this year, with roles in Who’s By Your Side and Little Big Women. In all, she is estimated to have raked in about NT$50mil (S$2.4mil) in 2020.

At the peak of his career, Ming Dao’s income allegedly exceeded 100mil yuan (S$20.4mil). However, due to recent policies that limit how much stars can be paid in China, along with the pandemic’s devastating effect on the industry, he has cut down on his acting projects and is doing more variety shows, endorsements, and even live stream sales.

And he’s actually really good at the latter: back in August, he took on his very first online auction and reportedly helped to sell NT$85mil (S$4mil) worth of products in just 40 minutes. As for the 40-year-old himself, he earned around NT$50mil (S$2.4mil) this year from all his various gigs.

Rounding up the Top Five is Ruby Lin. Despite turning down multiple job offers in China so she could spend more time with her three-year-old daughter in Taiwan, she managed to pocket a cool NT$40mil (S$1.9mil), which is less than the others on this list but is still an amount most of us can only dream of getting.

Contributing to the 44-year-old’s earnings was her stint on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala earlier this year (where she was reunited with her Romance in the Rain co-stars Vicki Zhao, Leo Ku, and Alec Su), as well as her guest appearances in dramas The Victims’ Game and I, Myself. She’s also paid as both actor and producer for The Arc of Life and Light the Night, and is the face of a car seat brand and an aesthetic procedure.

Ka-ching.

Photos: Mark Chao/Weibo, David Wang work studio/Weibo, Janine Chang/Weibo, Ming Dao/Weibo, Ruby Lin/Instagram