Taiwanese star Nicky Wu, of ‘Scarlet Heart’ fame, tears up watching animated video of his life on 56th birthday (VIDEO)

Nicky Wu was brought to tears during his 56th birthday celebration after watching an animated video recounting his life and career. — Screengrabs via Weibo

First Published: Wednesday, 04 Nov 2026 2:54 PM MYT

SINGAPORE, Nov 4 — Taiwanese singer-actor Nicky Wu was moved to tears after his team surprised him with a special animated video retracing his life and career to mark his birthday.

A video shared on Weibo shows Nicky, who turned 56 on October 31, watching the six-minute short film. Thinking it was just another routine video recording, he initially joked: “Don’t show the old stuff!”

The video begins by revisiting Nicky’s early years where he worked odd jobs, including washing cars, working at a construction site and helping out at a night market, before his rise to fame as a member of the popular Taiwanese boy band The Little Tigers after being scouted by singer-songwriter Angus Tung at the night market.

The group, formed in 1988 and which also included Julian Chen and Alec Su, halted their activities in 1991 when the former went for his mandatory military service. The Little Tigers disbanded in 1997 when Nicky went to serve the country.

Nicky went into acting and his best-known role is as the Qing Dynasty prince who would become Emperor Yongzheng in the 2011 television show, Scarlet Heart. He married his co-star Liu Shishi in 2015 and the couple have a son who was born in 2019.

The video also highlighted the hardships and injuries he endured and his determination to succeed, revealing that he once went seven days without sleep to pay off his family’s debts.

An animated version of Nicky is then heard saying: “I only need four hours of sleep a day. I can spend the rest of my time working.”

Set to nostalgic hits including The Little Tigers’ Red Dragonfly (1990) and Nicky’s Wish You a Smooth Journey (1992), the video recounts key milestones from the latter’s long entertainment career.

As the video played, he became visibly emotional, with tears welling up in his eyes before he wiped them away.

The video also imagines an alternate life for Nicky where he turned down Angus’ proposal to pursue a career as a medal-winning national judo athlete, eventually becoming a coach to young athletes.

The text in the video reads: “It’s not sure which path would be better because either way, you have given it your all. In a parallel world, Nicky Wu is an athlete chasing glory. In real life, he is an actor overcoming obstacles.”

The video concludes with an emotional Nicky making a birthday wish and blowing out the candles on his cake.

A message shown at the end of the video reads: “I’ve experienced so much along this journey, but I’m very fortunate to have had you all by my side. Thank you.” — AsiaOne