Demand for child actors faces minor hiccups

At 5:30 am on the set of a horror video, 9-year-old Ni Yuehang lay asleep beside a coffin prop, his legs numb from hours of waiting. By the time his mother Lin Qiwei found him, he could barely stand.

"It's okay, I just need a little rest," he said.

Incidents like this are becoming increasingly common as China's booming micro-short drama industry fuels growing demand for child actors, drawing more children onto sets, livestream productions and online video shoots at ever younger ages.

For some families, these opportunities offer children a chance to build their confidence, gain life experiences and explore a talent for performance. For others, the long hours, late-night shoots and fierce competition have raised concerns.

According to the National Radio and Television Administration, 33,000 micro-short dramas were released in 2025, with nearly 700 million viewers. The market exceeded 100 billion yuan ($14.81 billion), doubling from 2024.

Short dramas featuring "adorable" child characters recorded a popularity index ranking in the tens of billions in 2025, surpassing traditional genres such as historical power struggles, wealthy family dramas and period pieces in popularity, industry analysis from DataEye showed.

Against this backdrop, young actors like Yuehang are finding themselves in growing demand. Despite the exhausting schedule, Yuehang, who has appeared in more than 100 productions and played leading roles in over 20 short dramas, has never talked about quitting. His mother said he enjoys memorizing lines.

Lin said short dramas provide a rare opportunity for ordinary families without industry connections or financial backing.

"For families like ours, short dramas are not about using children but giving talented children a chance to prove themselves through hard work, without relying on connections or money," she said.

By early 2022, Yuehang had appeared in dozens of minor roles in larger productions, often without lines. His break came later that year, when he landed an important part in the short drama SSS Zhanshenling, playing the son of the male lead. He had substantial lines and earned a salary and travel reimbursement.

Today, Yuehang's workload is intense. In 2025 alone, he filmed seven lead roles over the summer.

On some shoots, he starts getting his makeup done before 7 am and does not finish until midnight.

As his experience has grown, so have his earnings, from a few hundred yuan a day to several thousand yuan for leading roles, enough to cover tutoring and travel costs.

"Directors value his experience, focus and willingness to cooperate while the family makes every effort to arrive on time and avoid disrupting production schedules," said Lin.

Yuehang takes school lessons whenever possible, often using breaks on set to finish homework, memorize English words or attend online tutoring sessions. Overall, he maintains above-average grades and remains popular with classmates.

Lin said acting has made him more independent, disciplined and mature. "He has also become more confident and is often willing to take the lead when working with classmates."

She said she understands public concerns about child actors and supports stronger protections for minors in the entertainment industry. However, she hopes people will not automatically equate child acting with exploitation.