New role shows off another side of Sun Honglei

A still from "Lurk" features cast members Sun Hong Lei (L) and Yao Chen

Chinese Mainland actor Sun Honglei, best known for playing bad-tempered gangsters, said he was thrilled to play a character with so many personalities in the TV spy drama series "Lurk."

Sun plays an apparently low-key Kuomintang military officer who spies for the Communist Party of Chinaduring the Chinese civil war(1945-49) in the series that starts screening on Dragon TV on Wednesday.

"The spy character was a new challenge for me as I had to lower my voice, pretend to be foolish and just dress like an ordinary person," Sun said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Before setting his sights on acting, Sun started his career as a nightclub singer and host. In 1997 he graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, in Beijing, and went on to star in many TV dramas and films.

He has won wide acclaim for his captivating performances in the romance "Zhou Yu's Train," the martial arts epic "Seven Swords," and Chen Kaige's biopic film "Forever Enthralled."

In May, Sun will team up with veteran film maker Zhang Yimou and comedy star Xiao Shenyang to shoot an as-yet untitled black comedy.