Poster of 'The Wandering Earth II' Photo: Sina Weibo

A Russian actor in the hit film The Wandering Earth II has gone viral on Chinese social media after being found at his real job - a basketball coach in a middle school in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province.

Media reported that the actor Vitalii Makarychev who played a character in The Wandering Earth II was actually a basketball coach in a middle school, shocking the internet. His students were equally surprised after the revelation. 

His colleague Wu Zhengqiang told media that Vitalii started teaching at the middle school in September, 2020. He is good at both basketball and volleyball, and he has strong affinity with his students, the colleague said. 

Vitalii was selected by the cast of The Wandering Earth II before the winter vacation in 2022, and later joined the shooting group. "All my colleagues and I knew was that he was going to play a role of a Russian army officer, and we thought he was a good choice as we think Vitalii's temperament quite fits the role. He had to say goodbye to the students temporarily as the shooting didn't end until the new term began."

Despite being far away from his students, Vitalii kept in touch with them through a WeChat group of their basketball team. He often shared the behind-the-scenes photos of him and his "good friend" Chinese actor Sha Yi.

Global Times