Benshan has also appeared as an actor in many films, to include Zhang Yimou’s Happy Times (2000) where he portrayed a bachelor who really wanted to get married. He was nominated for the Best Actor Award at the 2007 Golden Horse Awards in Taipei for his performance in Getting Home, but lost to Tony Leung Chiu-Wai for his work in Lust, Caution. When Benshan did not perform at the 2012 or 2013 CCTV New Year’s Gala, there was public speculation about his health, along with rumors that it may have also had something to do with a conflict with the show’s director, Ha Wen, as 2012 marked the first year Benshan did not perform at the annual event.