By Jocelyn Lee

Taiwanese actor Ethan Juan may be the 'Ah Ge' (big brother) of Taiwanese idol dramas. But he does not want to be known as an idol.

The friendly 1.84m hunk who started out as a model seven years ago tells Life! in fluent Mandarin: 'I don't see myself as an idol because unlike idols, I don't have any idol burdens. Idols have to watch what they say and what they do all the time and, to me, that is very unnatural.'

The 27-year-old wants to be known as a talented actor who can sustain a career 30 years down the road.

In the meantime, however, he is in town dutifully promoting his latest idol drama, Queen Of No Marriage, which is on E City (StarHub Channel 56) every Saturday at 7pm. He plays a 24-year-old male assistant who falls in love with a female reporter (Cheryl Yang) eight years his senior.

Juan, who is currently dating Taiwanese Eurasian actress-model Tiffany Hsu, is adamant about breaking out of the idol bind as he feels it is too constrictive, both professionally and personally.

He says: 'I am a very direct person who speaks my mind about how I feel and what I do, including my relationship. I don't like being restricted.'

The actor starred in his first idol drama Michael The Archangel's Dance in 2004 and had his big break last year acting as the rich male lead Chi Tsun-hsi in idol drama You're My Destiny.

The show broke ratings records nine times when it debuted in Taiwan last March, turning the relatively unknown actor into a star overnight.

Nicknamed the 'record-breaking male lead' now, he says he is not daunted by the pressure to achieve high ratings in his follow-up idol dramas.

The chatty star, who has also made a cameo appearance in Woody Sambo (2008), says: 'Ironically, I was very stressed out by rating figures in the past because I felt that the numbers represented how well I acted. But after the success of You're My Destiny, I realise that it is not that important anymore.

'In fact, such pressure is good because it pushes me to work harder and allows me to know that my acting skills do not need to be justified by the ratings.'

Keen to shake off his idol image, he says he will enrol at the Beijing Film Academy at the end of the year to learn how to act better.

Choosing to leave the television screens at the peak of his career for three months is not something he worries about.

'It's not a pity at all because I am going away for only a short period of time. When my acting skills improve, I can still act for the next 20 to 30 years. What's three months compared to a long career in the industry?'

He adds: 'I don't think my fans will forget me. For one thing, I don't have that typical handsome idol face. Look at me, I look so weird and different from other male leads. I think my face is quite hard to forget.'

For the Taiwanese celebrity whose first passion is acting, his dream role is a warrior in a period drama or movie such as that in The Warlords or Red Cliff.

The actor, who is busy with a new drama for the rest of the year, says: 'I think it is every guy's dream to star in an epic movie with lots of action and drama. I would love to act in such a role but only after I brush up on my acting skills.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.