And, he says the focus is no longer imperial soap operas or martial arts films.

"The focus is on modern contemporary pieces and not period pieces," he says. "We are showing 'New China'. Everyone is looking at China, everyone's coming to China this year, everything that will be on TV and film will be 'New China'.

"We have foreign faces on products, in advertisement and television. There is a reason for that, and the reason is psychological."

"Chinese audiences don't see enough foreigners on Chinese TV and film and if they do see them, they see them as stereotypical."

When casting, he looks for foreigners who can act, but most importantly, how they fit the role.

"We do have an idea of how we think they should look."

He says Chinese-speaking expats are essential, but aspiring actors need not be totally fluent.

"It's required of all actors in China to speak good, if not perfect, Mandarin, and then you have some foreigners that speak broken Mandarin, which is okay, as that is what we want the character to be like."

"It's also about the look and acting ability, if you speak perfect Chinese it's a bonus."

Sparer was cast as Angela's adoptive father. He has acted for the past 30 years, and in the past six months he has lived in Beijing and appeared in six different productions. He attributed this success to his special look - he's one of few male actors in his age range.

While some Westerners get into acting as a way to make some extra money, the challenge of acting for a different audience is one of the main reasons Sparer decided to get involved.

"The ethnic make-up of Beijing is changing," he says.

"Chinese people are interested in Westerners and vice versa. To be able to present a character to a Chinese audience is an interesting challenge."

Westerners interested primarily in acting work are hard to find. Most Westerners interested are normally short-term students, or people who are on work visas with 9 to 5 jobs. But, Chinese TV can be a serious business for some.

Rachel Dewoskin was one of the first foreign TV stars in China, playing a sexy American college student, who wins the love of a rebellious young Chinese man. Her book, Foreign Babes in Beijing, records her rise to fame and is now being made into a Hollywood production.

However, sometimes acting ability and Chinese fluency are pushed aside. While some foreigners with no acting ability are hesitant to be involved, others are throwing caution to the wind and trying their luck.

Portuguese-born Almeida landed a role as a bartender in the CCTV1's mini-series. Without an ounce of previous acting experience and basic conversational Chinese abilities, he was picked entirely by his photograph taken off a website.

His acting method involves remembering his favorite movies and trying to act in similar ways.

"It can be a bit nerve-racking, especially with the close-up shots. But, after the first scene I warmed up, and it was fine," he says.

"The people on set help you as well. They tell you what to do if you don't know."

China offers acting opportunities that are almost impossible to get back home, Sobokta says.

"The opportunities here are easier to come by, but now the amount of work I get isn't enough to live off, although in the future it could be."

Foreigner actors and actresses can make up to 1,000 yuan ($143) a day.

(China Daily June 2, 2008)