Cain Wenjing on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam October 2025. Photographer: Ren Xinyu.
This shoot took place in Beijing at the turn of late summer to early autumn. For a fleeting moment, time seemed to hold its breath – the sky shedding its deep blue, the setting sun casting down threads of golden light. Cai Wenjing raised her hand to shield her eyes from the dazzling glare; when she opened them again, the orange glow had already spread across the earth and her skin.
Leather windbreaker, Auteur. White shirt, Kent&Curwen. Shorts, Maison Sans Titre. High-heeled boots, Steve Madden.
If life is to be seen as a series of challenges, then Cai Wenjing’s current main quest is – “to truly understand herself”. She has never engaged in meaningless efforts merely to feel moved by herself, nor does she seek validation or recognition from the outside world. At this stage of her journey, she chooses instead to look inward, layer by layer, through deep self-reflection. Perhaps, that is the very freedom she has been searching for.
Leather windbreaker, Auteur. White shirt, Kent&Curwen. Shorts, Maison Sans Titre. High-heeled boots, Steve Madden.
A strong core, blooming with ease
“I don’t want to be brainwashed into becoming that image – just because people say Cai Wenjing is a very nice person, that she loves to laugh, that she’s cute, that she has smiling eyes, that she talks a lot, and so on”. When Cai Wenjing spoke these words to me, articulating each one clearly, there was no flicker of hesitation in her gaze. This was not some rebellious declaration, but rather the ultimate reconciliation an actress achieves with herself after a long process of introspection.
In her recently wrapped drama Touch, she plays Sang Ru, a bold and flirtatious “senior who takes the initiative in love”. In the soon-to-air series Sunsets Secrets Regrets, she takes on the role of Zhou Jin, a female detective navigating a world dominated by male officers.
Leather windbreaker, Auteur. White shirt, Kent&Curwen. Shorts, Maison Sans Titre. High-heeled boots, Steve Madden.
On screen, she moves fluidly through a multitude of lives; off screen, in the variety show Wonderland, she chats freely with new friends till dawn while wearing a face mask, sneaks skewers in the rain with the group, and looks up to see a falcon circling in the sky. Yet here, seated in front of the camera, she appears calm, composed, and even slightly detached in her contemplation.
It is precisely this striking contrast that shapes the most captivating essence of Cai Wenjing – an expansive, undefinable force of feminine strength.
Suit, M Essential. Shirt, Shang1 By Shangyi. Earrings, Turitan.
The essence of “calculated charm”: An ultimate expression of the self
When discussing Sang Ru, the “assertive senior with calculated charm”, Cai Wenjing’s insights were sharp, almost philosophical.
“I think the essence of the so-called calculated charm is really about the self. It’s a way of not overly accommodating the other person’s feelings”, she remarked casually, offering a perspective that might challenge popular assumptions. “Sang Ru focuses on being herself. She doesn’t care how others see her; instead, she constantly pushes the boundaries of emotional connection. A heightened expression of the self that is the fundamental core of her allure”.
Suit, M Essential. Shirt, Shang1 By Shangyi. Earrings, Turitan.
In her view, Sang Ru’s “wildness” and outward energy are not superficial flamboyance, but stem from a deeply rooted confidence. “Her core is incredibly strong. She firmly believes that she is the most important. She won’t be swayed by every breeze of the outside world. She is a character with a very strong sense of subjectivity”.
What Cai Wenjing admires even more is Sang Ru’s uninhibited sensuality, something many modern women still tend to avoid. “She’s resilient, she’s sensual. Perhaps young women today still shy away from discussing sexuality, but she’s very open-minded. I think she’s a true pioneer”.
That word, pioneer, when spoken by Cai Wenjing, carried an undeniable certainty. It was not only her verdict on the character, but seemed to echo a deep personal aspiration and recognition of a certain way of being a woman.
Suit, M Essential. Shirt, Shang1 By Shangyi. Earrings, Turitan.
Breaking into the Sunsets Secrets Regrets: choosing her fate in a male-dominated world
From the radiant self-expression of Sang Ru in Touch to Zhou Jin, a female detective in Sunsets Secrets Regrets, Cai Wenjing steps into a jungle built of steel and rules. “In the criminal investigation unit, she is the only woman. In this Steel Forest, she must confront choices of the heart and the entanglement of fate”, she explained, her words carrying a deep empathy for Zhou Jin. “But she chooses to actively embrace the trials that destiny presents”.
Suit, M Essential. Shirt, Shang1 By Shangyi. Earrings, Turitan.
That willingness to take initiative demands immense strength. To embody Zhou Jin, Cai Wenjing devoted extraordinary physical and mental effort. “How to hold a gun properly, how to draw it quickly, and at the same time show the poise and strength of a woman who is every bit the equal of her male colleagues – these all required extensive training”, she recalled. She also candidly admitted to the initial awkwardness and pressure: “I was very worried that I wouldn’t capture the aura a female officer should have, that my performance would come across as unnatural”.
There was only one solution: “To keep building confidence in myself, and to practice over and over again”. This is not only the dedication of an actress.It also serves as a metaphor. For women breaking into fields traditionally dominated by men, the appearance of effortless composure is often underpinned by unseen perseverance, clenched-teeth determination, and the unyielding reinforcement of self-belief.
Dress, Maison Sans Titre. Ear bone clip, Yanxue. Glasses, Gentle Monster.
Tearing off the “nice” label: A process of de-glorifying the self
Perhaps it is precisely these tough, uncompromising roles that have fed back into her reflections on real life. When the conversation turned to the much-praised “good personality” she displayed on variety shows, Cai Wenjing revealed an unprecedented sense of vigilance and composure. “There is a certain pressure, because in reality, I’m not as good as fans might imagine”, she admitted, beginning to dismantle the “Nice” label imposed on her from the outside.
“Don’t try to bind me with that. I, too, can be psychologically cornered by such external images – almost like a form of self-gaslighting.” She drew a clear boundary: her behavior on reality shows is authentic, but it does not represent her entirety. “I also have moments when I get angry. That’s what makes a person vivid and multidimensional”. Her words came faster, as though delivering an independent declaration shaped through long and deliberate thought.
Dress, Maison Sans Titre. Ear bone clip, Yanxue. Glasses, Gentle Monster.
“My recent training is to remind myself – wherever I go – not to smile just because I’m considered a nice person. I need to break that habit”, she said. “For example, when I first met you today, I just gave an ordinary smile, nothing exaggerated”. It is a startling display of self-awareness and introspection. Cai Wenjing is systematically pushing back against a powerful external expectation, working hard to reclaim full ownership of her emotions. “I’ll ask myself, ‘Do I really need to smile right now?’ If it’s the right moment, I will smile. But if that moment hasn’t come yet, then it should happen naturally”. She refuses to be confined by external evaluations: “I can’t be carried along just to maintain that outside image. As long as I remain polite, that is enough”.
Dress, Maison Sans Titre. Ear bone clip, Yanxue. Glasses, Gentle Monster.
Her goal could not be clearer: “I don’t want my emotions to be codified”. This self-training, at its core, is a process of de-glorification: stripping away the superstition surrounding one’s own social image, breaking through the illusion of the ever-pleasant, universally adored “Cai Wenjing”, an image shaped by others and even by her own self-conditioning. Through this, she seeks to reach and obey a truer, more complex, and perhaps freer inner self.
Her self-reflection is no longer about “What did I do wrong today?”. Instead, it has shifted toward inner nourishment and self-protection: “Did I compromise myself today?”. “Have I once again fallen into inner conflict, playing the ‘good person’?”.
Dress, Maison Sans Titre. Ear bone clip, Yanxue. Glasses, Gentle Monster.
Fashion “Subtraction”: Aesthetic as the reflection of one’s inner world
This inward journey of exploration also extends to Cai Wenjing’s understanding of fashion.
She continues to firmly believe in the principle of “less is more”, maintaining her commitment to subtraction in style. “The simpler it is, the more timeless. When you wear something simple, it endures, because complex pieces may go out of fashion after a while, and looking back, they can feel a bit overdone”.
When told that the public perceives her transformation from “sweet and edgy” to “sophisticated chic”, she burst into hearty laughter, tinged with humble detachment: “What fashion style do I even have? Hahaha, I’m just an actress”. She attributes this evolution to something that “happens naturally, changing along with my aesthetic sensibilities”.
Leather jacket, Martin.
In her view, aesthetics form an integrated system that permeates every aspect of life. What one eats, wears, uses, lives in, and how one moves, resonate in harmony with artistic creation. “What you take in and what you produce are aligned. So the so-called changes in my ‘fashion style’ are actually a continuous evolution within my aesthetic perception”.
She has also discovered her own most comfortable and confident formula: “A tank top on top, and wide-leg trousers below”. It’s a kind of chic that looks effortless on the surface, yet conceals a precise aesthetic judgment,– “that feeling where you’ve put thought into it, but others see it as completely natural”.
Leather jacket, Martin.
An eternal explorer: Building an inner universe between film sets and book pages
When asked about the future, her plans were both concrete and clear: “In the second half of the year, my focus will be entirely on filming. I’ll be on set all the time”. At the same time, she is engaged in a larger and more profound endeavor: “A deep exploration of my own internal structure”. That response immediately brings to mind her habit of always carrying books with her.
Total Look, Teenie Weenie. Shoes, ZSAZSAZSU.
In an age dominated by fragmentation, she stubbornly insists on reading as a way to construct a complete and profound inner universe. “If I go for a period of time without supplementing myself with literary works, I start to feel a kind of emptiness”. Her reading list reflects both the depth and breadth of her thought: works of literature, philosophy, history, and methodology. “For example, books about how to write, or those that present dialectical perspectives. I really enjoy reading those”. She mentioned her current reads: Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink, Freedom and The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson. Their very titles seem like mirrors, reflecting her present life lessons: the pursuit of freedom, the savoring of solitude, and the breaking free from definitions.
Total Look, Teenie Weenie. Shoes, ZSAZSAZSU.
From Sang Ru to Zhou Jin, from the “life of the party” on variety shows to a calm, self-reflective interlocutor in this very conversation, from following mainstream aesthetics to discovering her own sartorial formula, Cai Wenjing has been doing one thing consistently: expanding the boundaries of herself.
She refuses to be confined by any label, whether it’s “calculated charm”, “sweet and edgy”, “sophisticated chic”, or “nice”. She boldly ventures into one “Steel Forest” after another, whether it’s the male-dominated world of detectives on screen or the complex, bustling landscape of the entertainment industry off-screen.
Dress, Annakiki. High heels, C°Banner.
Through her actions and reflections, she embodies a contemporary female power: daring to shine, yet daring to remain silent; willing to blend in, yet committed to staying true to herself. She does not need to be constrained by dogma, because she lives vividly and authentically. As she puts it, “Everything should follow the truest feelings of one’s heart”. This is what makes her a true pioneer.
Dress, Annakiki. High heels, C°Banner.
Producer: Nan Zhang.
Photographer: Ren Xinyu.
Creative & Styling: stormWhisper.
Makeup: Fiona Cai.
Hair: Wen Lie.
Modeling: Maple Wang.
Text & Video Coordination: Yunqi Zhang.
Styling Assistants: Yi Man, Xiang Cai.
Harper’s Bazaar Việt Nam
