A scene in the film The Bravest features actor Huang Xiaoming as a firefighter. [Photo provided to China Daily]

His portrayal of a heroic firefighter in the disaster filmThe Bravest brought actor Huang Xiaoming best actor honors at the 35th Hundred Flowers Awards on Saturday in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province.

Outperforming actors Chow Yun-fat, Zhang Hanyu, Zhang Yi and Xiao Yang, Huang won the award for the second time, six years after he was presented the same honor for Peter Chan's directorial effort, American Dreams in China at the 32nd Hundred Flowers.

"I didn't expect I would win the award as all the other four candidates are very excellent," said Huang during an online interview through the instant messaging app WeChat on Saturday night.

Huang recalled that he stayed and trained with a unit of firefighters for one month before starting filming of The Bravest, which is adapted from an anthology looking back at a group of firefighters who extinguished the fire caused by a pipeline explosion in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, in July 2010.

Actor Huang Xiaoming takes home the best actor of the 35th Hundred Flowers Awards in Zhengzhou, Henan province, on Sept 26. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Grossing about 1.7 billion yuan in the box office The Bravest soared as a hit in summer last year and ranked as the eighth highest-grossing film in 2019.

Huang also said he has become more mature and gained more inner peace after experiencing ups and downs in his acting career, which spans more than 20 years.

Interestingly, he said he has discovered that his best acting came after he struggled with the low points of life.

As an example, Huang says he decided to play an English teacher in the startup-themed film American Dreams in China after he was mocked by some netizens for his poor accent when speaking English.

"I did it in a fit of pique as I believed I could improve my English. One scene of the film features Cheng Dongqing (his character) bursting into tears to struggle with the pressure, I put some of me into the role," he recalled.