No cosmetic surgery for budding actors

Candidates are seen wait to take the enrolment exam outside the Beijing Film Academy in Beijing in this undated photo. [Photo\chinadaily.com.cn\Zheng Xin]

BEIJING - The performance institute of Beijing Film Academy plans to ban candidates who have undergone cosmetic surgery or have tattoos from enrollment.

"The changes in their faces or other parts of the body might lead to body coordination problems and the scars left might affect their performance when they depict a figure in a play," said Wang Jinsong, deputy director of the performance institute of the academy.

Many people are in favor of the institute's decision, saying plastic surgery is against the principle of fairness and justice.

"That's fraud," said Wang Yousen, 20, a high school student in North China's coal-rich province of Shanxi, who came all the way to the capital for the enrollment examination. "And whether you have an oval face or double eyelids barely matters when it comes to your accomplishment of a performance."

However, some also argue having plastic surgery is a personal right and the institute is not in a position to interfere.

Wang Jinsong said it's okay to have certain adjustments like wearing a dental brace, but not any change to bone structure or nose shape.

According to the academy, 18,042 students registered for the examination. The number registering online was 25,000.

Of all the 6,185 candidates applying for the performance institute, only 85 people will be admitted.