In response to a spate of celebrity drug scandals, a Beijing producer has required actors working on a TV show to submit their urine, semen and vaginal secretions for drug tests.
Around 30 actors on a sitcom called Naiba Dangjia, which can translated as "Fathers with a child," were given test forms on Tuesday, and will have to reveal their test results to the company, Zhang Junhan, the general manager of the Beijing Heying Times, a film production firm, told the Global Times.
He added that the actors are required to visit hospitals for the tests and that they will be expected to take the tests "very soon."
"We may ask the actors to take several rounds of such tests during the filming process, and the purpose of this is to prevent them from taking drugs," Zhang said, adding that the company will sack actors who fail their tests.
The actors have also been required to sign a "morality agreement" in which they promise not to take drugs during the filming process and for a certain period after shooting finishes, according to Zhang.
"The penalties range up to a fine of double their total payment, and we hope that these hefty penalties could restrain their behavior," Zhang said.
A total of 13 celebrities have been detained by Beijing police on drug charges since the start of 2014. Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan's son Jaycee Chan, who was sentenced to six-month imprisonment in January on charges of providing a location for others to use drugs.
Two actors posted photos of their uncompleted test forms on Weibo, with one of them, Liu Guanxiang, commenting that it was the first time he has had to take a drug test in his 15 years of acting. The form has spaces for the results of tests conducted on urine, sperm and vaginal secretions.
The producer's approach has been approved of by some film industry experts.
Zhuang Xihai, a professor at the Southwest University of Broadcasting, said that the tests and morality agreement are likely to be effective in curbing drug-taking. "But they cannot root out the drug problems, as these measures only monitor actors while they are working."
