He later shifted his focus to films, starring in the box office hits Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010), American Dreams in China (2013), The Dead End (2015), for which he won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor,[1] The Mermaid (2016), Duckweed (2017), and Shadow (2018).

[2] During his junior year at college, Deng was cast in the hit play Cuihua Shang Suancai, a student production presented by the Central Academy of Drama, through which he knew script-writer Yu Baimei, who would be his long-time professional partner.

[5] For the film, Deng won the Best Supporting Actor at the Hundred Flowers Awards, successfully making his crossover to the big screen.

[11] Deng next starred in fantasy film Mural (2011), directed by Gordon Chan and adapted from the renowned ghost novel "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio".

[12] In 2012, he played Cold Blood in the wuxia film The Four, based on Woon Swee Oan's novel series Si Da Ming Bu (The Four Great Constables).

[13][14] In 2013, Deng starred as one of the three male leads in Peter Chan's film American Dreams in China, about three young men from poor backgrounds who achieved success by establishing an English teaching school.

Taipei Times called the movie a "a well-executed work of entertainment that preaches about China's growing power" and praised Deng for "delivering a focused performance as an idealist with a defeated ego".

[22] Deng then starred in crime film The Dead End directed by acclaimed director Cao Baoping,[23] and was praised by critics for "breathing life into the role with riveting performances", as well as his chemistry with co-star Duan Yihong.

[citation needed] Deng teamed up again with Yu Baimei for the comedy film Devil and Angel, following the success of The Breakup Guru.