He rose to fame for his role as Li Xiaoyao in the 2005 television series Chinese Paladin, and has since starred in a succession of popular television series, such as The Little Fairy (2006), The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2008), Chinese Paladin 3 (2009), The Myth (2010), Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky (2012), Sound of the Desert (2014),The Disguiser (2015), Nirvana in Fire (2015), and Blossoms Shanghai (2023).

Hu Ge began his acting career by appearing in TV commercials, which helped him gain financial independence before graduating from high school.

[7][8] While he was still studying, Hu Ge was recommended by his friend to Chinese Entertainment Shanghai (now known as Tangren Media) where he acted as a dub voice actor for the 2002 television drama The Book and the Sword (书剑恩仇录).

[11] Hu rose to prominence in 2005 when he was cast to play the protagonist Li Xiaoyao in Chinese Paladin, the first television adaptation of the popular adventure role-playing video game The Legend of Sword and Fairy.

[15] After Chinese Paladin, Hu Ge embarked on a number of other TV projects, most of which were period dramas and historical fantasies, most notably as Dong Yong in The Little Fairy (2006); based on the Chinese folktale Tian Xian Pei and as Yang Yanzhao in The Young Warriors (2006); based on the play The Generals of the Yang Family.

[19] After a hiatus, Hu returned to the screen, reuniting with co-star, Ariel Lin (from The Little Fairy) and starred as Guo Jing in The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2008), adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title.

[22][23] Hu played three different reincarnations of the main character in Chinese Paladin 3 (2009), while also reprising his role as Li Xiaoyao in a time-travelling cameo appearance.

[32][33] Hu returned to historical fantasies in Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky, adapted from the video game of the same name, where he also acted as the series' producer.

[40] He then starred as Xu Zhuang Tu in Forever Yin Xueyan, a play based on Pai Hsien-yung's novel of the same title performed in the Shanghai dialect.

[46] The same year, he garnered a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 21st Shanghai Television Festival for his performance in acclaimed war drama, Forty Nine Days: Memorial.

[49] In 2015, Hu starred in espionage drama The Disguiser, which was popular with viewers and received considerably high ratings, with a market share above 8%.

[60][61] In 2017, Hu starred in Game of Hunting, a drama produced by critically acclaimed director and screenwriter Jiang Wei.

[66] In 2019, Hu was cast as the male lead in the sports biographic film about tennis player Li Na, directed by Peter Chan.

[68] In the winter of 2019, cast in the lead male role, Hu joined co-star Wen Qi in "A Touch of Warm,” a crime film directed by Kang Bo.

Hu had to undergo surgeries, some to repair disfiguring wounds to his face, and the entire healing process took approximately one year.

The filming of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which he was working on then, was temporarily halted due to his injury,[72] in addition to being unable to complete promoting his finished project The Young Warriors with his fellow cast members.

Hu Ge expresses how he felt of the incident through the performance of his single "Dare to Love", and filmed a music video with his co-star from the two series and friend Cecilia Liu.

This book documented in detail the process of how Hu Ge changed from a young idol with a smooth career path into an increasingly mature actor who could truthfully face life's problems as a scavenger of happiness.

[104] Professional designers from Madame Tussauds Shanghai took measurements from Hu to make two wax figures of him; one of himself and one of his character Mei Changsu from Nirvana in Fire, which was unveiled in September 2016.