eternalsummer

I dug a bit into her family background... Her parents are divorced and her father's surname is Sun, I believe her birth name was Sun Bijuan (her fan club is called Little Droplets 小水滴 because Bijuan 碧涓 = Blue Stream) and Lareina said on a variety that her mother paid someone to rename her Sun Fanqing which means 凡间一股清 'a clear stream on earth', also very poetic.

When she became a child actress, her mother and agent decided to use the name Song Zuer to protect her, but she was also credited as Juanjuan in her earliest works. She went to USA to do her high school for 2 years and picked up the name Lareina, before returning to China for college.

I stand corrected! Will edit. What brainwashing? You mean to say I can't even hope Lareine doesn't do a 献礼剧 CCP tribute propaganda drama because if I don't want to watch such dramas... most neutrals have even less reasons to tune in？The funniest thing is that I'm saying Lareina isn't good enough for your precious Steven, they should cast Yangzi instead. A solid actress who's done 2 Daylight dramas (versus Lareina's 1) and fits the Cui Bingbing description in the book.

I find it so amusing that ZXC fans are denying that he wants to be a traffic star, he did 2 BL dramas like Gongjun, is his intentions not clear enough? Good for him I hope The Abyss helps him get popular with fujoshis so this Daylight drama gets hyped up too.

? Why is it a competition between the ML & FL? I'm not one of these 梦女 gf fans, I totally admit Lareina's ratings need to improve which is why she needs to pair up with a liuliang who can act, preferably Xiao Zhan, Leo Wu, Yang Yang (i dislike his acting at times) to ensure that a business drama doesn't shit the bed. Steven is NOT known for his ratings-carrying ability unlike those 3.

To me Steven is talented but his visuals are so-so (sorry I am not one of these actor shills, in Douban you can hear a lot of forummers explain why he isn't too famous) and the female lead in the book is chubby and not that pretty which is nothing like Lareina (I would cast Yangzi, she looks the part and has the necessary liuliang to help Steven), so I wish she does Ocean's Time instead because that's a romance and not a CCP tribute drama. That said I can see why she'd want to do a career woman and mother role. But as a former Daylight fan all I can say is they don't understand how to put a cast together, time and again. Even among liuliangs there are some who can act well (Zhao Liying did Minglan with Daylight = Great success, Yangzi did Battle of Changsha & Ode to Joy) and can tow a dry propaganda tribute drama, Daylight's poor ratings can be improved if they paired a strong actor with liuliang like Yangzi with Steven or Leo Wu/Xiaozhan with Lareina. That way they get Yangzi or Xiaozhan fans boosting their tribute drama veiviewership and our faves don't have to get ridiculed if the ratings suck. Oh well.

IDK if youre a fan of Steven but he's famous as a 资源咖 with good acting skills or someone who gets big roles despite his 一番上星 viewership being very low. I've seen his dramas and while he is a good actor, his visuals are not that popular among young people (e.g. i dont get his visuals, but I accept he's talented) and his visuals dont suit historical roles so he's doing more modern dramas and transiting to realist dramas early with Daylights help.

Zuer is also the same as Steven in terms of 一番上星 viewership results but shes younger and a former child star i.e. she's hailed for her acting skills and visuals but all her Tv-broadcast dramas don't get strong ratings because she keeps doing boring modern dramas (she was still enrolled at Beijing Film Academy and couldn't film fulltime) and didn't do historical dramas for a few years. Ideally now that shes graduated, she should do as many xianxia or historical roles to get enough liuliang (Leo Wu benefited a lot from LLTG, child stars don't need a lot of liuliang but they still need some to get more scripts and good roles offered to them) so she can get better scripts and guarantee viewership.

It's a total misunderstanding that liuliang is unnecessary in C-ent, liuliang is why Wang Yibo gets to act opposite Tony Leung instead of Steven Zhang or Leo Wu, because Yibo's liuliang ensures that his fans will watch even if his acting sucks. Same goes for Jackson Yee, he's collaborating with Zhang Yimou due to his liuliang and acting skill even if his visuals arent leading man material. Yangzi is another example, after she became a liuliang due to Ashes of Love all her roles and scripts got upgraded to big budget productions. As a Zuer fan it is important that she builds up enough liuliang to get more choices and opportunities to act in films when she is young, or after 30 she will have to act in secondary roles or guest star (see Li Yitong or Chen Duling) in dramas where younger actresses are the lead. For male actors they can do lead roles til 45, but for female actresses unless they have a fanbase like Dilreba, Zhao Liying, Yangzi the quality of opportunities they get will slowly decrease after 30 because the entertainment industry is biased against older women. Liuliang is just a byword for popularity, its silly to claim actors or actresses don't need popularity. All of them including Steven are doing adverts, fanmeets, vlogs and they absolutely want to be popular so they can endorse more brands and have their shows viewed by more people. What kind of actor thinks "I'm great at acting, I don't need people to watch my dramas"?

I'm a fan of Zuer and Daylight Ent (I was into Kong Sheng/Hou Hongliang at Shandong Films before they split and formed Daylight) but the truth is Daylight dramas are struggling with ratings. Their main hit in 2022 was Reset, everything else did quite badly e.g. Ode to Joy 3 even Bright Future. Li Xue's last drama with Huang Xuan and Bai Baihe also flopped despite the solid cast, Daylight themselves know they are struggling with the market changing to favour liuliangs and Daylight dramas have a 爹午 reputation for being very unfashionable, paternalistic toned and male-focused (the flipside argument is, female leads like Reyizha who play side roles in Daylight dramas win awards), for example the antagonist in Reset was originally a man in the novel but they changed it to a woman and made her a crazy woman who implicates her poor innocent bus driver husband. I hope Daylight can reverse their falling ratings trend (I loved NIF, Battle of Changsha) but they don't understand how to cast.... For instance this biz drama is for sure not going to attract viewers even if they cast Steven Zhang (he is deemed as a good actor but not handsome) and Zuer, if I am a casting director I'd pick Leo Wu (child actor fame), Xiaozhan (liuliang with decent acting), or Wang Kai (old but he has enough fame to tow a dry plot) and pair him up with any female lead as his wife, doesn't have to be Zuer. Leo, Xiaozhan or Wang Kai will reverse Daylights trend of low viewership, Steven won't..

Daylight is known for have that Dad vibe tone so if I'm honest, Im not keen at all for Zuer to do 艰难的制造 because it's a 大男主剧 focused on Steven Zhang and the female lead is merely his gf/wife who helps him. There's another Daylight project Ocean's Time that Zuer was linked and got relinked to again where the FL role is a cheerful female student, that's a much better role for her. Zuer was supposed to act in Bright Future but didn't have time (thank god!), if she plays Steven Zhang's wife i hope Daylight make up for it with Oceans Time because this role isnt too favourable to her career, she's already acted as a lawyer in another modern drama and lacks historical roles.

Lol i think Steven Zhang definitely wants to become a liuliang because he has 2 BL dramas under his belt. He is an extremely talented actor, it's just that both him and Zuer have very low ratings whenever they lead a drama and given the biz genre I am not too optimistic it'll break their previous records. I love Li Xue and Hou Hongliang so I totally get why Zuer will want to collab with them even if the drama is male-focused. Daylight themselves are nicknamed Dad-light because they are anti-liuliang (thank god) but that means some of their newer productions get low ratings.

Also this is very nitpicky, it's bloody Daylight and Li Xue! Every young actor should try to work with them as a supporting cast much less as a lead.

I'm a fan of Daylight but their recent dramas are not doing too well ratings wise. Bright Future was totally propaganda-like. Frankly I get why Zuer would recollab with Daylight but the genre is a snoozer and nobody finds the plot very interesting at all because entrepreneur dramas are one and the same. I'd much rather watch Zuer film a xianxia or historical drama with a more unique plot but I get why a Li Xue production is hard to resist.

Daylight's problem is that they prefer trained actors and avoid liuliangs but liuliangs are needed to tow very dry entrepreneur plotlines like this. Who else would watch such a drama but fans?

He is not, he has his own studio. Steven Zhang is famous for placing 1st in the acting auditions for Beijing Film Academy, Shanghai Film Academy, Central Academy of Drama and PLA Art College (this is the 4 round art exam everyone has to take if they want to enrol in those highly competitive acting colleges) all in the same year, which is almost unheard of because students don't usually audition for every school and don't get 1st across all schools. If I'm not wrong he wasn't a child actor too which is even more impressive, his linereading is top notch (i think only Tan Jianci is better in the post90 actors) so it's no surprised.

For example Leo Wu placed 1st, Huang Junjie 2nd and Lareina Song 3rd in the Beijing Film Academy auditions of 2018, Guan Xiaotong was 1st in her BFA year, Cristy Guo was also top in her Shanghai Theatre Academy audition. Usually child actors have a leg up, but Steven managed to get his name out in the public because he topped the auditions of all the best schools and wasn't a professional actor yet

Lareina is linked to this project as the female lead by a very reliable Weibo insider account. She is still filming Prisoner of Beauty but this may follow right after.

It's a business drama set from 1998-2008 and Steven Zhang plays a tech entrepreneur and race car driver who returns from Germany to start his own tech business, and Lareina is a bank employee who meets him when she takes the place of her bosses daughter to attend a matchmaking session. It's a business romance drama and both leads have their own career. The main reason why it's anticipated is because it's by Daylight, directed by Li Xue, produced by Hou Hongliang all of whom are award-winning names in China.

I am worried though because both Steven and Lareina are not liuliangs, they got casted for strong acting skills but the biz drama genre needs 1 liuliang x 1 acting talent to ensure good ratings. That said both actors are regarded as the strongest actors in the post 95 batch, and their visuals do kinda match.

The rumored cast isnt real, Weibo fans of the novel made up rumors to pitch Linghe and Zuer to Stellar Media who are the producers. The novel is very makjang (see spoilers below) so the actors need to be skillful....the FL is a smart business minded beauty who the conniving ML targets to help his own business. Wang Churan and Zhou Ye are also suitable and for the ML role I think someone older like Chen Xiao, Yangyang, Xiaozhan are suitable than ZLH. The actor who plays the ML needs a preset fanbase or they will find it hard to attract fans after portraying an asshole. Or they could change the plot I guess.

Are there translations of Mingyue Dang works on Novelupdates for non-Chinese readers? I've read it, like most Mingyue Dang novels it's very makjang and demands a lot from the actors if they dont change the plot.

The ML forces the FL to work for him and doesn't admit he likes her due to her lower status, and after knowing the FL was engaged, he helps her enemy obtain a blinding aphrodisiac to ruin her engagement, even though he didn't poison her directly he rapes her when she was blinded by the aphrodisiac, "to save her eyesight" as if he wasn't a mastermind. He also forces her to be FWBs for 6 months, so the FL hires an assassin to kill the ML which fails. The ML tries to force the FL to marry a gay dude as punishment but they end up marrying after he realises he loves her. After marriage the ML poisons and tries to kill the FL's first love. Both the leads are very goodlooking (almost everyone that meets them finds them attractive) complicated schemers so the roles need acting skills, the ML especially is a hateful character so they would need to find a liuliang actor who can do blackbellied smexy characters well and imo, have a big fanbase to withstand criticism because the character is an asshole.

"court lady, loss in kunlun mountain, she and her perfect husband, royal feast"

Those are considered idol dramas by the Chinese TV industry. They are all shows are focused on the romance of the ML & FL, the endgame is not about history (Battle of Changsha), crime (Under the Skin), scifi (Three Body) or something other than romance. Can you please stop? You're coming across as a major bimbo.

Xukai is already extremely privileged as a 资源咖 to have never attended acting school and get pushed by Yuzheng as an idol drama ML. Without Yuzheng he is nothing (he was a model before), same as Bai Lu. If he was 21 years old and a newbie in C-ent who is going to give him acting jobs when he needs to be dubbed constantly and can't use his original voice? Do you think Xukais level is good enough to act in 正剧 when his acting in Perfect Husband got panned by a lot of reviewers on Bilibili？正剧 is harder than idol dramas because they don't use idol drama filters (Yuzheng overdoes it) or voice dubbing and everyone looks more realistic or dirty (see Minning Town). Perfect Husband is the only drama Xukai used his real voice in, he's >90% dubbed and that's just a pathetic (sorry) completion level if he wants to be taken seriously and to attract award-winning scriptwriters, directors, casting crews like Daylight Entertainment, Zheng Xiaolong，Deng Ke, Zhao Dong Ling.

Xukai is a very popular actor like Zhao Lusi, you shouldn't have to oversell his achievements. Lusi recently did a 正剧 drama called Hutong set in the 1950s and was criticise for her visuals, acting, and linereading (pleae go and see it, basically idol dramas used a lot of bea,uty filters and 正剧 doesn't for realism), like Lusi his level of acting is different to realist drama actors and that's OK. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Apsaras_Award_for_Outstanding_Actor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_Award_for_Best_Actor_in_a_Television_Series

Your consideration is so biased and annoying, goodness. In China everyone considers Xukai an idol drama actor who is struggling a bit to make it outside of Huanyu productions because he has a relatively low ceiling in acting (he got called out for looking blank in Perfect Husband). But he is still young and can keep doing idol dramas, and visually he is very popular with the ladies and has diehard fans like you thinking that he's perfect and flawless so he is making more money than a lot of award-winning realist drama actors. Idol dramas pay better and get watched more, even I want my faves to do more idol dramas when young. Realist dramas pay less. Xukai isn't really suitable for that track so you should be happy.

Er.... Whether you personally consider Xukai's dramas idol dramas or not, they are idol dramas according to the Chinese TV industry. He does 古偶 and 现偶, not 正剧.

现偶 modern idol or 古偶 Historical Idol dramas：either Modern or Costume dramas (either xianxia or historical setting) where the lead ML is paired with a lead FL and the plot focuses on their romance. This is ALL the dramas Xukai does! It doesnt matter if they appeal to which age group, as long as the plot is mainly romance driven without an ensemble cast, it is considered an idol drama. FYI Wallace Chung who relies heavily on dubbing is doing idol dramas in his late 40s, it's completely possible for male actors to never do anything but idol dramas if their visuals dont age too much and they can't switch to serious dramas due to their voice or weak acting outside romantic genres.

正剧 contemporary or historical non-romance ensemble dramas: There is usually no ML/FL lead pairing where all the other characters are supporting their plotline, the genres include crime, scifi, factual historical, wuxia. Even if the drama is a romance-based like Romance of Our Parents, the cast is an ensemble and side characters can be more important or well acted than the main roles. The Knockout, Lifetime Journey, Battle of Changsha, Legend of Zhenhuan, The Bond, Nirvana in Fire are all 正剧，the drama is usually focused on the plot and even if there are couples in it, their romance is hardly the focus of the drama. 正剧 actors get paid less FYI since there is usually a big cast of experienced actors who are all graduates of the Big 3 schools (BFA, STA, CAD).

That's not to say Xukai is lacking if he doesn't do 正剧！Idol dramas pay the lead ML & FL better and Xukai is also a 资源咖, he did not get a degree in acting nor was he a child actor but he gets to film ML roles from debut because a famous producer Yuzheng creates dramas for Xukai as a backer. Most Big 3 graduates (and acting/dance/performing graduates of non-Big 3 schools which are seen as less talented, China is big on tiers) will never get Xukai's resources and have to do 5-10 minor roles before they get noticed and hopefully get a lead role like Tan Jianci did. Xukai's visuals also ensure that he can keep filming idol romance dramas until 35 as long as his visuals last, at 35-40 he can still act with 25-35 year old actresses in romcoms. He has his place in the drama industry and many would be envious of his resources and visuals.

In any case as an occasional正剧 watcher, it's better for idol actors to stay idol actors like Wallace Chung, Yang Mi, Dylan Wang than to force their way into 正剧 when their vibe and voice doesn't suit it. I suggest you watch dramas like Ming Dynasty 1566, Lifetime Journey, The Bond, Three Kingdoms 2010, or Minning Town to get what I'm saying, idol drama actors either lack the clarity of speech or the realism required to be good in an ensemble cast where the focus is not on them and their role is minor. The people that shine in 正剧 are usually the 老戏骨 (literally: old acting bones or over 35 actors) like Li Xuejian, Ni Dahong, Lei Jiayin, Liu Lin, Yuan Quan, Zhou Xun so the younger cast has to be very skilful to not look out of place when co-acting, for instance Bai Lu's acting was criticised in Ordinary Greatness despite it being a hit. The bulk of Big 3 graduates are trained to act in 正剧 or stage roles and never do idol dramas after they graduate, because they understand how to depict a minor side role with proper detail. There are some younger actors that are strong in 正剧 like Bu Guanjin, Zhang Wanyi, Guan Xiaotong, Song Zuer, Huang Yao (she won the Best Supporting Actress at a major TV award event for Minning Town and got nominated at the Berlin Film Award recently) but they tend to be Big 3 graduates with strong voice skills. Some even do dubbing for cartoons.

Xukai has never done 正剧 before and his route in the acting industry is model-->Yuzheng's agency-->Yuzheng's drama ML-->non-Yuzheng drama ML like Bai Lu. The thing is, Xu Kai's non-Yuzheng dramas like Lost in Kunlun and Perfect Husband haven't done well, and his acting got panned. He also doesn't use his original voice (I'm Cantonese as well, I find his Cantonese accent cute) too often as it isn't up to professional actor standards. Thus his ability to act in 正剧 roles which less or non-romance focused is limited until he proves himself further. There's no rush, he can keep doing idol dramas and 正剧 don't cast actors that are young unless they have child acting experience. Bai Lu got casted in cop drama Ordinary Greatness which helped her but she's still predominantly an idol romance actress. Xu Kai probably wants to leave Huanyu eventually since Yuzheng isn't producing any dramas recently (too scandalised), but once he leaves he won't have Yuzheng as a big backer. IMO Xukai is a natural comedian and suits comedic roles but those are limited, he's good looking enough to do films but his original voice isn't as good as Liu Haoran or Peng Yuchang (top comedic film actors), I hope he tries to build connections with the right people or he will be stagnating as the ML in idol dramas.

As for Tan Jianci, he was an idol who started in side roles due to his small stature and acted his way up. He only got his first ML role in Under the Skin at age 32 and shot to fame, he hasnt even done any idol romcoms yet (he has one upcoming idol drama with Zhou Ye), because he shines in 正剧 or historical dramas due to his immaculate line reading. Apparently he's recorded for listening exams and despite not being from any acting school, his voice is easily one of the best for Chinese actors under 35 https://youtu.be/HwOocLymmW0 (a comparsion of young actors if you understand Chinese), for me it's better than Steven Zhang, Zhang Wanyi, Wang Kai and a lot of trained actors praised for their speech. Due to his linereading he will almost definitely contest for awards at China's top 3 TV prizes and get chances to do films despite his short height. I first noticed him as minor characters in Three Kingdoms and Advisors Alliance eons ago, and am glad he shot to fame once he played an ML. I hope he does more serious dramas and films, without being too picky about the size of the role since he's excellent even as a supporting actor.

Well for Northwards it isn't Xukai, the ML is Tan Jianci and Xukai is slated for some 星光 project with Tan Songyun that will be announced today.

I prefer xianxia hairdos like the ones in Novoland because you can get creative, but Zuer got an OK hairstyle for this era. She should do a Qing or Republican drama https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV1t44y1j7RZ

No prob, glad to get more folks interested in Zuer's drama!

I think theyre now filming the scenes where Zuer's already married and has a wifely hairdo, they'll do the scenes where she's unmarried and has a teen hairdo later. They must keep to the historical context of the Han-Jin era (it's set in the Three Kingdoms era, the author based the FL on https://the3kingdoms.fandom.com/wiki/Xiao_Qiao and Wei Shao is a warlord marquis based on Cao Cao who was the ruler of Wei https://the3kingdoms.fandom.com/wiki/Cao_Cao ) so her hair is Han-Jin style, other dramas of this era have the same hair.

https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4863916737298917
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4863755102459596

More leaks from the filming https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4864479207099496 why do we need to wait months 😭