Yes, you read right, the former child actress is gender swapping to play a male character. Angelina Jiang Yiyi is no stranger to the limelight having played the younger versions of.. well, a lot of leading ladies. At the age of sixteen, she’s certainly ready to take on the leading role as a young lady, but ups the ante to play Nezha, a powerful hero in Chinese mythology.
Many adaptations throughout the years have interpreted the character in different ways turning him into a hero, a villain, a child and now, a lady (that’s technically still a man). Heroic Journey of Ne Zha 哪咤降妖记 is a new drama that has been filming in Xiang Shan for over a month, and it has recently dropped stills of Jiang Yiyi looking beautifully handsome.
Heroic Journey of Ne Zha is inspired by many of the events from the classic novel Fengshen Yanyi such as Nezha slaying the Dragon King’s son Ao Bing, committing suicide to return his body to his parents and being revived. In this adaptation, actress Wu Jiayi plays the leading lady as the Dragon King’s daughter. Actor Dai Chao, actress Zhu Shengyi, child stars A La Lei, Li Yihang, Tao Yixi and Hong Kong veteran actor Ti Lung also join the cast.
I think the crowd faves have got to be A Lalei and Li Yihang from the popular Chinese variety show Where Are You Going, Dad? The two kiddies have won over audiences with their cuteness, and they’re only five and six years old. From the stills, it looks like they’ll attending deity school to learn the art of cultivation. Update: After 3 years, we’ve got a premiere on June 15, 2020. It will air every Monday and Tuesday at 10pm on Hunan TV, MGTV and Youku.
Source: Official Weibo
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