Ashes of Love 香蜜沉沉烬如霜 airs its finale tonight. It is the one drama this year that I am having a hard time parting with because in spite of all the off-screen drama, it has been an emotionally satisfying ride, that is, if you find it cathartic for your heart to be in a constant state of anguish.
I love that a show has the ability to do that though and have turned to behind-the-scenes clips to stave off the angst. Thus comes this compilation of random things that you may also find interesting.
1. Ashes of Love was shot in the summer. That scene where Deng Lun travelled six realms wearing mink in the winter was filmed outdoors in scorching heat.
When A Lalei visited the set for Season 5 of Where Are We Going, Dad?, Deng Lun showed her around by taking her to the the infamous soundstage – the place that he considers the hottest place on earth.
No wonder the cast is always armed with mini fans. According to Leo Luo Yunxi, the temperature reached as high as 56°C.
Yang Zi said that it’s really challenging to film emotional scenes when it’s hot as scenes are shot continuously. During the scene with Run Yu where she discovers the truth about him, she was soaking in sweat. Her makeup smeared and her fake lashes came off, but they had to keep going.
2. Although Yang Zi is the most experienced among the leads as she started out as a child actress, she and Deng Lun are the same age, both born in 1992. Luo Yunxi is 4 years older than them. He was born in 1988, the Year of the Dragon.
3. Deng Lun’s very first acting role was the 2013 drama Flowers in Fog where he played a couple with Yang Zi. They worked together again in Ode to Joy 2 although not as a couple. Ashes of Love is their third drama together.
4. As the two are good friends, Deng Lun said that they’re too familiar with each other that Yang Zi is like a man to him. They could be brothers or even sisters. After he told Yang Zi that he doesn’t feel anything when he kisses her, she started eating garlic and durian. Completely at her mercy, he’ll ask why she can’t rinse her mouth and complain that she shouldn’t be like that, why is she picking on him.
5. Deng Lun’s hands are trending as little fat hands 小胖手. Yang Zi gave him a lot of grief after being very amused that his face and body didn’t match his hands. His defence – it runs in the family and chubby hands are auspicious for catching money 抓钱手.
6. Yang Zi, Deng Lun and Luo Yunxi dubbed their own voices for the drama. The rest of the cast were dubbed by voice actors.
7. Known as an old man under the moon, Yue Lao 月老 is the god of marriage in Chinese mythology and his birthday is on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Xia Zhiyuan who plays the elderly character probably makes the youngest Yue Lao in history.
8. Sa Dingding who plays Yuan Ji is a Chinese singer. She sang the ending theme song Upwards to the Moon 左手指月 and was involved in producing the other songs in the drama, one of which is a duet sung by Yang Zi and Deng Lun.
9. Xu Feng’s god of war costume in the Heaven Realm took the longest to make. It is also the heaviest costume in the entire drama. Because his character is a Phoenix, he had a lot of dark red imbued into his costumes.
10. Although the character barely had any speaking lines, Qiong Qi’s makeup is the most elaborate in the Demon Realm. The actor had to start makeup at 1 to 2 in the morning and stay for a duration of six hours.
11. The costumes evolve as the story progresses. For example, the theme behind Run Yu’s clothing at the beginning was white or light blue to represent purity. As he was overcome with ambition, gray, silver and gold embellishments were added as an accessory or embroidered onto the costume.
12. According to Director Chu Yui-bun, the mutual cultivation between Jin Mi and Xu Feng (ahem love scene) was hard to film. The crew had to come up with a way to integrate the surroundings to make it beautiful and romantic. Since then, I could never look at the opening theme the same way again.
13. Wang Renjun who plays Water immortal and Jin Mi’s father is only 5 years older than Luo Yunxi. Wang Renjun gained many fans for playing the perfect man, loving father and good husband. Wang Yuanke who plays Wind Immortal was in another hit drama when Ashes of Love was airing. She plays Consort Chun in Story of Yanxi Palace.
14. Fantasy dramas rely heavily on CGI. However, Director Chu stressed the need to have 70% real sets that are enhanced by 30% CGI for a grander look.
15. Twenty sets were built for the show. At one point, fifteen sets were constructed at the same time and covered an area of 100,000 square meters. There were 6,000 kinds of props and 20,000 props in total. There were 3,000 pieces of clothing in total. The male and female lead had around 30 costumes each.
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Anonymous
the costumes facts really surprised me i know a lot of hard work was put into it but i personally found a lot of the costumes boring and not at all memorable or eye catching and even cheap sometimes especially for extras. i think the only costume id associate with this drama when i think about it would be xu feng's armor thingy
Anonymous
Didn’t realize the lead had 30 costumes each. Didn’t seem like it lol
Yang Zi surely stands out here because she’s the most experienced with the best acting chops.
Anonymous
Lmao exactly! They pretty much looked like they wore the same clothes everytime unless they go to a different realm.
Anonymous
Interesting. I kinda dropped it after ep 49 cuz school started and it was spoiled everywhere lol
Anonymous
yang zi seems like a fun friend to be with lol. eating garlic and durian to annoy the guy who said he didnt feel anything kissing you? GOLD ��
Sunny
I'm so surprised Luo Yunxi is the oldest. He looks much younger than Deng Lun.
I thought the costumes were the best thing about the drama! You could see there was a lot of thought and detail put into them and lots of little details in the jewellery, headpieces, accessories that related to the type of deity they were.
Unknown
True I love the costume and the change when Run yu's is getting dark.
Anonymous
Yang Zi acting is the best thing in HSALF. Jin Mi character has so much raw emotions and angst. Her personality off-screen is such a happy go lucky type. She's so cute and pretty at the same time. She gets along with everyone on the set too. I am gonna support he future projects form now on. I used to be a casual fan of Deng Lun too but when he's acting with YZ, he shines a lot more than his previous dramas. Will be keeping my eye out for his new work aside from the current drama he's filming with AB. I can't stomach AB acting.
Anonymous
I applaud him for wearing mink in a scorching heat, damn boy can get heat stroke.
I've heard that unfortunate news about deng lun's new drama with angelababy, still can't understand why angelababy keep picking up new drama, when she don't have the skill or willingness to improve her acting. Not expecting much but maybe will watch just for deng lun.
C.T.
Thanks for posting these tidbits. So interesting! I actually liked the costumes; some were plain, but most of them were pretty. I also liked that they relied heavily on real sets and not just CGI because it does make a difference in terms of believability. The drama was great (ended up watching it in Vietnamese and raw Chinese–I don't even understand Chinese…), and I plan on watching it in full when the English translation comes out.
Unknown
I first noticed Deng Lun in Princess Agents ( 2017) as "someone who looks like Henry the talented musician from S Korea". So I had not much expectation of him in Ashes of Love.
But just into Episode 1, he floored me with his charisma and voice. That guy mesmerised me. So I am catching up on all his past works.
But the news that he is acting with Angelababy is a huge disappointment. Actors need chemistry with their partners and feed off the energy from the good acting skills from their co-stars. I despair when I hear that his next project is with AB.
Lin Geng Xin was quite blunt when he was asked what he thinks of AB as Chu Qiao if there is a Princess Agents Season 2.He said if it's not Zhao Li Ying reprising the role as Chu Qiao again, he will not come back. Even Huang Xiao Ming was honest when he said his wife AB can't act. 🙂
I hope Deng Lun has better luck with a better actress in his next project.
Unknown
Wow! the relation of the costume with the story line progress blew me off. I mean that's so smart. I haven't finish it but I already love it. I'm spoiled everywhere, but whatever you won't know the real thing unless you've seen it.
Umerue
Who is A Lalei
Unknown
A kid in Dad, Where Are We Going programme
Anonymous
Deng Lun's "daughter" from the show "Where are we going, Dad?". Not his real daughter; she's a child actress. It's a reality show where they make non Blood-related Dad-child pairs do activities together.
teemai
You are so right about not willing to part with this series! Thank you for posting these. I couldn’t stop crying for weeks and my husband was like what is wrong!!! Great series. I can feel the love between jimni and xufeng and the loneliness of run Yu!
Unknown
Yes, I suffer a lot too.specially with fish fairy his story is so sad.
The window seat
I am having major crush on Jin Mi and Xufeng. I like the part where they were experiencing their hardships in the mortal world and she had to die because her best friend poisoned her and her friend died while saving her from the arrow. I cried so badly. Hats Off to all the AOL team!! Love the bts as well where they keep fooling each other.. 3rd round to come…
Unknown
i love Deng Lun's characters in AoL. As the arrogant & proud God of War,he's so dazzlingly handsome in his God of War costume. As Xufeng, King Yi or Crow he looks extremely handsome & loveable. He's a perfect 10 as the handsome demon king. More roles like this for you Deng Lun. ❤️
Anonymous
It's interesting to me that it was filmed in summer because when I was watching it, I noticed they'd have sweat on their forehead and noses (like when Jinmi finds out the truth about the night immortal, and on Xufeng when Jinmi is dying).
I'm also so glad you made a comment about the opening because I also couldn't look at it the same way after the 'mutual cultivation' hahah
Anonymous
I'm actually blown away by the fact #8 – that the Mortal Trials goddess sang the ending credits song. That singer in that song is amazing. The high notes send chills down my back it's so dramatic and moving.
Anonymous
Frankly, I'm surprised at how popular this drama is. The acting and costumes and all were good, but the story and editing were pretty bad. It dragged on unnecessarily. The best part was the Mortal Realm story. It told a good story that was compelling. You immediately fell for the lovers even in just a few episodes. I thought Deng Lun and Yang Zi both independently did a great job, but I personally think DL has better chemistry with Sun Yi.
Burham pratama
I just finish this drama yesterday and i was so entranced by yang zi and deng lu's acting, it turn out that they are friend, huh? Different from other, in the last scene at 61th episode i can feel the regret of xufeng, the pain because of his mistake, the stupid choice of his doing, the worst out come ever, his lost of his beloved one, the short meeting with jin mi is so heart breaking scene, just a glimpse of her made him strong enaugh to wait for 500 years. This is long run drama and best even in this year
Burham pratama
Sorry, it is 63th episode not 61th
Anonymous
This is my favourite drama ever!
I love Yang Zi and Deng Lun together
Emztye
Ashes of Love the most superb drama I've ever seen! I can't get away with it! Yang Zi and Deng Lun chemistry is Fantastic! They really look great together. Please team up and give more projects for this two excellent actors. I love Yang Zi so pretty and really adorable to watch. Excellent acting skills. We are waiting for Ashes of Love part 2!!
hyukcien
Hahahaha at #12 on the list. I thought of this too when I saw that scene.
Xiaoniu
Hello! I just discovered this series on Netflix in the USA and OMG Im in love! This was better than Twilight! As an American born, I never knew Chinese dramas could be such good stories, I’d say MUCH better everything than that Game of Thrones. Language-wise, sometimes I would understand entire conversations and sometimes I needed English subtitles, I hope for Season 2 they dubs the series in English and market it in the USA so there’s more fans chat with! And also so these absolutely talented actors, writers, set creators, musicians, and others could be celebrated here too.