Couple pairings (CP) are incredibly important in romance dramas that poor chemistry between two leads can easily break a film. Being a fan of cutesy love stories like Put Your Head On My Shoulder or A Love So Beautiful, I can definitely see its appeal.
The soon-to-air Skate into Love 冰糖炖雪梨 based on a novel by Jiu Xiao Qi, may be the newest contender in the genre with two charismatic leads Janice Wu and Steven Zhang who play enemies-turned-lovers in a story that promises to be all kinds of sweet. In an interview, Producer Andy Liu Ning shares how he and his fellow production heads knew they found the perfect match from the start. When he first met the two leads, Liu Ning personally felt that the pairing was really nice, particularly that they give off the ‘feels’ when they are together and that Janice and Steven who were both in their mid-20’s were both very youthful. Liu Ning said, “It was a unanimous decision among the director, the writers and me. These were the factors that initially attracted me. After seeing their past works, I felt very at ease with them as I believe that they can portray the role of Tang Xue and Li Yubing in Skate into Love well.”
With Skate into Love focused on different aspects of ice skating, it’s actually a deviation from the usual high school/college dramas that are out there. As the ice god of the hockey rink, Steven Zhang will be playing a character quite different from himself. Liu Ning added, “Everyone knows that Zhang Xincheng’s nickname is xiaotaiyang (small sun) because of his warm and sweet personality, I wasn’t worried at all that he could pull off the sweet scenes but everyone also knows that he is also playing the ice god which is domineering and cool. I asked if Xincheng could do it and he said he was confident and that it won’t be a problem. After seeing Xincheng on ice, I thought that he looked really cool and everyone was left in awe.”
Meanwhile, you may have already heard that the Ashes of Love team has a three-part series in plan with Ashes of Love being the first and Skate into Love being the second of its Mitang Trilogy 蜜糖三部曲 (honey sugar trilogy). Liu Ning confirmed that they’re definitely planning for a third one!
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Anonymous
Honestly, nothing against the male actor but since I’ve been reading the novel this drama is based on, I was super disappointment in the male casting. The main thing is the male lead is supposed to be this star hockey player with a pretty good build. That means he’s supposed to be taller and with slightly, just slightly more bulkier build. You can’t give me a guy that’s almost as scrawny as the female actress and not expect me to be unhappy about it.
Oh well. I’ll still watch it tho, the relationship in the novel is super sweet so hope the drama will be a good watch as well.
jiminie
Looking forward to this drama so much!! I hope that it won't disappoint me lol
C.T.
Yeah, my husband played hockey competitively when he was younger and still plays for fun now, and I agree that the actor definitely does not have the build of a hockey player. It's always amusing to me when I see actors play athletic characters but lack the physical traits of that particular character. Actors in Western movies take on physical transformations if their roles require it, but we seldom see that in Chinese dramas.
It doesn't bother me and I totally understand why they don't, though. They film dramas back to back and play such a wide variety of characters. It wouldn't make sense nor would they have time to do it. I see how fans of novels could be unhappy, though.
Anonymous
He is a good actor. Pretty sure with these two main leads both of whom can act, the drama will be a hit. The story is also very cute, even though I couldn't finish the book due to the website locking the last chapters. They are actors and not a true athletes.
PNJ
i don’t know about the book but i absolutely loved this drama
it was just fab
my favourite c-drama ever!
also because i am a big fan of Janice Wu
I love her