Jumping from one drama to the other, actress Bai Lusure is one busy gal these days. After just wrapping up filming for Love is Sweet 半是蜜糖半是伤 opposite Leo Luo Yunxi two weeks ago, the actress threw herself back into work mode again as it was just confirmed today that she will be leading another Yu Zheng produced historical comedy called Song of Youth 玉楼春 opposite fellow Huanyu Film colleague Wang Yizhe.
Now it’s widely known that the screenwriter- producer throws his full weight behind the artistes he supports – just look at how much he advocated Wu Jinyan’s career after she moved to Huanyu in 2016. So it’s not entirely a big surprise that he’s been championing Bai Lu in recent years. The same thing goes for Wang Yizhe, who he’s moved up to leading man status after appearing in just a handful of supporting roles in dramas.
If this couple pairing between Bai Lu and Wang Yizhe might seem a bit unusual since Wang Yizhe in particular has had limited exposure save for a leading role in the Yanxi Palace spin off – Yanxi Palace: Princess Adventures, it seems Yu Zheng is intent on mixing things up and trying a different formula for his starring line up – putting together a female star with a male newcomer. His reasons?
“Female newcomers paired with male stars easily make fans jealous and are often picked apart by fans, but the reverse is not the case. As long as male newcomers can give a relatively good performance and are easy on the eyes, it’s easier to attract fan’s attention. Secondly, I especially hate the entertainment industry’s competitiveness, and how celebrities always want to be paired with actors more popular than they are. How then can a newcomer have the chance to get ahead? Lastly, I firmly believe that an actor’s primary focus should be on the script when deciding whether or not to sign onto a project. There are only a certain number of artists who base their decision solely on the script without looking at their pairings first”, explains the producer. This is definitely an interesting look behind Yu Zheng’s thought process in the way he handled the casting for the drama.
Anyway, Song of Youth just had its boot ceremony today and viewers are in for a treat since the drama’s production really pulled out all the stops for this project. The drama’s cast boasts a star studded entourage composed of Gina Jin Chen, Jade Zheng Qiuhong, Jackie Li (Lamuyangzi), He Lei, Zhou Lula, Chang Long, Sarah Huang Xinyao, Huang Youming, Zhang Lei, Liu Min, Wang Xi, Xu Rongzhen, Ma Xiaoqian, Chang Cheng, Wang Xichaowith special appearances by Yang Rong, Bridgette Qiao Xin, Xuan Lu, Wen Zhengrong, Zhu Zhiling, Liu Runnan and Lu Yanqi.
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Marina Lee
I'm just excited for another Bai Lu drama. She tends to have good chemistry with her co-lead. Lucky's First Love was something else though.
Anonymous
I wouldn't even compare how YZ pushes Wu Jinyan and Bai Lu. Just look at the budget and male leads they have. Have you seen the scale of Zhaoge and Yanxi? and their supporting actors? Nie Yuan and Zhang Zhehan vs Xu Kai and Wang Yizhe- both have no leading experience when they act with Bai Lu
In fact Bai Lu's resouces from outside HuanYu is better in my opinion. The legends has the highest views, best character and was most popular out of all her drama last year despite the shitty editing ending.
And this drama is ZY attempt for comedy when the original novel isn't supposed to be … So we might have another disaster in making while he is trying to promote the newbies from his new new show. I wish Bai Lu luck because girl is too talented and deserve more
Anonymous
Yay to female centric dramas and Bai Lu but uh, I am apprehensive abou the male lead.
Anonymous
My fave girl Bai Yu, yay. And Wang Yizhe can act.. thank God. I really enjoy his simple movements when he acts. Boy can act and handsome. Im so in. A fresh pair. Even tho i miss my boy xu kai.
Lil
The news I see on weibo are all about Bailu in regards to this drama. Fail or success would be on both YZ and BL, so I'll be cheering this drama on.
Anonymous
The drama is female centric and it has many female lead roles. Just BL is the most known actress at this moment