
Get ready for the reboot of Hu Ge and Crystal Liu Yifei’s hit fantasy action series Chinese Paladin 仙剑奇侠传 as the remake has indeed been green lighted to get a brand new spin. Now the question lingering on everyone’s mind is .. who gets to play Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling’er in this new adaptation?
Several names that include Zhao Lusi, Yang Chaoyue and Li Yitong are rumoured to be in the roster for the character of Zhao Ling’er, a role previously popularised by a teenaged Liu Yifei in 2005. Earlier reports had pegged Sun Li and Huang Lei’s 15-year-old daughter Huang Yici 黄忆慈, nicknamed Duoduo, to also be in the running for the role. Huang Duoduo may have not yet gone into acting like her parents but she’s already won viewers hearts when she participated in season 2 of the Chinese reality show Where Are We Going, Dad? with her dad Huang Lei in 2014.

Incidentally, her mom Sun Li played Zhao Ling’er’s mother in the original Chinese Paladin series. Nonetheless, the rumour has already been denied by the reboot’s production crew. Next to Duoduo, Li Yitong seems to also be a forerunner in Netizen’s predictions though, having displayed her charms playing the cute and adorable figure of Huang Rong in 2017’s The Legend of the Condor Heroes which many think is also suitable for the character of Zhao Ling’er.
Whoever lands a part in the series, they sure have big shoes to fill considering how much of a classic the original was with its cast going on to become A listers in the industry! The reboot’s production team has been careful to say that nothing has been finalized yet, but it’s fun to see who people’s top picks are versus who will eventually land the coveted spots in the series.
Filming for the remake of Chinese Paladin is said to begin in the autumn of 2021.
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Yooi
I have nothing against Li Yitong. But she’s everywhere.
Lovehj
Agree. Haven’t watch any of her dramas.
Sophap Tep
I believe xu Kai should play li Xiao Yao. He plays and fits these wuxia xian xia roles very well. Especially he s has good comic relief and very versatile.
Chi zhi
That’s going to be a big shoe to fill considering how beautiful Liu Yifei’s Zhao Lianger was.
Linda
Totally agree! Also, is there really a need for a remake? *SIGH* I “guess” 16 years is a long time :'(((
Mionne
If that’s how Huang Yici look like at all angles, I think she is very pretty like Liu Yifei as well.
Some of the biggest things about Zhao Ling’er is, the success was not only because Liu Yifei is super super super beautiful but she’s very good at acting too. She started out as a happy character and it was super lovely and adorable. Based on my experience of seeing actresses acting happy and hyper, they are deemed annoying and disgusting. Their laughs are always hated for fakeness and unnaturallnesss. Liu Yifei easily made people fell in love with all her smiles.
After many things happened, her husband did not only forgotten her, he found another woman who suited him better, and if she gives him up he will have a better life, so then, she turned into a damsel in distress. But Liu Yifei managed to keep her charm because she had a very good understanding of ancient beauty, every movements, her eyes and reactions are like that of a gentle and selfless being. She was serious and did not mix in a modern woman’s ideology into her acting. The sadness in her character was understandable. She did that well, but I must remind people how there was so much hate. I recall many said she was so bad at acting and boring.
It’s not only challenging to be compared with Liu Yifei.
Ady An is also as hard because Yue Ru should be deemed as the b* who destroyed the main couple, however Ady An did not come off annoying and hateful at all. In fact, so many people jumped away from their initial ship and rooted for Ady instead. It was part of the reason why some people hate Zhao Ling’er.
Chinese Paladin 1 is rare, all characters are special whether they are leads or not. While the side characters are very outstanding, the leads are not overshadowed by anyone but strongly keeps their ground.
That is not something we can see in today’s world. Today, if the side characters are too good then fanwars will break out. Most leading actresses today can only be successful under the idea that the second female leads are b*chy or boring, dumb, or uglier. That was not the case with Chinese Paladin 1 and also in Chinese Paladin 3.
Chinese Paladin 1’s storyline is also very tropey to say, since the main thing is the amnesia arc, but because the director is extremely talented, no matter how many times people re-watch this they don’t tend to even realize that the story is tropey because every minutes are so compelling. This is considered Xian Xia but the fighting action are also very professional. 20 years ago, everyone would believe Hu Ge and Ady An if they prank that they know martial arts in real life. As we all know already, talented people are no longer valued, when actors can do a slow motion punch for 5 minutes and things exploded slowly in high definition, why should they hire a professional stunt man who can do 20 dangerous jumps for 5 minutes?
I know for sure that this remake, the fighting scenes will be very average and that would be the best any current production can do. Saddest thing is when the tropey amnesia arc won’t be directed in an interesting way. If they follow the same storyline, either Ling’er or Yue Ru will become a green tea b*, and two women cannot be lovable at the same time.
Linda
Totally agree! Also, is there really a need for a remake? *SIGH* I “guess” 16 years is a long time :'(((
Shi
Compared to the Condor Heroes trilogy and similar dramas, 16 years is a very long time.
Chinese Paladin feels so long ago… No wonder I am so old now. The cast was so young and raw back then. Eddie Peng for example. He’s gotten so good looking! Hehe
Bixy
I hope they cast Deng EnXi. She has this innocent and beauty to her. I think she call pill of Ling er. Zhao lu si would fit the role of YueRu. Xiao Yao should be someone young too. Arthur Chen is suitable.