It seems Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Yue Hong 狐妖小红娘月红篇 also could not escape top billing issues. Last Thursday, the drama released its full casting line up which indicates Yang Mi as Tushan Honghong (涂山红红) and Gong Jun as Dongfang Yuechu (东方月初). Whereas this has long been a known fact from previous marketing blasts and teasers, fans of both stars seem at odds over top billing. However, to keep the issue from growing any bigger, Yue Hong producer Wang Yixu (王一栩) finally issues a statement to set things straight.
Taking a look at this week’s announcement, Yang Mi has gotten top billing seeing as it’s her name that is introduced first, which is then followed by Gong Jun’s. Considering the story is about the fox matchmaker which Yang Mi plays, the positioning is not surprising. However, it seems fans of both sides are accusing each other of stirring up trouble from things like a poster with both stars and how much (or how little) space each has taken up to who stands at the center of the group photo. Meanwhile, a hashtag that had Gong Jun’s name first before Yang Mi also drew heated debate.
“We’ve Made Our Position Clear”
With the issue getting more hits on the hot search, the show’s producer Wang Yixu finally steps in to clarify their stance. He said that all official channels are very clear about their position and that marketing accounts are just challenging it for traffic and the clicks. While he doesn’t directly say who gets top billing, reading between the lines, Yang Mi’s name on top stays.
The producer also added that they’ve already collected evidence against rabble rousers and forwarded it to Sina for resolution. Moreover, he said whilst he won’t block fans who made great suggestions he had no qualms about directly blocking users spreading negative vibes and abusing the internet.
Fox Spirit Matchmaker Unveils Full Cast
Meanwhile Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Yue Hong has also introduced the rest of the cast. For all the speculation on who will play the second lead following Yuan Bingyan’s tax scandal, the role of Tushan Yaya (涂山雅雅) has gone to Cristy Guo Xiaoting who most recently starred in the popular xianxia series Love Between Fairy and Devil which also had Wang Yixu as producer. Meanwhile, Miles Wei Zheming as San Shao of Ao Lai Country (傲来国三少), Hu Lianxin Er as Tushan Rongrong (涂山容容) and Wen Zheng Rong as Shi Ji (石姬) complete the main cast.
Incidentally, Bambi Zhu Xudan who was initially rumored to play the second lead does have a role in the series but as a different character. Many more names have been revealed which include stars like Sebrina Chen Yao, Chen Duling and Zhang Linghe who’s yet another LBFAD alumn.
Source: 1
wowo
I hope this will be good, Yangmi’s previous dramas haven’t been as good since Peach Blossom-10,000. If I”m the producer I would say YM is top billing, considering she has more experience, is an A-list actress in cdrama and the plot is set around her character.
haha then again why does it matter who is top billing or not lol
Anon
Was Peach Blossom good? I tried watching a couple of times cos of all the hype and ended up dropping it twice. Yang Mi’s acting was totally cringeworthy. I had never been able to finish any YM’s dramas no matter who the ML was.
Anon
“Was peach blossom good” go ask the 50 billion views it garnered that year. Yang Mi’s acting was “cringeworthy” yet you tried to watch her other works , you must have some real tolerance for nonsense. Nobody says Yang Mi is phenomenal, but everyone knows her acting skills are well above average and much above Gong Jun, so it’s hard to take you seriously, sorry.
Anon
I tried cos she seems so popular. So you have to give me credit for not dismissing her outright without having watched her performances. So yeah, it was and is still cringeworthy. Definitely not “well above average”. No improvement even in that last one Novoland Pearl Eclipse. I still dropped it despite liking William Chan. I don’t think Simon Gong is fantastic either, but you can see improvements from his earlier dramas. Was I even comparing to him? Did I even mention him?
Who takes you seriously anyway?
Anon
Then it comes down to the taste level love. Ha! Gong Jun has improved and Yang Mi is worse are you kidding me right now. You’ve exposed yourself to be a GJ fan. You can say a certain drama or a person’s acting skills are not for you, but don’t make a fool of yourself by saying a newbie is better than a veteran. Yang Mi has been acting for over 15 years and stood out for playing many supporting roles before getting lead roles. She doesn’t “seem” so popular, she has been very popular for many years. Cringeworthy actresses cannot get the attention she gets. There is room for improvement but comparing her to GJ is just sad.
Anon
Neither did I say YM is worse than ever. So don’t put words in other people’s mouth. But yes, there are many newbies who are much better in acting than YM (also better than GJ ).
Actors are “popular” for many reasons – beauty, grace, handsomeness, business skills etc. , not necessarily because of their acting skills. Look at AB & Dili – rivals with YM in terms of popularity but with mediocre acting skills as well. (Now, I’m sure toxic fans of AB & Dili are going to jump into this. Hahaha) In fact, most of the really good actors do not have legions of paid fans who bicker incessantly over petty stuff just to create hype.
You said I have revealed myself as a GJ fan. First of all, you were the one who first brought up his name, not me. Second, I actually said I like William Chan. Why bring up GJ and not William? Third, you have totally revealed yourself to be a member of YM toxic fandom, who create rumors and false accusations against anyone who doesn’t worship YM like you do. A rude and obnoxious one, to boot.
Liking someone is subjective. Skill level is more objective and measurable. Eg. I love my son to bits (subjective) but I also acknowledged that he is not one of the brightest sparks when it comes to academics. (objective).
By the way, “improvement” is always compared to oneself, not someone else. Can you comprehend?
Now, go sulk by yourself. Not entertaining you anymore.
Anon
Nice try trying to divert attention from your idol GJ but it won’t work bcoz WC, ABB, DLB and the other newbies 🙂 are not part of this article, do you seriously have nothing else to do with yourself.
Anon
I’m guessing you don’t like William Chan for his acting skills then… because he’s honestly terrible. Speaking of cringeworthy, have you seen his Chanel watch ad?
Applefish
It’s totally understandable as the first 12-13ep were a total bored, you can skip it and it wouldn’t hurt the storyline, I know I did because I skipped it lawl. I actually started around 27? I can’t remember the episode but it so happened to the be the one where she jumped off heaven. And that’s where it peaked my interest. What did the ML do for her to commit suicide lawl! To my surprise, it’s where the novel start too. So try there. And as much as I gave the series a 9+/10, I skipped sooo much of it, to this day, still haven’t seen the first 10ep (minus the first one where I tried to watch lol), skipped all the scheming of the evil lady.
D
Fandom is definitely toxic. I wonder what these fans of these fandoms actually do other than microscoping to the very teeny bit of details to find something to fight over. Life is full of so many beautiful things other than these celebs they are stanning on. Gosh, I hate the word “stan”.
Alma
Nobody would need to discuss a top billing position if the fandoms could stay in harmony but it seems whenever these newbie actors are involved it can’t be avoided. In that case the position obviously belongs to Yang Mi.
As for the quality of the drama, I’m optimistic since I don’t see anything Jiaxing related here, it doesn’t look like another scheme to take advantage of Yang Mi’s popularity. I just hope the leads get enough screen time seeing there are so many actors vying for attention.
Yooi
neither a fan of both but obviously YangMi. She is an A list actress. More popular and a powerful name. GJ is just a newbie comparing to YM. Duh, his fandom, do they think his idol has one or two hit dramas than it’ll make him more popular than YM?
i think, this kind of case happened to other A list actresses too. but i forget who and who.
Alma
Yang Zi, Zhao Liying and Liu Shi Shi
L
The producer has spoken up and cleared this matter now. Yang Mi is always going to get the top billing even if she acts with bigger actors than Gong jun. She deserves it and has earned it through her many years of career thus it is only fitting she gets it. Fans crying or screaming won’t change that. Period.
H.a
Doesn’t yang mi tired of making same plot every drama , great man love her and she saves the day , not to mention she is in her twenties for like ten to 15 years , as usual expresssless face ,zero acting talent , ,it is just frustrating how other talented actress young who are being not casted misding a talent to such wast of money and efforts
Anon
aren’t you tired of typing the same comment over and over again, do her 112 million followers and massive tv audience look like they care.
Una
As far as I can see from this thread, this “H.A” has only commented once. But you must be the same “Anon” who has been bashing others who have a more realistic view of YM. Aren’t you tired of idolising your YM even when it’s the truth? Since she has hundreds of millions of fans like you who adored her, why should you be bothered if there are some people with different opinions of her? Other people have a right to their own opinions too. But it looks like her fans are super bothered; looks like they are suffering from insecurity. Their goddess must be 100% perfect in every way.
She IS a terrible actress because she is a veteran in this job already. Hasn’t changed much. Her standard is ok for new actresses but not for a veteran. And yes, most of her dramas have similar plot lines. Now that she is getting on in age, she has to be in romance with fresh meat for those idol dramas. Which is really quite icky cos she is not aging well, nor can act the part well. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against older woman, younger man romance but it just doesn’t carry well with her. It feels like romancing your own aunty. She should have graduated to more serious types of dramas by now and leave all those airy-fairy idol dramas to the fresh meats. She’s almost 40 years old and has been in front of the cameras since she was in kindergarten. If she has real acting chops, she should be putting them into better use. But I guess YM herself is much more realistic, grounded and humble than her toxic fans are. Cos her business skills are really great.
stumble guys
The producer also stated that Sina has already been sent the evidence they had gathered against rabble rousers for resolution.