After that bit of a rough start concerning the casting of its female lead last month, the Allen Ren Jialun helmed live-action adaption of the animated series Wu Geng Ji 烈焰之武庚纪 finally announces the rest of its cast. Initially, actress Li Yitong was set to play the role of the female lead Bai Cai. However after the production snub which ended up with the actress pulling out of the project, there were concerns about who will take over. Yesterday’s casting announcement confirmed the role of Bai Cai will now go to actress Fair Xing Fei. Whilst this might be the first time they’re working together in a historical fantasy series, this is actually Ren Jialun and Xing Fei’s second collab since both starred in the quirkily titled modern romance Miss Crow with Mr. Lizard which aired last year.
With a story about a half-god, half-human male protagonist experiencing the downfall of his homeland and becoming a slave before rising up again, it looks like Ren Jialun has gotten top billing with only his name up top during the casting announcement. Xing Fei and Bambi Zhu Xudan who has been cast to play A Lan follow suit.
Wu Geng Ji also confirmed the actors rounding up the rest of the cast which include Yan Yikuan as Zi Yu, idol-turned actor Zhu Zhengting as Ni Tian Er Xing, and Merxat Mi Re as Shi Xing. Jiang Xin, Yumiko Cheng, Han Dong and Ming Ren Yankai make special appearances.
Filming for the series already kicked off in Hengdian where Ren Jialun has even been photographed wearing his costume for the series.
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HL- Hoh Liu
I do enjoy a number of Xing Fei’s dramas… but to replace Li Yitong with Ying Fei must be a tough decision… Xing Fei has her strength but I have not enjoyed her period shows….
I guess at such last min noticed, it is hard to find a good replacement… But who knows, maybe XingFei may surprised me and own the role! I will wash to find out.
Coralie
@hohliu I wasn’t a fan of Xing Fei before, but she really impressed me in Lost Track of Time, which is a period drama. Her acting there was memorable. For that reason, I am now a fan. She does surprisingly well with angst, and shows depth with the emotional layers in that angst.
Who I’m not rooting for, however, is Allen Ren. Him getting top billing is laughable with his persistent scowling face and lack of emotional range. And for the love of all things wonderful, his monotonous voice delivery kills me. i have yet to finish even one of his dramas. I can’t tell if it’s him or his roles, but so far nothing has convinced me of his talent.
Yooi
i really enjoyed watching xing fei’s lost track of time. and kinda shipped her with the 2nd lead despite knowing how bad he was.
li yitong was amazing in bloody romance, but not really enjoyed her other dramas.
but they treated liyitong so bad in my opinion.. hopefully they can treat xing fei better.
HL- Hoh Liu
I doubt they will treat her better…
But I bet his fans are busy dealing with his new rumour that has gone viral, about him being divorced and had a affair whilst she was expecting… His fans must be busy fighting that rumour on his behalf… No time to attack his new female lead..
Coralie
agreed! I became a fan of Xing Fei after Lost Track of Time – she was truly excellent in that one and I also (cringe) shipped her with 2nd ML lol. I don’t think we should be blamed for that though – they put way more emphasis and dimension on the 2nd ML than they did with the ML.
I’m ambivalent about LYT…tried watching bloody romance but it wasn’t my cup of tea. so to this day haven’t really seen any worthwhile works of hers (that I liked.)
I def don’t like Allen Ren though. I don’t know if it’s his roles or just his acting but he’s always scowling and never happy. and he doesn’t show a lot of depth in his acting plus his zzz monotonous voice. just not a fan so far
HL
I have not watched Lost Track of Time, I was unsure if she would be good…so I just shelved it aside for next time. I will definitely take it off my shelf to watch it…
I am a small fan of Xing Fei, I do enjoy her modern shows… Her acting is so natural and fun…
Coralie
@hohliu watch the 1st half of episode 1 (or the full episode for more torture lol) but then skip to episode 4 (I think that’s when the rebirth starts.) I enjoyed it because it was exciting and compelled me to watch, and xing fei’s acting was wow, but revenge-wise it never really hit the spot for me. then there’s the issue with the male leads – there are a ton of rational people who would definitely side with the main ML, but me and a lot of other people would ship the 2nd ML (cringe) because the drama definitely tried harder to convey his dimensional personality and made him more interesting lol.