Will this cross-over thing ever end? Apparently not, as yet another Korean actor is working abroad. Lee Da Hae has just been confirmed as the lead for the upcoming modern C-drama called Love Actually. Her co-stars are none other than Koala faves Joe Cheng and Li Yi Feng. So Feng Feng has played the younger brother to Mike He already in Sunny Happiness, and now he gets to play the younger brother to Mike’s BFF Joe? Too bad he can’t play Ethan Ruan‘s younger brother soon and land him all three guys. I think this cast is fabulous. Not exactly heavy on the thespians, but all decent in the right roles, and pretty sparkling in rom-coms. LA starts filming next month, and my guess is it will air in the latter half of 2012. I don’t know if Lee Da Hae will be dubbed, because she speaks very good Chinese, albeit with a strong Korean accent. Read on for the plot synopsis.
Lee Da Hae is Wang Xiao Xia, a naturally talented chef who works part-time jobs to scrape by as she supports her nephew Yang Guang. Due to a mistake by the real estate agent Chen Hao Jie (Li Yi Feng), Xiao Xia gets swindled by her landlord, leaving her homeless. With nowhere to go, Hao Jie takes Xiao Xia back to his house for the time being. Turns out the Chen family owns a very prominent restaurant chain. Through a series of misunderstandings, Xiao Xia is mistaken as Hao Jie’s girlfriend. But their odd behavior leaves the other Chen son Hao Feng suspicious of the real relationship.
Daddy Chen immediately takes a liking to Xiao Xia, so even after Xiao Xia’s real identity is revealed, she doesn’t get kicked out, and is instead being groomed as the successor chef. The personalities of Xiao Xia and Hao Feng are like water and fire, and they constantly bicker. After going through a series of situations together, they gradually grow closer and start to have warm feelings for each other. Hao Feng’s ex-girlfriend tries to create a wedge between the couple by manufacturing a series of misunderstandings. A cousin of the Chen family returns and plots to take over the family business. But with Xiao Xia’s perseverance and faith, the Chen family overcomes this ordeal, and Xiao Xia and Hao Feng finally have their happy ending together.
When I read this synopsis, clearly it sounds like every other modern C and TW drama spliced together. Wealthy brothers, a spunky ordinary girl gamely taking care of family, a setting like a restaurant business where everyone interacts, all of this is been there, done that. But if SH taught me anything, it’s that a well-written relationship between the OTP plus great chemistry from the actors can still deliver the satisfaction despite a well-worn story. I’m looking forward to LA, and wishing best of luck to Lee Da Hae in her first C-drama. Initially when the casting rumors came out, Yuan Hong was also bandied about as one of the leads. Putting Joe, Feng Feng, and Lao Yuan together in a drama would have blown my mind. Regardless, the final cast is pretty awesome as is.
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excited to see Li Yi Feng on another drama.
at least she can speak mandarin
she gets way too much hate internationally
i hope china shows her some love and helps re build he image
Good Luck LDH!
and Joe Cheng (i call dibs)
I really like Lee Da Hae!! Why does she get hate internationally? I already read on other blogs that alot of ppl hate her but no one says why :S
Like both leads btw. I'd watch it if her voice isn't dubbed
yes..many hates her bcoz she insulted how filipino speak in english...i hate her very much..and also i like ariel lin as joe cheng's couple and wife in real life!!ilike ISWAK,TKA,LOB 4ever!!xianqin and zhishu 4 ever ariel lin and joe cheng 4 ever..she apologized of insulting filipinos but no one can erase that thing in our mind and heart.filipino is the no1 emotional..do u know it lee da hae how u really hurts filipino?
So excited for the drama, the cast is just great. LDH is my girl crush and I love Joe Cheng. I didn't see any of Li Yi Feng previous work but read great comments about him :)
Although it will be surely hard for her but I hope Lee Da Hae voice won't be dubbed. As I think it would be more cute and funny with her voice in there ^_^
Don't C-Dramas always dub anyway? Even the native speakers? At least, all the ones I've seen have (I don't understand...why???).
the main reason why they dub is because usually the native speakers have a too strong accent and the non-native have a completely different accent. they dub the voices to get a medium accent that sounds "pleasant" to the viewer's ears
I'm so excited for this drama :)! Will you be recapping this? Thank you for the news!
Drama sure has an unfortunate title...well who knows....this might even work in its favor....the plot sounds simplistic and typical c-dramaish...as for the cast...i love Joe, am indifferent to LYF and not crazy abt LDH....so idk if i'll check this out....that said i've done crazier things for favorite stars i've missed, so who knows....and I do miss Joe
The plot sounds ok to me, if distinctly unoriginal, but the only part I hate is the "meddling ex-girlfriend" bit. I hate hate hate that plot trope, not just because it's infuriating, but because it's lazy writing.
Mmm... The plot sounds typical but I will watch it for Lee Da Hae (I absolutely loved her in "My Girl " and I am very impressed by her Mandarin), Joe Cheng (loved him in "It Started with a Kiss") and Li Yi Feng (loved him in "Sunny Happiness")!! So far the cast is very interesting.
Joe getting handsome and handsome these days...♥
YaY! I was sooooo waiting for Joe to comeback with a new drama! Yay! XD
Native mainland china chinese have very strong accent and not every one could understand. I personally prefer taiwanese chinese they speak very refine chinese thats why most of the korean dramas are taiwanese dubbed not china dubbed.
As for LDH definitely her voice will be dubbed as well not unless she could speak perfect chinese but i doubt so....