I want to thank TW-actress/producer Ruby Lin and uber Chinese television host He Joing for giving me the biggest bellyful of laughs in god knows how long. I was doubled over laughing until it hurt, and then promptly got up and clicked play again to experience it all over again. Ruby and He Joing are all over the Mandarin entertainment news for posting a hilarious video clip of them enacting a scene from Ruby’s iconic career starting old-school drama Princess Returning Pearl and this is too good not to share.
The drama is so dated it’s neigh unwatchable now, but anyone who was sentient in the late 90’s either watched or heard of Princess Returning Pearl, the sappy drama adapted from romance writer Qiong Yao’s novel of the same name. It was the drama that launched the careers of Zhao Wei, Fan Bing Bing, and of course Ruby as the female lead. All three leading ladies have assiduously tried to put their PRP roles behind them and move on, and have done a swell job of doing so, so it’s such a treat to see Ruby make fun of how ridiculously the entire gig was in a tongue-in-cheek way. Watch this clip your own peril is all imma going to say.
Ruby and He Jiong renact the scene from PRP 2 when Ruby’s character Zhi Wei thinks she’s going blind. Don’t ask why, it makes no sense then or now. He Jiong reads the dialogue of the male lead, telling Zhi Wei that she needs to be brave even if the fates are cruel to them. Zhi Wei cries that she refuses to be brave because if she cannot see then she would rather die. If she cannot see then life has no meaning, if she can’t see his eyes or his face then she cannot go on. Ruby and He Jiong’s performance of said short scene is truly award-winning.
Ruby Lin and He Joing revisit iconic Princess Returning Pearl Zhi Wei going blind scene:
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女神 doing her 女神 things!
I don't really follow her career but Ruby is always a hoot every time I see her in her interviews. She's awesome.
Has actors/actresses re-enacting scenes become popular? Just last week, actor Zhang Ruoyun did one (lip-syncing to the dialogue) from Journey of Flower, posting it to the same video site as the one Ruby did, I think, and I found it hilarious.
See for yourself: http://t.cn/RL0zCz5
And another (not sure if it's from the same drama): http://t.cn/RLlcTjb
Now that was funny. Loved the way HJ was laughing while she's crying to the Heavens! Great clip!
I'm a bit on a tangent, but I've been wondering about Fan Bing Bing's popularity. Did PRP launched her career? I remember that her role was pretty small and that she was just the sweet and loyal maid to Zhi Wei. Now, I haven't been following C-entertainment for over a decade, but her name and face is so all over the place that I understood that she's pretty much THE A-list star. Can someone enlighten me? Thanks!
i wonder that too. i know she was kinda popular back then but now, she's everywhere. she's even in forbes as the most rich C-celeb! wow!
i rarely watched her dramas/movies and im not living in China, so i dunno much. in my country, names like Vicky Zhao and Ruby Lin are still popular as hell. Shu Qi too. I rarely saw FBB's movies/dramas aired in my country.
what makes her so damn popular??
Fan Bing Bing left Qiong Yao early, because she wasn't getting leading roles. She was originally given the role of Zi Wei, until Ruby came along, and they gave her Jin Shuo instead. She expanded to movies and other dramas much earlier, and some of the roles were fairly um 'sexy', which caught a lot of people's eyes (cuz tbh neither her or ruby's acting were that commendable in the beginning). It was probably her image more than her acting in any one project that propelled her to fame. Of course, both her and Ruby's skills increased tremendously during their long careers, helping them stay relevant to this day. Qiong Yao was very controlling of her actors, so Zao Wei and Ruby did not gain creative control and their type cast characters until much later. Bing Bing was also the first one to grow rich and powerful enough to start her own company.
I think I still have my video tape copy that's dubbed some where. Totally was into it. Even ruby and Vicki s romance in the rain. the hubby recognized those two by their character names!lol
@mawiie-Yes, Princess Returning Pearl launched Fan Bing Bings career, as well as Ruby Lin and of course Zhou Wei's.
This drama was shown over and over for the last 10-15 years in China, from the articles and news report I have read and seen, every time they rebroadcast the original Princess Returning Pearl in China, it would get very high ratings, making this one of the most watched drama. Pretty good for a drama that Qiuong Yao and her production team at the time didn't spend as much money on this drama as they did on the other drama where she put a lot of money on that was suppose to make it a series of the two different dramas.
I loved the story and it helped that Zhao Wei and Ruby Lin was very pretty. It was actually the first drama where the story emphasis wasn't on the women of the palace fighting over an old man (King) for power, but rather the sisterhood, friendship and innocent love. Quite a feat for a Qing dynasty story. Since I only associate cruel women who would kill just to get power, since that is what is mostly portrayed in every single Qing Drama I have watched.
This is one of the dramas that I can let my 3 year old daughter watch at the time and felt it was ok. My daughter loved it then and she still loves it now, she even remember all the songs. The clip was funny, and I have forgotten all the sappy cringeworthy lines that Qioung Yao likes in her drama from Princess Returning Pearl.
I watched Princess Returning Pearl maybe 2 or 3 years ago, and I think as long as you bear in mind how old it is and judge it accordingly, it is still watchable. It was squicky when the king wanted to make the heroine his concubine not knowing she was actually his daughter, but I liked how the friendship between the girls was the most important relationship, and the things I found annoying (bad pacing, torture of heroines, OTT acting/characters, sappiness, &c) are all things that are still common even in current cdramas, so it's not really all that different.
I always felt that Fan Bing Big got more famous bc of her sexy image more than anything. Sure she's a good actor but there are plenty of talented pretty actresses that never really rose to fame. This industry is more of combination of luck and being somewhere at the right time and place.
In fact, the three of 3 all did pretty well for themselves. All have their own production companies. But Ruby will always be my favorite. She's not the best actor but I love her cute personality.
LOL...such funny video!
hAHAHAHAHHAHA I LOVE THIS. I know the drama is outdated but I still make it a habit to rewatch it every couple of years. I just loved the meaning of friendship that was expressed throughout. The original cast was just adorable together. My favourite was always Ruby's character, Ziwei. :)