C-ent must’ve been thrilled to hear in recent months that popular stars Zhao Li Ying and Feng Shao Feng were cast as the leads in an upcoming time-travel period C-drama. The two filmed a movie last year and afterwards have been embroiled in dating rumors stemming from being seen together entering and exiting a residence parking garage in what appeared to be couple’s jackets. The two shrugged it off as costars hanging out and the jackets were from their production team, but now they have been spotted once again by the media paparazzi together.
Feng Shao Feng apparently drove to pick up Zhao Li Ying and they attended a gathering with his friends, and afterwards they went back to his place and she wasn’t seen leaving until the next morning. This latest sighting adds more fuel to the dating fire but if they are dating I’m all for going public since C-netizens are fairly accepting of dating. And if they are dating then they will get to spend a lot of work time together as they will be filming a C-drama The Story of Ming Lan (知否知否应是绿肥红瘦).
I guess Princess Agents 2 the same cast ain’t happening 🙁
Well, it will depend on Zhao Liying. She’s been working from PA to her modern drama and then will move to Minglan. She is a fan of the author’s work (PA novel), but the show cut off some things and change some others.
As for Shawn and LGX, both signed on due to LY (LGX wanted to work with her while Shawn was invited by LY to play Yan Xun). So if LY doesn’t agree to star in the continuation, then there is a less chance the other two will.
Why should Shawn Dou and Lin Geng Xin have chosen the drama only because of Zhao Li Ying? I just don’t get this immense craze about ZLY. Yes, she’s a good actress, but is she the only one out there? Definitely not. I even dare to say that there are actresses out there who are even better than her. Yet everybody is worshipping her as if she were some outerworld goddess. There are even Cdrama blogs with a special ZLY news section and always talking about our girl ZLY and so on. I’ve never seen something similar for another actor or actress. Why this huge exaggerated hype around her?
@Rose, maybe because there is a large group of people interested in her news? Supply and demand at work here 🙂 It’s not just ZLY, other popular actresses like Yang Mi also gets mentioned frequently.
Yeah frankly speaking it’s rather annoying for non-fans to only see her news being highlighted in blogs, while other actresses were glanced over. But then it’s the blogger’s choice, so we can’t do anything about it. ZLY is indeed a good actress though, but it’s obviously favourtism.
@Rose Just so you know LGX did say he wasn’t interested in the character of YWY, to him the character was boring. It was only after learning that ZLY signed on to play lead he reconsidered the offer. So of course Shawn or LGX can star with whoever they want to star with but I think they have a lot of respect and admiration for ZLY to want to do a project. As for people looking up to her like some Goddess it depends on the fan preferences. If you admire any artist to you they will be Godlike or Goddesslike, obviously you were curious enough to learn about ZLY that you stumbled upon her fan sites.
@Nee: The blog Rose is likely referring to is avirtualvoyage, which is not a ZLY fansite but a Chinese entertainment news blog. They always have a special Zhao Liying corner in their news articles, and are heavily bias toward her. For example in their latest article on Forbes 100, the title was “Zhao Liying ranked xx” when she’s not even first – other actresses like Yang Mi and Fan Bingbing were ranked higher. And the admins/commentators praise her like she’s some acting prodigy just because she is a hard worker and takes on strong female roles. But tbh, which popular actress in China doesn’t work hard OR play strong female characters (they are a dime of a dozen in C-ent drama industry). Her hype is really hugely exaggerated and like one user said below, her dramas are really not that good.
I don’t know about other blogs but the more popular ones like cfensi and dramapanda are more fair.
I also think she is overrated. She is neither the best nor the prettiest.
She might be not the most talented or prettiest actress in mainland, but she’s indeed a good friend and partner for LGS and Shawn. That’s why they want to continue working this project with her since she was the lead actress in the first season.
Im neither fan nor hater, i read things about her and most of her co-stars like her.
Hmm.. For her gossip with FSF, sigh. Serial dater is just a no no. But as long as she’s happy, who am i to judge? 😀
I’m not sure if her co-stars like her but there is reason she was seating ALONE at eating at some events when people are having fun with people.
Don’t tell me because she is innocent and hungry.
She is 30’s and smart enough to get a powerful manager.
Did they say that ? Where did you read this ? I believe it’s the invention of her fans
I only became a fan of hers after PA and went on to watch her shows. She may not be the prettiest actress I have seen but I love her strong headed personality, if her co stars like her I believe its her work ethics which attracts people to her. No doubt a hard work is someone always admired.
You are talking like she is the only hard working actress… lol
She is lucky because a lot of her drama did well even the quanlity isn’t that great.
@Rose Well I did state Shawn was presented the option of playing Yan Xun by ZLY. She thought he was a fit for the role and this gave him more exposure. As for LGX, just find his interview where he said he wanted to work with ZLY. You also have to factor in that her recent tv shows have fairly good ratings and by co-staring with her they get more exposure I guess. Also PA was pretty hype with all the promotions.It had a fairly decent budget to pay the stars and all since ZLY is one of the highest paying tv show actresses. LGX mostly works on movies so I guess by starring in a popular show like PA he gets more popular or cf deals. Shawn does star in a decent number of dramas, but they didn’t become as popular as PA.
As for Shawn and LGX, ZLY probably isn’t the only reason, but perhaps co-star matter to those two actors? LGX is pretty popular on his own and if he wanted to work with her then why not? Shawn and ZLY are friends so I don’t think her recommendation of him was bad for him…
As for her popularity, she built a decent fanbase and blogs do show favoritism regardless of c-ent or k-ent coverage. Unless the blog stated itself as some kind of proper news outlet, but that’s very unlikely. I don’t think she is the best actress out there or super duper gorgeous, but she has good work ethic and she seems likable to a fairly decent amount of bloggers.
She may not be the prettiest or best actress but her roles have been mostly kickass strong independent woman and she likable in a relatable way. She’s can act funny/serious/weak/strong and you always see her snacking/eating in drama or irl. She rarely plays the typical weak damsel in distress. Even though sometimes the storyline/plots are not great, she does have awesome chemistry with most of her male co stars on screen. She’s also one of the rare actresses that does pretty good in her kissing scenes with her male costars while there are so many other actresses where it’s so cringeworthy during their kissing scenes.
I think it’s because she’s the undisputed ratings queen. Her shows in recent years have all been ratings hit irregardless of reviews. It’s a good career move to pick the Story of Ming Lan as her next project.
Congrats to them if they are dating!
I couldn’t finish PA and glad I didn’t. Zly haven’t won me over as an actress from that drama… Got tired of her character. And not itching to watch any of her other dramas. But she was cute in running man and duckweed. LOL
She’s a good actress but most of her dramas are more hype than substance. Not her fault though. But I would say her earlier works like Boss and Me and Legend of Lu Zhen is good.
Because of PA I am watching all of her past dramas, reality shows, and movies. I love everything about ZLY. She just got a new lifetime fan ?.
I liked her a bit before but her fans and the craziness around them are turning me off… They act like she is goddess that has best acting that she is far from it.
OMG, that is how I feel about this actress too! After I saw how her fans criticized people everywhere, I became suspicious. Remember when Tang Yan was crowned as the golden eagle goddess? Rumors fly around that Tang Yan cheated and the person they want was…dandandan ZLY. They want ZLY to get crown the second time, isn’t that ridiculous? Was ZLY supposed to receive it in the first place? She got it in the year 2014 when nothing she starred in was even known by many people yet. All the well known actress that year sure got cheated bad time, and compare that with Tang Yan, what is more unfair? Then, Liu Tao won the award along with Hu Ge, her fans once again, said the judge cheated for Liu Tao to win when not seeing their idol stand on stage together with Hu Ge. O_o Moreover, Liu Tao’s skills, looks, and maturity surpassed ZLY by how many times? ZLY dramas were mostly boring that nobody really finished them but ratings were always overly high. At one point, the news said her crazy ratings went above the population of China or people that would be watching her stuff. This year, her ratings for The Princess Agent was equal or even exceeded Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, TMOPB is not the best thing ever but Princess Agents is definitely not even nearly half as good. Putting them at the same level is just so discrediting to all the better projects. And it is unfair for projects that are at the same level with Princess Agents to not receive the same bias. I don’t think her costars like her as they are aware of this unknown power she got. It is interesting that she still gets the clean image regardless of these rating issues. Even her dating rumors are counted as nothing. Look at Chen Xiao who got the playboy rumors of dating Yuan Shan Shan and Yan Rong or all his Yu Zheng co stars but there was no proof and he got those rumors attached to him, why did those ladies attend his wedding and not ZLY then? There were clear pictures as proof of ZLY’s affairs with extremely rich married and oversea boyfriend, but she is still the only clean one. Chen Xiao was known to be a cheater since then with his wife. I feel too many people got discredited by her alone. Not saying I don’t like her, but her fans annoyed me very much.
well if you dont like her why are you here?shes the best actress china ever had.china is very lucky to have her.without her no international fan will ever wanted to watched chinese drama.the reason shes the best model of this generation. in every way.shes like the ambassador of your country,shes very strong and kind person and most of all we all learned about her background.shes got the gift from God and she used it to help others.thats why all these actors wanted to work with her.they trusted her to further their carier.zao li ying never asked them they came looking for her and she never turn them down,either asked for return.God bless and be kind and smart next time.adios.
Lmao this is hilarious.
Best actress China ever had? LOL. We clearly know that’s not true. Even Gong Li and Sun Li wouldn’t dare to call themselves that.
And you must be delusional to think that ZLY is the sole factor for international fans watching C-dramas. Have you forgotten about Scarlet Heart and Legend of Zhen Huan? Or in the recent years, Love O2O and Eternal Love? This is why people hate her fans – they put her on a non-existential pedestal and discredit other actresses and their contributions. You should take your advice on how to be smart next time, and do research on C-ent before embarassing yourself.
I think it’s too much and you better stop ! She’s not the best actress. Not even a very good one. Many dramas doesn’t mean she’s great. The career of her partners is based on their own talent and years of hard work. OK ? Being polite with her doesn’t mean they’ll never take a drama if she’ll be not in it
Tina, I agree with you 200% not 100%. She is the best actress china ever had. I haven’t get into any drama movies, but since I saw her movies, I just like to see any movie with Zhao Li Ying as main actress.
Of course she isn’t the best Chinese actress. She’s good and a hard working actress(LGX signed for PA because he wanted a serious person and because the advice of some of his friends) but not a very good one. Many people like her because she looks like a cute 12 years old girl. A lot of dramas but nothing very special. She’s the classical exemple of actor strongly supported by the communist propaganda: a very poor girl who has become a great actress through her own efforts and hard work. A symbol of Chinese woman. Obviously, the producers who want to be favored by the communist party are assaulted her with offers
I’m not from China but Li Ying is my idol and I don’t care if she always been talked about, the most important things is she is a good actress. I like her all her dramas and movies. Anon on if you don’t like her then do not watch.
I was hoping her and Li Yi Feng would get together but to each their own. T.T Whoever she ends up with, I’ll congrats her as a fan 🙂
ZLY is popular in China so it is understandable that she would have international fans as well. She is one of the current most popular TV actresses and her dramas do well. If by hype you mean that her dramas only do good bc she is really popular then this is true but it is also true for 95% of people in this business.
It is true that it is unlikely that LGX or SD would return to PA2 without her for various reasons.
1. If they can’t get ZLY to come back they are unlikely to get any other big name actress bc they wouldn’t want to be playing a sequel to another actress’ drama. Production would only be able to get less popular actresses, this would drop the amount of anticipation behind the sequel and make it less likely for LGX/SD to sign on.
2. They both did say that they participated in this drama thanks to ZLY. SD said that ZLY invited him to look at the role and helped convince him to participate in the drama. While LGX said that they offered him the role and he was not interested on it but once he heard that ZLY had signed on he decided to take it.
3. Usually when part of the original cast start turning down a sequel, it is less likely for other cast members to take it.
4.LGX said in an interview he wouldn’t come back to do a sequel if ZLY didn’t come back.
But anyways this had nothing to do with this article. Back to the article, I wonder if they are dating. If they aren’t, I don’t know why they don’t just deny the rumors. They keep avoiding answering the question.