First Stills of Gong Jun in Period C-drama The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng is New Levels of Hilarious
Ha, hahahaha, hahahahahahahaha OMG who thought up this idea much less considered it a good idea and made it a reality. The concept posters and first promos are out for wuxia period C-drama The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng (Chinese title Feng Wu Jiu Tian 凤舞九天) and it’s the most unintentionally hilarious thing I’ve seen in years. Male lead Gong Jun is both unrecognizable with the fake moustache and also absurd levels of visually ridiculous with that top lip furry caterpillar. This is like when the male leads inWord of Honor would “go undercover or incognito” with the barest of disguises and everyone acts unable to recognize them. I don’t care if the classic Lu Xiaofeng character did have a moustache, a costume designer should be able to determine as long as he/she had eyes that Gong Jun should never ever have a moustache except as a self-aware joke. This gets even worse once you see multiple Gong Jun poses in the costume fitting stills also released, genuinely one of the best worst looks ever in C-drama land. Oh, and Zheng Ye Cheng and Riley Wang and a bunch of pretty boy type actors are also in this drama with nary a female lead in sight. Take it for what you will.
I grew up with Damian Lau as the titanic Luk Siu Fung (Cantonese). These pics with Gong Jun, especially the poster, are just funny. Not sure if he could carry off the fun-loving and mischievous, yet dashing Luk Siu Fung, though. I hope Zheng YeCheng portrays Sai Mun Chun Suit (Cantonese), the hilariously yandere swordsman with all those poetics lines mouthed in a forlorn manner. He would be perfect!
Well, good news for us because he does!
Ha ha, ridiculous indeed. He kind of reminds me of Conchita Wurst, if you know who that is.
Yuck. He doesn’t have any acting skills to speak of and no screen presence. And this is a character that requires it.
He still looks cute but I’d prefer if they abandoned the character’s trademark (the moustache). It looks weird.
In the original story, Lu Xiaofeng grew a beard because he has a pretty face and folks always fell in love with him, which he found troublesome. LOL. Gong Jun’s looks make him a convincing choice (although the styling looks cheap in the stills). But as mentioned in the comment above, he still lacks the acting skills needed to bring the character to life.
Let’s hope the itty bitty mustache acts as a magical wall that makes him much more comfortable to act fully in character in front of the camera. He was only ever good in “Word of Honor” because he wasn’t expected to play a perfect, swoony hero, wooing a woman. His character in “WOH” had depth because he was flawed. Let this mustache be a character flaw that pushes him to actually become his character. 🤞😅
Out of his 3 costume dramas after WOH,only one drama which shows his character wooing a (stoic) woman. He played a character wooing a woman perfectly in Rising With The Wind (ofc it went under the radar among international fans because it’s not a idol romance drama.
*an
Yeah, that was his most convincing performance with a leading lady, but I think it’s because she carried the main plot line, which I feel took the heat off of him. His character’s perfectness supported her struggling character so there was more of a balance. I’m still waiting for them to actually pair him with a good leading lady in something historical to see if they can come out with a decent story finally because the female lead would help to drive the story with her acting. Maybe it’s the weird (to me) concept of “first billing”, but I just want a balanced story with both leads. Whenever they cast him, the stories he’s in tends to let him dominate screen time and plot lines, and I don’t think he can carry that weight with his limited acting ability. I truly think “WOH” worked because both leads had equally compelling storylines that worked together, and not because he was acting with a guy.
I don’t mind if dramas don’t have an equal balance between the leads, because from my point of view, besides a protagonist, there’s also a deuteragonist or even a tritagonist; it’s quite common in South Korean dramas (the exception is usually romantic or coming-of-age stories). When actors agree to participate in an adaptation, they shouldn’t make a fuss demanding non-canonical scenes just because they don’t want to be left “behind”, aww. Lol. There are also actresses in lead roles in male-centric dramas, but they don’t ask for changes to gain more relevance. Well, if they were to do it, the fandoms of these men will turn on them, with misogyny included, as already happened with someone I won’t name 🙂
Among these actors, there are some who don’t even come close to the influence or popularity of the actresses, but there they are, fighting for the top billing in female-centric dramas… A big LOL.
agree. that’s what I’ve been saying that main role doesn’t mean protagonist & that’s why fans get mad when romance isn’t the focal point in these youthful stories of personal growth that focus on various relationships not just romantic love 😱 I just finished watching Reborn with Zhang Jingyi and there are a lot people of whining because there weren’t many love scenes between the leads even though the drama was a story of seeking self-identity and bravery in the face of injustices lmao I just can’t.
@Leia omgah sorry, I swear I thought I hit reply under your comment 😅
@Shayeli @Jadyn I agree with you guys. I just don’t think Chinese writers are skilled enough to do nuance (with censorship capping them) to give enough characters, whether they’re main or secondary, proper backstories to do a story justice. That’s why if they can just balance the male and female leads by making them compelling enough characters in their own rights, usually those stories come out the best. In recent memory, watchable dramas that stuck a little because they had some balance between the leads were stories like “Fairy and Devil”, “Who Rules the World”, “Love Like the Galaxy”, “A Journey to Love”, “Prisoner of Beauty”. These projects did have the heavy hitter actors and actresses, but again, balance.
As it relates to Gong Jun, definitely don’t make him carry most of the plot. 😅 Because I’ve seen him do well in “WOH” before, I still believe that sort of performance is in him somewhere, but the writers need to do some heavy lifting with their stories for him to be able to execute. And he’ll absolutely need the right voice dubber, which they’ve never gotten right since “WOH”. 😅
Oh, Quan Yi Lun will also be in a main role! With his solid acting skills and nice looks, it is sad to see him just in supporting roles.
I never thought he looked especially girly, but the mustache somehow makes him look more feminine and it reminds me when young women in costume dramas put on a fake mustache to masquerade as a man. I hope he looks less awkward in the filming.
Glad they’re committed to keeping the mustache. Who knows – maybe it will free the actor from trying to look pretty and focus more on acting.
Indeed weird and awkward! He’s one of those leading men who have got talent to turn potentially intriguing stories too tiring to digest. lol. If one can’t act, the visuals would become negatives assets.
Not impressed by him in Blood River. uneven performances. He is just has limitation I Guess. My most fav of his performances is still flavour it’s yours, legend of anle, begin again.
I don’t even like him in word of honor. maybe, he is just good when he is in the mood and the character suit him?