Time for our fourth installment of Bromances. Today we’re once again crossing into a new territory. Since I’ve already brought you some famous bromances in Korea and Japan, today’s delicious boy BFFs are from Taiwan, none other than top drama idol-actors Joe Cheng and Mike He.
While I love Joe to pieces, Mike has yet to star in a single drama I’ve liked or finished watching, so I not on the Mike He bandwagon because I don’t have enough Mike He drama love to sustain me. But Mike and Joe are well-known BFFs in the acting industry in Taiwan, and have collaborated on endorsement and public service projects together.
As a testament to their BFF affection, the Taiwan tabloids love to insinuate they are in love with each other. When Joe was on a variety show, and he was asked to call a friend to borrow NT 10 million, Joe immediately called Mike. Below is the hilarious sequence where Joe tries to ask Mike to borrow money, and Mike worries that Joe has fallen in with the “wrong people.”
Joe asks Mike for money to bail him out of a sticky situation (with English subs):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCXboucnP8Q]
Some of their promotional and media events involve other people, but Mike and Joe are never too far away from each other.
They kinda have a third wheel who constantly pops up in their pictures, Taiwan’s newly crowned movie idol Ethan Ruan.
In the end, it’s always still Joe and Mike, Mike and Joe. The newspapers are reporting that both guys may not be BFFs anymore, what with them switching networks with each other and taking on leading roles in dramas initially offered to the other guy first. Also, when Joe published a book last month, Ethan showed up to promote it with him rather than Mike. I think any talk of rifts is baloney.
oh noes, I missed your previous entries about bromances! :((( Nice article!
Hi Sere,
If you go to the My Loves category, you can find the earlier three bromance posts. Yamapi and Jin, Song Seong Heon and So Ji Sub, and Jung Woo Sung and Lee Jung Jae.
These guys make it so easy for me to find pictures of their bromance.
Thanks OCKOALA for this article. I am a big Mike He fan…but may be because of his two T-dramas with Rainie Yang and Kingone Wang- Devil beside you and Why Why Love. I was not able to finish his drama with Hebe…..
Are their any better dramas with Mike and Joe…. (please note that I started Joe’s LOVE OR BREAD but lost interest in between and same with Mike’s LOVE CONTRACT)
Any way thanks for covering TDramas …..
alksjdlasjdsaldjlsajdsaldj OMG!!!!! A few of my favorite bromaces!!!!!! Will read the entries right away.
I like Mike He. I sometimes am skeptical about his acting but I appreciate his…what’s the word I am looking for…effort maybe and I do think he has a certain charm. I like the chemistry he has with Rainie Yang so I watched Devil Beside You and Why Why Love but I could not manage to watch his other dramas til the end. Can’t put my finger on exactly why though.
As for Joe Cheng, I don’t know too much about his dramas except for ISWAK and sorry but I could not even get through the 3rd episode of that drama. I know people love that adaption of the mange but it was just not for me.
I watched a youtube video of a kind of funny and what turned out to be a sort of sweet prank that Joe Cheng played on Mike He once. It showed how much Mike He really cares about Joe Cheng. It is supposedly widely known that Mike He is very stingy and strict with his money. He supposedly does not spend it on anything or anyone other than his parents. Well Joe Cheng was on some show and they got him to call Mike He and act like he had some loan sharks that were going to beat him up if he didn’t give them back their money (it wasn’t an outrageous sum but it was enough). No one thought for a second that Mike He would offer to help him but after suggesting to call the police and even after talking to and trying to persuade the supposed loan shark (the host of the show pretended to be the loan shark), without success, to let Joe Cheng go, he actually told him he would get the money for him. It kind of shocked even Joe Cheng! Of course Mike He did not appreciate the prank but I don’t think he got too mad because he was quite relieved he didn’t actually have to give him the money. True Bromance!
Oh my gosh! I wasn’t paying attention! You have the video posted right here! I really need to catch up on my sleep. This weekend of no sleep has really caught up with me! Lol!
I believe that all three of them ( Mike, Ethan and Joe) were once in the same modeling agency. Mike and Joe are too pretty. Ethan gives out more manly vibe.
@CeeCee23: I agree with you that something about Mike He’s acting that I also cannot quite described it. He does put in the effort. I do noticed that all soaps that he was in has the typical “Mike He” smirk+glance which suppose to make him into a “bad/rebellious” characters. He was so much more fun to watch during the ng clips or live entertainment show when he doesn’t need to ACT.
I can’t stop smiling watching the video.
Among the ouxiang actors in Taiwan, Joe and Mike are my favorites….not necessary for the acting though. 😛
Ha… i actually like both of them… i remember seeing them together on a show pre-ISWAK, their bromance was then so so cute even though i had no idea who Mike was… i knew Joe though..
i can’t help but wonder though… why do pretty looking guys hang around each other??? it seems like that for many cases. maybe it’s like clicks naturally forming at school. oh well, i’m not complaing… XD
OMG…. this is probably off-topic but i just saw a pic of joe and ss501 together and joe was right next to kim hyun joong (and we can see how tall joe is… haha. khj is already considered tall but joe totally dominated)… the 2 Irie getting together… i knew ss501 were in taiwan.. i had no idea they met with Joe.
talk about pretty boys getting together. sigh. sometimes, i wish i could be go minyu or yoonhee. XD
I love Joe Cheng to pieces! ^^
I think the so-called rift between them is just another publicity stunt set by the press for their upcoming drama. I can’t wait to see Joe Cheng acting again! ^^
wow.. 2 of my taiwanese actor, wow Joe Ching the height !!! and my beloved Mike He !! i love them both…
really Joe and mike are best friends..
never knew that, I just though they were good friends…
and add ethan to the mix and you have a very cool and Hot TRio of talented taiwanese actors..
anyway the other Bromance installment i read is about yamapi & jin
hope you will add in you story about the cool and close knit friendship of DBSK’s KimJaejoong/micky Yoochun, ss501’s KIm HyunJoong and BigBang’s TOP..
i already made some blog about this here: http://www.asianfanfics.com/blog/view/1997/4
and some soompi thread sharing discusses about it here: http://www.soompi.com/forums/topic/329696-kim-jae-joong-kim-hyun-joong-and-choi-seung-hyun-top/
PS:
… and also So Ji Sub and Song Seung Heon.
I always thought that Mike, Joe, and Ethan were all best friends with each other. They’ve known each other since their Taichung (where they all grew up) days and I remember them saying this in an interview once…I just can’t remember which one right now.
Yes, I’m reading some of your backentries! ^^’ Anyway, when I read the line about Mike and how you haven’t jumped on his bandwagon yet, I was like, “oooooooh how can one drama and a few months change a person’s POV!” LOL
Mike He FTW! ♥