Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

nathsketch - Wow! You make a great case. Let me have some time to digest it all!

@liddi

   How much of your love for Xiang Liu is based on Tan Jian Ci's performance vs. based on the character himself?

Xiang Liu is the kind of character that I tend to gravitate towards, so as long as a half-way competent actor played him, I would have liked him. Tan Jian Ci's performance, though, really takes my liking for XL to another level. In the novel, we didn't get any insight into his thoughts and emotions so in the hand of someone who is "half-way competent" we would probably have gotten the aloof, emotionless XL. 

What TJC did with his performance is to give us a look at the emotions/thoughts underneath - the kind of insight that we might have got, if Tong Hua had chosen to provide them in the novel. In other words, he didn't just merely acted out XL as written, but he interpret and gives live to XL's inner world. How much of this is due to TJC own interpretation vs. in combination with script-writers intention, and director's vision? The final performance of an actor is probably a combination of all 3 aspects. A weak actor need a good character and relies on the vision and guidance of a strong director to give a good performance; whereas a strong actor will work better with a director who is willing to collaborate with them. Of course, if TJC wasn't able to convey subtle emotions, no amount of direction would have given us the performance that we got. 

I think we dodged a bullet with Yang Yang. My experience with Yang Yang's acting is that he's very pretty to look at, but he lacks a certain sensitivity and depth in his portrayal. I get the sense that he's far to conscious of his good looks and being Yang Yang, that he can't takes you into the inner world of the character that he's playing. I think we would have gotten the surface level performance.

In conclusion, XL as a character is a chocolate cake. TJC as Xiang Liu is a chocolate cake with extra icing and trimmings on top.

 liddi:

I couldn't agree more with everything you described about Xiao Qi, an awesome character, brought to life by the very talented Zhou Yiwei.  This is the kind of husband I want for my daughter!

Yes, right?? This is the kind of guy I can support through it all, even compared to Xiang Liu.

~ LOL, stop lying, who am I kidding? ~

But no, Xiao Qi is perfect, he's simply perfect in every way. And he remains a Man™ man.

Xiang Liu, baby, don't be jealous lol.

 liddi:

There are similarities between them though. Apart from being fiercely loyal to the men they lead and totally devoted to the woman they love, both of them are also poor as church mice, especially Xiang Liu who even needs to take on side jobs as an assassin to fund his army, unlike the rest of Xiao Yao's suitors who are pretty much rolling in gold. 

I love my poor babies.

It's like I always say to Kokuto, I want to pay his bills. I'll pay for everything hahahah

 HeadInTheClouds:

I think they may also be influence by what get touted as the official couple/ship. I'm pretty sure XY/Jing are being marketed as the FL/ML of the drama.

Oh yikes, welp, bah, humbug!

 HeadInTheClouds:

he didn't just merely acted out XL as written, but he interpret and gives live to XL's inner world. How much of this is due to TJC own interpretation vs. in combination with script-writers intention, and director's vision? The final performance of an actor is probably a combination of all 3 aspects. A weak actor need a good character and relies on the vision and guidance of a strong director to give a good performance; whereas a strong actor will work better with a director who is willing to collaborate with them. Of course, if TJC wasn't able to convey subtle emotions, no amount of direction would have given us the performance that we got. 

Very well said - thank you! I concur that it is a combination of script, direction and cast that determines a strong performance. Case in point - the 2011 very faithful adaptation of Tong Hua's 步步惊心 Scarlet Heart was a brilliant success, so much so that they did a modern day sequel 步步惊情 Scarlet Heart 2 with pretty much the same cast and crew, but different scriptwriters. It was a disaster, and made me want to poke my eyes out because of how much it went into makjang territory. 

In the case of Xiang Liu, I am glad to see collaborative efforts between TJC and the director in interpreting what how he should be portrayed, and the end result is proof how well it was done. My real concern is in the script for S2 - especially its departure from the novel, because as I have come to realise, no amount of great direction and acting can save a wreck of a script.

 Kokuto:

These can both be true.  I had heard Yang Yang being Tong Hua's ideal image for Xiang Liu somewhere also.  But I think Zoe Qin's ideal and only choice was Tan Jian Ci, and Zoe would have more pull in casting, IMO.  But that's not to say she is the only person making the casting choice.  I'm sure the people paying the bills would have preferred a bigger name actor like Yang Yang or XZ.  They may have tried for Yang Yang, but didn't get him, as you said thankfully, because I just don't think he could have pulled XL off.

Yang Yang was never what I envisioned Xiang Liu to be. To be honest, not many can pull off the white haired look despite it being done all over dramaland. Until TJC's Xiang Liu, the epitome of that look for me was Gao Wei Guang's 东华帝君 Dong Hua in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. Now, everyone else who follow will have to live up to or exceed TJC's visuals of Xiang Liu in my eyes.

I think we were lucky the original intended cast didn't pan out. I still remember the actors originally courted for 4th and 8th princes in Scarlet Heart, and I cannot imagine what the production team was thinking.