Xiang Liu and You (Yes, You)

 HeadInTheClouds:

I think what he's doing is making the most of the success of LYF to star in these "idol" style dramas to maximize his popularity and exposure. His age is working against him, so he only has a small window to capitalize on this. The exposure and popularity will then hopefully give him some cushion and leverage for the more serious/prestigious acting gigs. With his actual acting talent, it wouldn't be hard for him to do this transition. Unlike many of the idol stars with limited acting talents who find themselves unable to successfully transition into non-idol fares once they age out of the game. It's not a bad strategy, IMO.

It's a shame that Winner is King was banned, otherwise, I think he would have broken out earlier and we might have gotten more lead roles from him. 

I thought the same, but looking at his drama list, Winner is King was filmed in 2020 and would have come out at the end of 2021 at earliest.  The next show released was Under the Skin in 2022, where he was co-lead, and which is his break out show.  So, we really didn't miss much time.  Though I do remember him saying something like he had to hustle to find jobs in 2021 and he was covered up in work for 2022, so there is that.  I'd really like to know what roles he missed out on since 2017, though it would probably be heartbreaking.

I think Filter is the first drama he's done that is playing off the success of LYF.  The Fireworks and LMLMV dramas, and even Go East were filmed before LYF aired.  Arguably, Go East has something to do with LYF, given Yang Zi's dad, who probably had the heads up about Tan.  The romcoms may have come about because of the success of Under the Skin.  Regardless, I agree it was definitely to capitalize on his success and show he COULD me a male lead and a romantic lead -- something investors and producers didn't see in him before.  LMLMV is his first ML.  It's really sad that it's taken all this time to finally get a romantic male lead role. :(

But I hope you are right and all this enables him to get a chance at more serious acting roles and move into movies, too.

 atmospheres:

He was offered and signed on to LMLMV and Love Has Fireworks on the heels of his breakout with Under the Skin -- that was a pretty popular show domestically and he got a big boost from it. So actually LYF is not his breakout show domestically (although internationally I think it was, in that it was the show that introduced him to a lot of international fans), it's UTS.

Under the Skin is my absolute favorite. It's a crime drama and there's no BS, just plain good storytelling. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking this, because when they came with those terrible rumors that they'd be adding some romance and a nonsensical female in the mix, people were up in arms, and rightly so.

True, most people got to know him because of Lost You Forever, myself included.

 atmospheres:

the more idol dramas he does, the less seriously he will be taken and considered for serious prestigious work

Well, that's a bummer. There are tons of pretty faces to act in those dreadful things.

 atmospheres:

At some point, he's going to be considered too old to be doing idol dramas

 atmospheres:

As a fan, I literally only have one wish for his career in the next two years -- I would love to see him cast in a Daylight Entertainment show. To me, that would show that his talent is being acknowledged by the right people and his career is going in a direction that will give him longevity and creative success as well as prestige.

No idea what that is, I'll have to Google it, but if you say so, then yes, Daylight Entertainment show! That's the way forward!

 atmospheres:

Idol dramas don't have mass public appeal (most aren't even aired on tv) and are not going to better his prospects at being offered serious, prestigious work, in fact it will work against him if that's what he wants -- the more idol dramas he does, the less seriously he will be taken and considered for serious prestigious work.

Thanks for the insights. I remember reading an interview with Yang Zi years ago when she mentioned that one of the reasons that she decided to actively pursue roles in idol drama productions was to gain exposure and fans to have some leverage to get cast in things. Despite being a child star whose acting was recognized, she struggled to get cast. 

Regardless, all the best to TJC. He has talents and that will hopefully sees him through challenges in the industry. And yes, getting cast in a Daylight Entertainment production will be a good move for him. Their products are high quality with a strong focus on script and production values.

 nathsketch:

No idea what that is, I'll have to Google it, but if you say so, then yes, Daylight Entertainment show! That's the way forward!

Daylight is (arguably but imo not really arguably lol) the most prestigious and best Chinese production house, all their works are well regarded in China, just a listing of a few: Nirvana in Fire series, Battle of Changsha (Yang Zi was in this), the Ode To Joy series (Yang Zi was in a couple of these),  The Story of Ming Lan, Minning Town, The Bond, Serenade of Peaceful Joy, Like a Flowing River series, Love Me If You Dare, When a Snail Falls in Love, Reset

They often use the same actors over and over like Wang Kai and Hu Ge. Zhang Xincheng, Wu Lei, and Zhang Wanyi seem to be the new guard (although they worked with Wu Lei when he was young in NiF) for Daylight. I've been surprised with some of their recent castings like Iqiyi Boy Zeng Shunxi and Nepo Brother Fan Chengcheng.

 HeadInTheClouds:

I remember reading an interview with Yang Zi years ago when she mentioned that one of the reasons that she decided to actively pursue roles in idol drama productions was to gain exposure and fans to have some leverage to get cast in things. Despite being a child star whose acting was recognized, she struggled to get cast.

I think I remember that interview too. She faced a kind of unique stumbling block in her career in that she was a very famous child star, and she aged out of kid roles but the industry still wasn't seeing her as a woman so she wasn't getting offers or auditioning and getting cast in adult roles. I remember when she auditioned for the film The Left Ear and didn't get cast -- she lost out to Chen Duling (the mind boggles). So that movie cast Chen Duling and Yang Yang, but didn't cast Yang Zi. Su Youpeng is on another planet, that's all I can say.

Also, I agree with what people are saying in this thread. I recently saw a saying online a couple of times that I liked "don't yuck someone's yum". I'm following that for LMLMV in that I'm not going to go into the dedicated forum for that show and yuck someone's yum. Imo, in this catch-all TJC thread, I think it's okay to analyze and critique any work he's done -- in fact, I think it's fun, I rarely get to discuss him with non-Chinese fans. I don't believe in mindless, slavish fan behavior. There are actors I like who I think are bad at acting, I just find them attractive, and I won't hesitate to critique their performances. There are actors I like who I think are great at acting but sometimes have a bad show or a bad performance and I won't hesitate to point that out. I'm also able to separate an actor's acting from them as people, so when I say I don't like someone's acting or I think they're bad at acting, that doesn't mean I don't like them as a person -- I may like them as a person, or more often I don't have an opinion on them as a person because I don't know anything about them.

 atmospheres:

Daylight is (arguably but imo not really arguably lol) the most prestigious and best Chinese production house, all their works are well regarded in China, just a listing of a few: Nirvana in Fire series, Battle of Changsha (Yang Zi was in this), the Ode To Joy series (Yang Zi was in a couple of these),  The Story of Ming Lan, Minning Town, The Bond, Serenade of Peaceful Joy, Like a Flowing River series, Love Me If You Dare, When a Snail Falls in Love, Reset

They often use the same actors over and over like Wang Kai and Hu Ge. Zhang Xincheng, Wu Lei, and Zhang Wanyi seem to be the new guard (although they worked with Wu Lei when he was young in NiF) for Daylight. I've been surprised with some of their recent castings like Iqiyi Boy Zeng Shunxi and Nepo Brother Fang Chengcheng.

Ahhh I see. Great, so let's hope he gets there pretty soon!

I often hear that Nirvana in Fire is one of the best series ever. I'll put them on my watchlist :)

 Kokuto:

It's okay, BadGal, don't be sad. Me and Luv are enjoying the sugar high with you. :)

Yeah, plenty of people are enjoying it! The majority is, actually, so keep being happy <3

 Kokuto:

But yes, it's nice to see fans you can separate the show from the actor or even the role.

Definitely. It's healthier, you know? For example, Only for Love. I really really like Dylan, but that drama was all sorts of underwhelming nonsense.

 nathsketch:

Yeah, plenty of people are enjoying it! The majority is, actually, so keep being happy <3

Definitely. It's healthier, you know? For example, Only for Love. I really really like Dylan, but that drama was all sorts of underwhelming nonsense.

Yeaaah I know because I didn't make it too for OFL the struggle aaff