In contrast, current female protagonists in domestic dramas claim to be very poor, yet they rent elegantly furnished apartments in prime city locations for seven or eight thousand yuan a month, flaunt luxury brands, wear exquisite makeup, and buy dresses worth three thousand yuan on a whim.
This is what they call poor?
Do the production crew and directors have a misunderstanding of the word 'poor'?
After watching, the audience feels their intelligence has been greatly insulted.
This kind of exaggerated "refined poverty" is indeed a major flaw in current idol dramas.
Ye Tianyu is a Cinderella in the drama. Cinderella should look like Cinderella, and this point must be carefully avoided, otherwise, they might genuinely be criticized to death.
After "refined poverty," the points that audiences dislike most about female protagonists are: being manipulative, acting like "green tea" [a term for women who appear innocent but are calculating and manipulative], having a double standard—one face in front of people, another behind their backs, having distorted values, and pretending to be a saint.
These are all potential pitfalls, and once touched upon, the character is bound to fail.
While Jiang Ling was diligently studying her character and carefully avoiding the audience's pet peeves, Chen Mingzhang was still struggling to find a suitable actor for the male lead, Shan Junhao.
The role of Shan Junhao was extremely challenging to portray. Chen Mingzhang initially considered compromising on looks and finding a male actor with a higher profile and solid acting skills.
Chen Mingzhang's first thought was Le Zheng Yu.
Le Zheng Yu debuted as an idol trainee and enjoyed a period of popularity due to traffic. Gradually, his popularity began to wane.
However, his luck was good. During this difficult period of transition, he unexpectedly met Guan Su Yi, who was returning to acting.
Through his role as Jin Shiyi, the male protagonist in "The Romance of the Condor Heroes," his popularity soared, not only did he successfully transition, but he also smoothly rose to become a top-tier star.
If Jiang Ling had not been signed, Le Zheng Yu would indeed have been a good candidate.
Now that Jiang Ling has secured the female lead Ye Tianyu, the male lead Shan Junhao cannot be played by Le Zheng Yu.
Firstly, Jiang Ling's颜值 (yan zhi - facial beauty) is too high.
Idol dramas emphasize颜值. It's acceptable for the male lead to be more handsome than the female lead, but the female lead's beauty should not completely overshadow the male lead's.
Because the main audience is female, men look at beautiful women, and women look at handsome men. If the颜值 gap is too large, it's easy for the male lead to become a mere supporting character, affecting the overall viewing experience.
This is based on Chen Mingzhang's years of experience filming idol dramas.
Although Le Zheng Yu's 颜值 is not outstanding, he looks fine acting alongside other A-list and second-tier actresses.
But if he were to act with Jiang Ling, his handsomeness would be completely crushed into dust.
Idol dramas are not martial arts dramas. In martial arts dramas, the male lead doesn't have to be handsome, but in idol dramas, he must be.
Secondly, Jiang Ling and Le Zheng Yu acted together in "The Romance of the Condor Heroes" last year.
They had great chemistry, and Jin Shiyi and Li Shengnan, as portrayed by them, became a classic on-screen couple, deeply ingrained in the audience's minds.
But precisely because the Jin-Li CP was too classic, a second collaboration as a couple would inevitably lead the audience to dissociate from their characters and see them as reincarnations of Jin Shiyi and Li Shengnan.
Chen Mingzhang did not want the drama he had prepared for so many years to end up as a sequel to another drama, which would be as off-putting as "mistaking someone for another."
Jiang Ling's high 颜值 made the already difficult role of Shan Junhao even more challenging.
Finding a male actor who possesses the handsomeness to match Jiang Ling's stunning beauty, has good acting skills, and can embody Shan Junhao's aristocratic demeanor is truly, incredibly difficult.
Chen Mingzhang was so worried that his hair was almost turning white, and he maintained a gloomy expression every day.
One day, after auditioning a batch of male actors, Chen Mingzhang went to a corner to smoke.
While puffing on his cigarette, Chen Mingzhang sighed repeatedly, "It's all just a bunch of mismatched odds and ends. How can it be so hard to find a male actor with nobility, good looks, and a great physique?"