Revenged Love fascinates me. Not the show itself (I still haven’t finished it, though I’ve watched most of the BTS lol), but everything around it. Two little known straight male actors from mainland China suddenly blew up after starring in a BL drama that was released everywhere except mainland China. You could easily fill an academic paper or an industry report whichever angle you take lol
Whenever a romance drama becomes a surprise hit, it attracts several fan groups: the “CP” fans (those who ship Chi Cheng x Wu Suowei), the “RPS/真人CP” fans (those who ship Tian Xuning x Zi Yu), and the solo/career fans for each actor. These groups might overlap but they also fight constantly and as I’ve recently observed, those fights can get ugly fast… CP fans are fickle and will disappear the moment the fantasy breaks. What’s the best career move to make as the two actors themselves and their agents? I’d imagine they’d have to strategize on things like which base to focus on and for how long to serve the cp fans? Both of them could develop genuine career fans if they play it smart. Zi Yu’s made for the stage. I wouldn’t even count myself as a casual fan but I’d probably be happy to pay to see him perform. When he was on stage, he was just so radiant, graceful, and authentic? And Tian Xuning can actually act, which already sets him apart from most idol-type leads.
There’s also a big difference between blowing up from a danmei adaptation (like 2.0-4.0 did) and becoming famous through something like Revenged Love. The first can at least try to distance itself from its source material. The second leaves you with what the fans call a real 出身问题/“tainted origin of fame problem.” People in the circle might look down on them while secretly envying their new found success. And I’ve seen comments speculating that they’ll need a two year cool down period before any serious acting roles would find them(?) Once you reach that level of fame, you even have to think about how the state apparatus sees you and learn to read censorship trends and move carefully when the wind changes.
And then there’s that age old question that haunted Wu Suowei and now it haunts me too. If two straight men play lovers that convincingly, do they actually turn gay? And if they do, can they turn back? (Not that I want them to… just curious)
