While watching Romance in the Rain (2001 version) and the 1986 version, I really could raise the issue of NOT ENOUGH CHEMISTRY. I did learn that Qin Han and Liu Xue Hua were the leading stars of "After Many Sunsets", "Romance in the Rain", "Seagull's Home", "The Unforgettable Character", "Courtyard" and "Red Love". That was six whopping series where the chemistry stood out. Now it's time to discuss my bigger problem on the chemistry with Leo Ku and Vicki Zhao.
I'm a fan of Vicki Zhao but I really have all the trouble in the world adjusting to Leo Ku's performance as Shu Huan. Just seeing him as Shu Huan was not my type. Sure the show got some awards and Vicki deserved them. But Leo Ku? I really couldn't help but poke at him too much with his role as Shuhuan. After seeing the 1986 version, I really have to say that as much as I prefer most of the cast of the 2001 version but there was really a serious lack of chemistry. The more I look like Leo, can he really act the parts that Qin Han was able to do? My answer is a real big flat no. Every time he tried to look convincing, he really fails super duper hard. I felt like WTF was the director thinking with casting Leo Ku as Shuhuan?
So I guess in spite of the ratings Romance in the Rain had, the two really didn't have much of a chemistry because of the leading guy. I really couldn't imagine Leo Ku acting out Qin Han's more intense roles. I am a fan of his singing but I can't really take him that seriously as an actor. Please, I really can't imagine him playing the part of Bo Pei Wen in Ting Yuan Shen Shen even if Wang Lin would have made a good Ai Lin. Sidenote, Qiong Yao actress Gu Yin played both Xue Qin (1986 version of Romance in the Rain) and Ai Lin in Ting Yuan Shen Shen. But really, I can't imagine Leo pulling that much good of a performance as Pei Wen and I'd probably throw bricks on the TV set if he did the role. Is it me or is his acting not really good? I never liked him playing Shu Huan for even one bit of the series he's in.
That's why I really ended up thinking Jerry Yan and Barbie Xu should've been Shu Huan and Yi Ping instead of Leo and Vicki. Jerry really is really debonair with good acting and Barbie could cry so beautifully. The break-up scene in Meteor Garden under the heavy rain felt like they were better off playing the parts of Shu Huan and Yi Ping. I felt like they were the only on-screen couple that matched up to the standards of Qin Han and Liu Xue Hua in terms of acting and chemistry. I think Meteor Garden clicked with old school Chinese viewers because of their chemistry. Liu Xue Hua really knew how to cry so beautifully and so could Barbie. Jerry had Qin Han's appeal that the two could look like they could play father and son and another, Liu Xue Hua can play as Jerry's mother. Gu Yin could play Barbie's mother in "An Unforgettable Character" for more age-accurate casting with Tang Qi as Jerry's grandmother and Qin Han's mother.
While watching some of the scenes of the six series that Liu Xue Hua and Qin Han were in together makes me think that Jerry and Barbie could've pulled all those parts together. Jerry as Pei Wen who is blinded and still missing his supposedly dead wife and Barbie taking the role of Fang Si Ying/Han Ye would have been really a cool performance. Barbie could pull off those scenes of being Han Ye or any of those older roles Liu Xue Hua had with Qin Han. But too bad that after Meteor Garden II - they never became part of Qiong Yao's world for some time before parting ways.
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