The theme of costume martial arts dramas has always been loved by the audience, especially the film and television dramas adapted from the martial arts novels of novel writers such as Jin Yong, Gu Long, and Liang Yusheng are widely welcomed by the audience.
It's just that as some martial arts actors in the Hong Kong circle and the mainland are getting older, most of the newcomer actors have no martial arts skills, resulting in the quality of costume martial arts dramas filmed by domestic entertainment in recent years.
Even the currently airing martial arts series "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" has a lot of complaints, even if there are five directors Xu Bing, Deng Ke, Cao Dun, Zang Xichuan, and Yang Lei, they have not been able to shoot the essence of Jin Yong's martial arts.
Of course, in addition to the director, the casting of martial arts dramas is also very important.
Although "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" gathers popular actors such as Zhou Yiwei, Gao Weiguang, He Rundong, Chen Duling, Bao Shangen, Meng Ziyi, and This Sha, it is difficult for the audience to enter the play if the actors and characters do not match.
For example, although Huang Rong in Bao Shangen's version has a delicate atmosphere, she has no sense of agility, and her lines are even more crooked, without half of Huang Rong's eccentricity and playfulness in the original book.
This sand version of Guo Jing is honest and not stupid, the actor's face looks shrewd, and his old-fashioned appearance is matched with his obvious foreign characteristics, no matter how you look at it, it is difficult to let the audience enter the play.
On the contrary, Wang Hongyi's version of Yang Kang and Huang Yi's version of Mu Nianci, as well as Mencius's version of Mei Chaofeng, are more in line with the role and are more loved by the audience.
It can be seen how important martial arts drama selection is to actors.
Speaking of casting, director Xu Jian is recently preparing a 24-episode costume martial arts drama "Yun Shen Doesn't Know Where", and on the short video platform, he called on netizens to actively recommend new actors to this drama.
And in the comment area of his video, Xiao Yuliang and Zhang Yaqin have the highest voices.
Xiao Yuliang is a post-95 actor, graduated from the Dance Department of Sichuan University in 2015 with a bachelor's degree, and in the same year, he was admitted to the graduate class of the Dance Academy of Minzu University of China with the first comprehensive score in culture and major.
In addition to dancing, Xiao Yuliang can also do martial arts. Since he was a child, he studied martial arts with his father, and when he grew up, in addition to going to the gym to exercise, he was also a frequent visitor to the martial arts gym.
Audiences who have watched the TV series "Sand Sea" and "Ultimate Notes" should be very familiar with Xiao Yuliang, and the little brother Zhang Qiling he plays perfectly restores the character image of the original book.
In order to play the role of "Zhang Qiling" well, Xiao Yuliang studied the original work over and over again, and restored the inner drama and character characteristics of the characters as much as possible.
During the filming of "Ultimate Notes", Xiao Yuliang personally went into battle in every fight, relying on the martial arts skills he learned since childhood to do his best.
It is precisely because of the smooth and outstanding play that Xiao Yuliang was given the title of "Dan Face Martial Artist" by the audience.
In addition to Xiao Yuliang's outstanding play, his appearance is also very high, and his ancient costume appearance is even more like a handsome son.
He has also participated in costume dramas such as "The Legend of Heaven" (as Zhuang Huanyu) and "Marriage Adult, Please Stay" (as Xu Yunchuan), and his performance is very good.
Xiao Yuliang has a good appearance, good acting skills, can dance and martial arts, and has a certain fan base.
Zhang Yaqin is a post-95 actress who graduated from the 2016 undergraduate class of the Acting Department of Shanghai Theater Academy.
In 2016, Zhang Yaqin took over the filming of his first TV series "Twenty Years Old Again", thus officially entering the entertainment industry.
After that, Zhang Yaqin participated in many popular dramas such as "Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms", "Fuyao", "Eternal Juechen", and also starred in many TV series such as "Youth Tour One Inch Lovesickness", "You Who Saved 10,000 Times", "Look Up and See Joy", but unfortunately there was no splash.
It was not until June 2023 that the costume fantasy romance drama "Ancient Lovesickness" was broadcast, and Zhang Yaqin gained widespread attention with the role of "Lu Kite".
Although "Ancient Lovesickness" only has 14 episodes, the show still relied on its creative script and fresh and full characters to break through the encirclement of last year's popular dramas.
The heroine Lu Kite is a generation of "demon queens" who have left behind the history of the world, she has been sensitive and observant since she was a child, far-sighted, and dusty in appearance, like a fairy, but she is not weaker than others, she is good at riding and shooting, proficient in music theory, able to write and martial arts, and wise and brave.
Lu Kite, like a child in the sunshine, like an adult in the wind and rain, can clearly distinguish between kindness and love, know how to cherish, and dare to choose. It's just that she carries a lot of things on her body, and every time she thinks about it, people can't help but feel distressed.
It can be said that the role of Zhang Yaqin and Lu Kite complement each other, Zhang Yaqin played Lu Kite with his excellent acting skills, and Lu Kite's vivid and full character design also made Zhang Yaqin recognized by more people.
Of course, netizens recommended Zhang Yaqin to appear in martial arts dramas not only because of her wonderful performance in "Ancient Lovesickness", but also because she learned dance since she was a child, and is good at folk dance, classical dance, ballet and other dance genres.
Actors who have a foundation in dance will have more smooth and powerful movements when filming.
As netizens said, if Xiao Yuliang and Zhang Yaqin are invited to play the male and female protagonists of martial arts dramas, the crew will even save money for martial arts instructors.
Both of them are professional dancers, and they know martial arts, and they are also outstanding in playing, so they must be very exciting to work with.
As an audience who has watched both "Ultimate Notes" and "Ancient Lovesickness", I really hope that Xu Jian, the director of "Yunshen Doesn't Know Anywhere", can listen to the suggestions of netizens and give Xiao Yuliang and Zhang Yaqin a chance, maybe they will achieve unexpected results.
What do you think?