Wallace Huo’s Empathy for “Ruyi” Causes Him to Break Down Into Tears
Portraying the Qianlong Emperor in Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace <如懿传>, Wallace Huo (霍建華) plays a man who suffers from slight paranoia, being suspicious of others and easily falling for other women. Zhou Xun (周迅), who plays the titular character and Qianlong’s wife Ruyi, suffers much from Qianlong’s twisted beliefs.
In an interview with Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace director Wang Jun (汪俊) and screenwriter/author Liu Lianzi (流潋紫), they revealed that Wallace got so attached to his role that he broke into tears in a scene that would mark Qianlong and Ruyi’s very last meeting together. He cried on Wang Jun’s shoulders for a good minute, frightening even Zhou Xun.
“He acted until the very end. He knew all about Qianlong’s journey up until that point, including where the relationship would go. At the time, he really felt sorry for Ruyi. Especially her.”
Zhou Xun had commented, “He got more and more invested in the role. At the end, when our characters were about to break up, all I could see was Qianlong.”
Wallace has mentioned in an earlier interview about breaking into tears during the filming of Ruyi. He recalled, “I didn’t know I would do that. I just knew that I felt really sorry for Ruyi, for what I’ve done to her. I feel that I owe her too much.”
In the aforementioned scene, Qianlong apologized to Ruyi and begged her to forgive him. He wanted to start things over with her again. “He is an emperor,” said Wallace. “He couldn’t be too passive. But I was playing this role, and I completely crumbled.”
Emperors carried a figure of authority and had to be strong. Wallace didn’t want to cry, but he couldn’t stop crying after doing the scene. “I really owed her too much. This woman suffered greatly because of me.” At that moment, it was no longer Qianlong who was crying. It was Wallace.
Source: Ettoday.net
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Great drama so far! Love most of the female casts. I really think it is better than story of yanxi, but most probably thinks otherwise.
@jessehsuan I agree. It is much much much better than Yanxi but I still think Wallace is a miscast.
Funny…I couldn’t feel the chemistry between Wallace and Zhou Xun at all.The feelings of Qian Long for Ruyi is so superficial…The drama is so bad that even though I forwarded every episodes..I cant force myself to continue to watch anymore because everything about the drama is so poor to the point of a bit yucky…
The series is a good story but 80+ eps is too long for me. I think Lady Jia’s downfall was a bit strange considering her previous formidability.
Regarding Wallace, I think he was a miscast as he does not exude royal authority. I think his role is hard to grasp because after the initial 10 eps. he starts to hide himself and not let people read him easily. Qian Long is not supposed to be a likeable character so I guess all the negative comments means he is effective in a hateful role.
I think the plot goes downhill after Ruyi becomes Empress. I feel very bad for Ling Yun Che and Qian Long is disgusting. I just hope Ruyi can quickly cut her hair and get away from Qian Long. I feel that Qian Long will show more deeper emotions after Ruyi leaves.
@elizabeth
May i know which episode that shows the downfall of Lady Jia? I want to know her ending because she was the villain from earlier episodes that is still around until i stopped watching this show.
I’ve actually stopped watching Ruyi at episode 50+ because of the very slow pacing that drags the series…and i can’t stand such a long & draggy show. I’m now just waiting for the last few episodes to watch the peaking scenes towards the ending.
@diana80 Lady Jia’s downfall is ep 63, and her death is in ep 64.
@elizabeth
Thank you for the info. I’ll watch that 2 episodes later.
Both of them are miscast. Wallace is good looking but his acting so-so. Can’t pass by zhou xun voice and face. Watch 1st episode and can’t bring myself to continue.
@italin I do think Wallace sis very well in acting. But he just lacks the emperor sort of vibe.
I’ve been following this on Dramafever. I’ve been dreading the the falling out of the couple. I don’t think Wallace is bad, I just think the ladies are just doing an excellent job. The relationships between the women are so varying and profound that they eclipse the relationship between Qianlong and his wives.
Acknowledging that he’s a monarch, it’s kind of of hard to be sympathetic towards the Emperor. He’s looking for someone (mainly Ruyi) to love him unconditionally and be unchanging, yet he himself changes over the course of his reign (towards paranoia). I wouldn’t say the show is exciting, but you get invested in the characters. Their characterizations are quite realistic and down to earth.
I think Janine Chang’s character is quite surprising. Hai Lan’s love for Ruyi is very moving and her change is very realistic and believable. Lady Ba Lin (Yu Fei) is also very likeable.
I think Xin ZhiLei has done well in her role as Lady Jia who is very multi-faceted. You can her bad side and her pitiful side all in one scene. Li Chun is effective as the hateful Lady Ling, but I feel she doesn’t show a lot of depth on her character. I am not sure whether it is because she is young or because of the script’s problem. She can definitely act and cry but I just feel something is missing from Wei Yanwan.
@elizabeth her wei yanwan is not that bright or classy but I suppose she learns.
Agree on the consort jia and all but consort jia is one despicable woman. But like I said ultimate baddie is emperor.
What’s the name of consort xian’s faithful maid who fell for the doctor? I find her very gentle and beautiful and elegant and beautiful accent.
I agree on the lack of chemistry. I wish it was sun li. Frankly I am really enjoying ruyi. Some people are hard to predict especially the emperor who is showing his petty side. I am just at almost half way mark. Every episode is exciting and mostly I love the soft rays and lightning and whilst historically yanxi was far more accurate however ruyi is more human. More believable. All of them living at the fancy of one man. Scary thought.
It is very well acted. I didn’t like zhouxun, still don’t but she proved her acting prowess in that scene where everyone including her maid accused her of wrongdoings her entire spectrum from shock to in the end utterly despondent in her emotion was there in that 15 min scene. She then did better and better except for that weird moment when the baby prince yongcang died and she did not have a hint of being sad or sorry which shows even ruyi is susceptible to schemes and hate. I just feel she could have done better.
And suddenly Wallace turns up with moustache was shocking because the worst prop was his moustache.
Anyway ruyi is a far more superior series than the exciting but ultimately single minded story of yanxi oalace which has some bad editing problem.
I like ruyi.
Plan to finish Ruyi sooner before working overseas. Hope more and more people appreciate Ruyi.