Kevin Cheng’s New Drama, “Mystery in the Palace” Airs on Hunan TV
New mainland drama, Mystery in the Palace <深宫谍影> starring Kevin Cheng (郑嘉颖), Gan Tingting (甘婷婷), Michelle Yim (米雪), and Bernice Liu (廖碧兒) will be broadcast on Hunan TV in mainland China on February 8, 2012. A press conference to promote Mystery in the Palace was held in Beijing yesterday, with the attendance of Kevin Cheng, Gan Tingting, Catherine Hung (洪欣), and her husband, Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰).
Since the airing of Bu Bu Jing Xin <步步惊心> and Mystery in the Palace were only months apart, it was inevitable that audiences will compare the two mainland dramas. Regarding this, “Eighth Prince” Kevin Cheng clarified, “The two dramas are different in style. There is no time travel theme in Mystery in the Palace, which employs a suspenseful narrative instead. My character only loves one person, unlike ‘Eighth Prince’ who was surrounded by multiple women!”
In Mystery in the Palace, Kevin will portray Prince Ge Tai, a forthright character that is skilled as a scholar and martial artist. Meeting Han Xiang (Gan Tingting) by chance and falling in love with her, Ge Tai will take advantage of playing chess with Emperor Kangxi (Ni Qimin) in order to improve his romantic chances with Han Xiang. Get Tai vows to help Han Xiang find out the murderer responsible for her mother’s death. Mystery in the Palace will add a new spin upon dramas that focus on family love, friendship, and love.
Asked whether Kevin will be filming the modern version of Bu Bu Jing Xin 2 in the second half of 2012, he replied, “Yes, the current script is not finished yet. I do not know what my role will be, but I do hope that my role will change. If it only involved changing the costumes, without changing the plot/ characterization, then there is no greater meaning achieved in the second installment.”
In Bu Bu Jing Xin, Kevin portrayed a brooding character. Asked about his real life personality, Kevin replied, “My real life personality is similar to my ‘Law Ba’ character in Ghetto Justice <怒火街头>. I am quite playful, especially when I am around my friends. In the company of my girlfriends, perhaps I exhibit a shadow of my ‘Eighth Prince’ character.”
Allegedly, Kevin’s filming fee increased to $250,000 Yuan per episode. Asked whether he will consider becoming a homeowner in mainland China, Kevin stated, “I admit that my fee is very satisfactory, but it is not as high as reported. I do not want everyone to think that I was looting (laughs)! Since I have been filming more frequently in mainland, I have considered purchasing a house. Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai are good choices, but I do not have time to go house hunting yet!”
Last year, Kevin harvested great success in both Hong Kong and mainland China, earning the nickname of “Gold Magnet King.” Regarding this, Kevin commented, “Indeed, I earned a lot more money last year than ever before! I received many job opportunities as well, but there were no slots to accept all of them. I do not think comparisons should be made; comparing one person with another is harmful. If we were to compare monetary assets, then none of us can compare to Li Ka Shing (李嘉诚)! As long as we live happily, that’s enough. Next, I will focus intently on filming. If I were to win awards, of course I will be happy. Even without awards, I will still try my best!”
Asked what type of women he preferred in real life and whether he had plans to start a family, Kevin responded, “There are differences between what is portrayed in dramas and reality. In real life, I do not like strong-headed women, which would lend to troubles. I would like to get married and start a family. My family has always urged me to do so, to the point that they do not want to remind me anymore! It all depends on fate, but I do not want any love rumors!”
Trailer for “Mystery in the Palace”
[vsw id=”ex-1HqWRBhk” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]
Excerpt from Guangzhou Daily, 21CN.com
Jayne: Kevin sounds quite grounded in this interview with Guangzhou Daily. On another note, a recent tabloid claimed that Charmaine Sheh visited Kevin Cheng at his hotel, sparking reconciliation rumors once again! However, no photographs were taken, so I didn’t post the article because I suspect it may be wishful thinking on the reporter’s part!
My feeling is this series will come… and … go.
So you don’t think it will get popular?? It looks like it will be a decent series, but lets see…I am tired of Qing dynasty series and wished that they can make series set in other dynasties.
“In real life, I do not like strong-headed women, which would lend to troubles. ”
Sigh.. bye bye Charmaine.
Haha!
Haven’t seen Catherine Hung in a while. The main actress looks familiar. Was she Leo’s 2nd wife in HZGG 3?
Yea, I think that is her. Her name is Qin Lan. No wonder she looked so familiar. It is great to see her again. I haven’t seen Catherine and Zhang Dan Feng in awhile so it is also great to see them all again.. Hope that the plot is good.
No it’s not Qin Lan.
Are you sure it isn’t Qin Lan?? If not, then who is she? She really looks like Qin Lan…
It has been stated in the article that she’s Gan Ting Ting.
Well, there are other actresses in the series so I was not sure which one is Gan Ting Ting since I don’t really know her. She really looks like Qin Lan in the photo with Kevin…. I have seen other photos of her and she looks really different…
ya she is Gan Ting Ting.. act in the series of 水浒传..
she is so beautiful and sexy…
Yup, Charmaine doesn’t seem to fit Kevin’s criteria…
totally agree
Is Charmaine that “strong-headed”? I think she is in a way.
Maybe Niki Chow is better then!
Niki is better than Charm
So, Kevin prefer smart woman who pretend to be stupid?
Did he say that? No lar!! But smart woman do know when to pretend to be a bit dumb for the sake of the man.
got “Like” icon not? anyways, “Like” the comment. starting from the “But….” part. 😉
well, deep down, most men want their women to be lower than them 🙂 especially successful men.
I agree with kixbaby that deep down, men especially successful men still want their women to be lower in status than them. Many men cannot accept it if a women has a higher status then them, is smarter than them or makes more than them…
Maybe he meant strong-headed as in unreasonable like “my sassy girlfrend”. His last interview that jayne translated was “only smart women need apply” so I don’t think he changed to liking simple-minded girls that quickly.
Charmaine is strong-minded but she is also very mature and compromising.
As for the hotel story, the tabloids must be very desperate to run that story w/ no juicy pictures to back it up.
Does anyone know who is going to be in bu bu jing xin 2? Kevin and who is the other cast. Is it the original cast?
Also I can’t wait to watch mystery in the palace! 🙂
Not confirmed yet but I expect most of the leading original cast to be in it.
alright then, i hope the original cast is going to be in it!
OMG!! Is it true that there will be Bu Bu Jing Xin 2?? AHhhhhh I cant wait!!
i know right, number 1 was heaps good, hopefully 2 will be the same.
Don’t get your hopes up too high or else you will be disappointed.
I have a feeling that Bu Buu Jing xin 2 will not be that good. I also don’t mind if some of the cast members change since the cast is not everything…
Who is that girl in the 1st pic with kevin? she got a pretty face there but almost most mainland actress has doll like faces
I think that is Qin Lan if I remember correctly. The first time I saw her was as Zhi Hua in HZGG part 3 as the 5th prince’s second wife. SHe has been a number of other series… SHe was really annoying in HZGG 3 though. She does have a cute and pretty face and her acting is ok…
I find many mainland actresses have pretty (too hard to believe) they’re free of surgical operation cute face. Maybe there are just too many good genes in China hence pretty girls production is huge?
Well Veejay, to support your claim, China does have 1 billion population, but I do believe that they mostly have some enhancement.
@Veejay,
Well, these days you really wonder when you see someone who is pretty, are they natural or not? I think most actresses have had some kinds of enchancements, but some may be minor while some are really really major(like Viann for example).
i dont think all mainland actress are all fake like viann, i find fan bing bing, ruby lin, liu shi shi, yang mi and tang Yan. all beautiful and they are not fake. so it just depends on which actress.
all actresses these days have plastic surgery anyway
OH well,I don’t find enhancement is necessary unless you’ve encountered something horrible on the face (such as accident for example). like the singaporean singers (by2),I bet these 2 have had underwear major surgical operation for looking extremely different as compare to their first appearance on tv.
Ok, the actress is GanTingTing not QIn Lan… Sorry for the mistake… She really looks like Qin lan in the above picture with Kevin.
@Khanh,
Actually, you don’t know for sure if they are natural or not. By the way, Ruby is from Taiwan not China and I don’t think she is that great. I know that Fan Bing Bing is natural for the most part since I saw photos of her when she was a child and she looks almost the same. BUT even she had some minor enhancements…I don’t know if Tang Yan and all of the ones that you mentioned are natural or not. You can assume that, but you don’t know for sure…. ANother one that is mostly natural is Sun Fei Fei. I am sure that she is since I saw her baby pix and she has the same features that she does now… But even she could have had some minor things done that we don’t know about…
@HeTieShou
opps forgot that ruby is not from china, but have seen teenage photos of the girls i mentioned and they still have the same face and all. you are right that Sun Fei Fei is indeed beautiful and natural.
but i still think my statement is true, nearly every actresses has plastic surgery
@Khanh,
Totally agree with you that most if not all actresses have some type of plastic surgery or some minor enhancements. Of course, they will not admit it and that I find that pathetic…
Yeah, mainland actresses are indeed way superior in the look department compared to TVB actresses with many who can’t even act properly.
Too bad mainland storylines tend to be draggy with alot of unnecessary elements incorporated.
It depends on the series exiodus so I don’t think that you should stereotype all mainland storylines as being long and draggy…
i was a TVB fan for so long and only recently im watching mainland dramas and they are actually really good. and im re-watching heaps of them as well.
Im only watching a few selected ones and the ones I have seen have been draggy. I think TV companies make longer series bc of the benefit of economies of scale…
Well there are draggy series in every country and company. I have seen many TVB series that are really draggy too. There are a number of really boring and draggy series from CHina, but there are good ones too. You just have to watch the righr ones.
have you guys noticed but the girl with kevin in the first photo, she looks kind of like fan bing bing only first glance.
She looks like some chinese barbie doll to me.
yeah, I thought it was fan bing bing too lol. Hmmm…does anyone prefer half bald Kevin to GJ’s Kevin?
Yea, she does and she also looks sort of like Qin Lan too so I mistakenly thought that she was Qin Lan at first.
After BBJX looks like Kevin has fallen in love with Chaina and its peoples since he is thinking of purchasing a house there. Does it mean he intends to eventually live there and raise a family? Thus, as you said, Funn, bye-bye to Charmaine. If a series is shown over Hunan TV can we get it in Malaysia? Can someone please enlighten me?
Yes of course I think because we are showing BBJX over here on CH310 ASTRO. Next up is Ruby Lin’s series, that one Qin Shi Huang Fei. Was BBJX over at Hunan TV? Yes? Then yes is the answer. Get ASTRO.
P/s No subtitles (ENG)
I am living in Malaysia and I have Hunan TV. You will just have to install a satelite.
psps.might be illegal in West Malaysia.
Ah tonight first episode, i will be watching it =D
opps i mean to say east.
Definitely illegal. How many channels you’re getting? You’re in East Msia? No wonder!!
@funn, I am living in Sarawak. hahha
a lot channels. have english/spain/hk/tw/indo/phi/cctvs/tvb8 bla bla
alot. hundred over channels.
Is the Hunan Tv have Cantonese version ,do this drama have wuxia element?
HunanTV only has Mando version/
perhaps he’ll end up marrying a mainland girl after all.
I can’t tell Chinese dramas apart anymore. They all sound the same.
Thanks for the info, ladies, hope to catch up with the series as I’ve got ch. 310 just added on.
I am very happy that Kevin has done so well for himself. He seems more self-assured than before and so positive in his outlook that harbingers well for him. I wonder what he meant when he said that he did not any “rumours” concerning him? I do think perhaps he already has someone in mind.
Ch 310 is only interested in showing uber famous series and see how long it took to air BBJX and now the ruby lin series. Unless this series becomes uber famous, I am afraid we gotta pay to buy the DVD.
I usually only buy the DVD if I feel the series is worth it since it gets expensive and takes up a lot of space…
have u guys ever buy pirated china dvd movie? they are super cheap.
I did for some series since it was the only copy that I can find. However, for the really compressed versions, the quality is not that good.But hey, you get what you pay for.
Yes, sometime latest originals drama diff to find.
Funn, could you please tell me what “uber series” means? Don’t seem to be able to find “uber” in the dictionary. By the way, I like buying and keeping the DVDs although the legal ones are quite expensive. I do that so I can watch them at leisure.
Uber series is my own sentence. But uber does mean “The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than. ”
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=uber
Also means REALLY as in uber crazy (really crazy except the really here is really x 1000 sort of really).
The China legal ones aren’t that expensive, RM29-90 and above.
i always thought uber=super
Thank you. I certainly know what it jolly well means now. I didn’t know there were “China legal ones” but I’d rather get my usual as they’ve got 3 translations, Malay, Chinese and English as you may already know.
Who beside me think the trailer/ this series look uninteresting? It seems kinda boring tying 1 drama to 1 mystery, n even if the emperor rapes his own sister, it’s hardly interesting? Dk but I obviously give this series a miss, nothing seem news/interesting, n the lead girl look boring, n the plot seems old, this series scream *snooze*