Fresh Faces in “New Return of the Condor Heroes”
Starring a generation of young actors, here’s the rundown on who’s who in the ninth remake of the popular Jin Yong classic.
The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Sabre <倚天屠龍記> will end its run in Hong Kong this week, but it finished airing in Mainland China in April. Another Jin Yong (金庸) novel-to-screen adaptation, New Return of the Condor Heroes <新神鵰俠侶> will air during the summer holidays.
The last remake in 2014 starred Chen Xiao (陳曉) and Chen Yanxi (陳妍希). Five years later, this new adaptation will be the ninth remake. With the intended audience being millennials, the cast will be younger actors.
Thomas Tong as Yang Guo
26-year-old Thomas Tong (佟夢實) has the looks of Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒), and started his career from taking part in Yunnan Television’s global talent search reality show Are You Ready? <起航吧，少年>. Playing Ying Zheng in The Legend of Hao Lan <皓鑭傳>, his other representative works include The Legend of Chusen <青雲志> and Colorful Bone <艷骨>.
Mao Xiaohui as Little Dragon Girl (Xiao Long Nu)
Mao Xiao Hui was discovered by talent scouts when she appeared in the papers in her hometown Ningbo at 16. New Return of the Condor Heroes her second drama. Her cold aura befits the image of Little Dragon Girl, but in the hearts of fans, might be still some distance away from classic versions played by Liu Yifei (劉亦菲) and Carman Lee (李若彤).
Nikita Mao as Li Mochou
Eking out an impression with her antagonist role in the drama Prince of Lan Ling <蘭陵王>, many have commented that Nikita Mao’s (毛林林) Li Mochou looks prettier than Mao Xiaohui’s lead role of Little Dragon Girl on the promotional posters, with some pointing out her slight resemblance to actress Yang Mi (楊冪).
Vicky Chen as Guo Xiang
15-year-old Taiwanese actress Vicky Chen (文淇) won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Horse Awards with her performance in The Bold, The Corrupt, The Beautiful <血觀音>, proving her acting skills. While staying true to the original novel, New Return of the Condor Heroes will also explore the storyline from Guo Xiang’s perspective.
Su Qing as Lin Chaoying
Playing Er Qing in Story of Yanxi Palace <延禧攻略>, actress Su Qing (蘇青) will appear as founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect Lin Chaoying. Her angelic image on the poster contrasts strongly with her turn as Er Qing, a despicable character.
Other members of the cast include Bing Shao (邵兵) as Guo Jing, Gong Beibi (龔蓓苾) as Huang Rong, Bing Xu (塗冰) as Guo Fu, Alex Fong (方中信) as Huang Yaoshi and as Tong Chun Chung (湯鎮宗) as Master Yideng.
Source: Marie Claire
This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.
The old support cast are great, while the youngsters are all terrible in term of look lol
@littlefish
Couldn’t be worst than the couple who got married in real life esp the female lead? lol… The girl above looks ok.
@wm2017 refuse to acknowledge that 2014 nonsense, lol.
Alex Fong is charming but not getting the Huang Yaoshi vibe from him in the poster. The two leading seem like imposters of Crystal Liu and Huang Xiaoming. Maybe they look better in the trailers than posters.
This latest ROCH will expand Guo Xiang’s role, which hopefully, will not turn the story into another disaster when scriptwriting tried to be overly creative.
@bearbear Agree about Alex Fong. He looks more like he should be Zhao Zhijing in that poster. Also, he seems a bit too young to play Huang Yaoshi. Wish they’d gotten Michael Miu to reprise the role with his gold-grey hair.
@wm2017 lol you mean Michelle Chen? Yeah, talk about a total miscast.
Thomas tong does not look like nicholas tse at all and his acting was terrible in legend of haolan.