Jerry Yan Romances 25-year-old in “The Forbidden Flower”

Arousing controversy with its May-December romantic arc and sensuous cinematography, the production crew behind The Forbidden Flower <夏花> has spoken up!

Jerry Yan’s Profession Raises Wild Guesses

46-year-old Jerry Yan (言承旭) pairs 25-year-old actress Cici Xu Ruo Han (徐若晗) in the twenty-four episode summer-winter story, which co-director Zhao Xiaolei (趙曉磊) pointedly shares is made for female viewers. Sensuous scenes of the former “F4” member shampooing the younger female lead’s hair in the trailer has evoked rife speculation of Jerry’s profession in the drama prior to its airing, with some netizens going wild with their speculation – a dialogue in particular had her asking him, “Which number are you?”

Responding to online dissent, co-director Zhao Xiaolei (趙曉磊) shared that both herself and the scriptwriter are fans of the actor, herself having been one for “over 20 years”, while co-director Chen Zhou Fei (陳宙飛) was charmed by him on the day of imaging “when he saw (Jerry) on camera for the first time”. Praising Jerry’s performance, Chen also added that no other actor would be able to play the character of Xiao Han, while calling on viewers to watch till the end instead of second-guessing.

Refreshes “Domineering CEO” Trope with Jerry Yan’s Despondent Character

With three episodes already aired, here’s a rundown of the brief synopsis – Cici Xu plays He Ran, an aspiring painter from a well-to-do background who falls in love with “Mr. Thirty-Three” Xiao Han (Jerry Yan), a middle-aged horticulturist. The two begin a passionate romance but it is threatened by both social norms as well as objection from her conservative family; with He Ran‘s leukemia diagnosis further complicating things.

Putting plainly that the story is targeted at female viewers, Zhao Xiaolei shared that her original intention was to encourage ladies to “find the courage to fall in love” again through the drama.

Departing from the formulaic “domineering CEO” trope, she added that they refreshed Jerry Yan’s Xiao Han to be a rough-round-the-edges character. Describing him as brusque but not destitute, she adds, “He’s (Xiao Han) just a little of a social hermit and that’s a little like Jerry in real life,”