Raymond Lam and Niki Chow Film “The Virtuous Queen of Han”
Co-produced by mainland China’s Zhejiang Huace Film & TV and Hong Kong’s now TV, historical television drama The Virtuous Queen of Han <大漢賢后衛子夫>, has been actively filming in Hengdian World Studios since May 2013.
Filming in 40 degrees Celsius weather while wearing thick Han costumes is not an easy feat, but stars Raymond Lam (林峯) and Niki Chow (周麗淇) are willing to cope. Reports say that Raymond was paid over 10 million RMB to shoot the drama, while Niki admitted that she pocketed a generous fee.
The Virtuous Queen of Han is the first installment of Zhejiang Huace’s The Queens of China series, and is now TV’s first television drama since the channel’s conception in 2003. Former TVB producer Mui Siu Ching (梅小青) is also on board as the main producer.
The Han Dynasty drama chronicles the life story of Empress Wei Zifu (Wang Luodan) and her relationships with the Han emperor, Han Wudi (Raymond Lam), and the emperor’s sister, Princess Pingyang (Niki Chow).
Despite the drama’s royal setting and large female cast, The Virtuous Queen of Han is not a typical palace drama, a genre of that was popularized by TVB’s 2004 Qing Dynasty drama War and Beauty <金枝慾孽>. Mui Siu Ching clarified in an interview, “This drama is not about women fighting for power. It’s a historical drama.”
The Virtuous Queen of Han will also be mainland China’s first drama to be dubbed in English. It is expected to air in 2014.
Source: 3 Weekly #723 via kuangaitvb.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Dubbed in English? Woah wonder how its gonna turn out! Does Now TV have a license yet? Or is it like HK TV waiting?
They are waiting for the free to air license in HK. But they already have the license to air their programs/dramas on their paid channels.
English-dubbed is okay, just make sure it’s not terrible-English-dubbed
I doubt that the drama series will be English-dubbed by the actual artistes.
@miriamfanz – If you’ve ever watched any Mandarin-dubbed Korean series (China version) you’d shudder. Mandarin-dubbed Taiwan version is good. So, I do hope it’s not going to be terrible-English-dubbed.
Niki looks so pretty here!
is that really niki? looks like a new comer, haven’t decided if it’s a pretty pic or not but it’s different from the rest she has taken so far
He looked so much more powerful in ASITP. Nowadays, he’s too skinny looking.
Given what is known about Empress Chen, I doubt this drama will be free of female scheming tropes.
You are right. He did look more powerful in ASITP.
Thought that was Sharon Chan for a moment.
I thought it was Rain
this line from the article: Filming in 40 degrees Celsius weather while wearing thick Han costumes is not an easy feat – i think we tend to underestimate the hardship of actresses
Costumes look good. And finally can hear Ray say in English… “Do you.. think.. I am.. chok?”
YES!!
From what I can understand, Niki is not the lead since the story is about the empress and she isn’t the empress. Not even concubine.
Nicki plays LF ‘s sister, a princess. The series will give the HK/China production great world wide exposure. Love all the fancy costumes and palace settings! Can’t wait to see this in all languages especially English. LF should dub his own part.
LF Love FUNG!
You mean this production will give these 2 world wide exposure? Because from what I read China series and HK series both have huge impact overseas.
Princess Pingyang was quite a prominent character in history. So, even though Niki is not the empress or a concubine, I think her role will be a big one in the series.
I thought they are couples
Since it’s for NowTV, does it mean it will be in Cantonese?
Thank the heavens that this isn’t about concubines fighting for the king’s love, that stuff is mundane.
omg i can’t wait to watch Niki!! Don’t care if I suck at Mando, still gotta see it! 😛
I rarely see Niki dressed up like that and the only times she’s been acting in the ancient era was only as a fighter.
OoOooh~ >.< I seriously cannot wait!
Why do they have to dub, why can’t they just sub :/
I really wonder if they will truly dub in English? That would sound so awkward and also there are many things that just cannot be directly translated into English. For example, the “cheng Yu” and other classical/ancient Chinese terms will be hard to directly translate. I think subbing is good enough.
I like Niki Chow, but I don’t think she is good in ancient drama series. She speaks with lazy intonations. Will see and find out if she acts well….. without any lazy intonations.
Niki looks very pretty in her costumes.
Yay Nikki!
support Raymond!!!
wonder why so many ppl like raymond, he’s not as good looking as leehom or louis koo, and his acting is kinda stiff too.. he should get some acting tips from adam cheng
Leehom is not that good looking but I agree about Louis Koo. I rather pick Raymond over Leehom anyday.
i also think leehom is not good looking. i rather pick raymond. of course no one can beat louis koo 😉
Mui siu ching?!?! Yay!! This is gonna be great!
love niki but im worried that this is going to be another princess tai ping type of series. >.> hope it turns out good. not to happy about the English dubbing though…
Wow beautiful costumes ! At least got standard.
There are many other series that have even nicer costumes than this one.
I wonder what Niki fee was she’s managed by a pretty big company aswell
So will this be in contonese? Anyone know?
It should be since most mainland versions even dub into other languages, so it should be in Cantonese.