A solid lineup that deserves an equally solid story.
Wan Qian (To Be A Better Man) will star opposite Chen Kun in his upcoming espionage drama The One Who Escapes 脱身者 as the female lead.
On New Year’s Day in 1949, female accountant Huang Liwen (Wan Qian) returns to her hometown Shanghai in order to commemorate her husband and comrade’s death. As a Communist agent, she is ordered to obtain valuable information for the Communist Party and aid them in their quest for liberation. During her mission, Liwen is reunited with her family members, and becomes acquainted with the streetwise Qiao Zhicai and his younger twin brother Qiao Lijie, who turns out to be a key player in Huang Liwen’s mission.
Wan Qian is a great actress, and I hope she gets a character who will avoid making silly mistakes and end up endangering the entire operation (*cough* Sparrow 麻雀 and The Disguiser). In the meantime, we can catch her in Wallace Huo’s movie Hide and Seek, Hu Ge’s Game of Hunting 猎场 and Tribes and Empires (both to air on Hunan TV next year).
The One Who Escapes will start filming in mid-December, and is tentatively scheduled to run for 50 episodes on Dragon TV. The drama will be directed by Lin Ke and the script is written by Wang Qi’nan (LOVE).
I’m super excited for this. Wan Qian is one of my favorite actresses, and I’ve loved her ever since seeing her in Liu Rushi. She’s great in all types of roles, and one of the few actors who can somehow make at least their part of a boring series interesting. I’ve more than once dragged through long, dull “housewife dramas” to watch her parts. I’ve been a little annoyed that even after her award win, she’s still mostly playing second or third female leads in already male-dominated dramas. Hopefully this drama will give her a bigger opportunity to shine.
Chen Kun said in an interview he was really impressed with her performance in 你好,疯子! and personally invited her to star as the female lead.