Starring Wu Qilong and Liu Shishi, the Qing Palace crossing drama "Step by Step" was broadcast in 2011 with amazing ratings, not only popular throughout Asia, but also broke the ratings record of Japan and South Korea at that time, which was a sensation. Later, Wu Qilong and Liu Shishi walked out of the play to get married and have children, completely satisfying the fans' private wish to love each other. But unexpectedly, the two were not the first choice for the male and female protagonists at that time, and the casting of the male protagonist "Fourth Master" went through twists and turns, from Nie Yuan, Hu Ge, Huo Jianhua to Zhong Hanliang, and finally the director whispered to ask Wu Qilong to perform.
Wu Qilong and Liu Shishi co-starred in "Step by Step" 10 years ago, which sensationalized all over Asia, and can be said to be the originator of the Qing Palace crossing drama. (Stills taken from the Internet)
When "Step by Step" was broadcast that year, it set a high of 10.91 in China and an average of 7.41 in the amazing ratings, and after 10 years of broadcasting, it still has a high score of 8.4 in Douban. At that time, the copyright was also sold to Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, and it became the first Chinese TV series to enter the top 10 of the "Asian Popular TV Series List" in Japan, changing the situation that Korean dramas dominated Japanese overseas TV dramas in the past, and Japanese drama fans were fascinated by the princes in the drama and began to learn Chinese.
The sadistic love between the fourth master and Ruoxi in the play made many viewers cry a handful of snot and a handful of tears. (Stills taken from the Internet)
In South Korea, "Step by Step" won the "Most Popular Overseas TV Series" at the 7th Seoul International Television Festival, and Wu Qilong took the "Most Popular Actor in Asia" award. In the end, South Korea also bought the copyright to remake into "Moon Lover - Step by Step: Li", inviting first-line Korean stars IU and Lee Joon Ki to star, which shows the fiery sensation of the drama.
The Korean version of "Step by Step" is performed by Lee Joon Ki (from left), IU Lee Ji-eun and Kang Ha-na. (Taken from stills)
However, in fact, in fact, at the beginning, Liu Shishi originally wanted to play the red-faced confidant "Lu Wu" of the thirteen brothers, and did not change to the heroine "Ruoxi" until before the start of filming. Liu Shishi can successfully play the female one, in addition to the favor of the crew, the most important thing to thank is the Chinese actress Jiang Yiyan, who is more famous than her, originally Jiang Yiyan was the designated first choice in the director's heart, but happened to meet her to study in Australia, even if Jiang Yiyan's agent wrote a letter of nearly 10,000 words at that time to ask her to act, she still refused twice, so she achieved Liu Shishi's popularity and became one of the hottest new generation actresses of the year.
Liu Shishi was promoted from a supporting actress to a first-line actress with the role of "Ruoxi". (Taken from stills)
The casting of the male protagonist "Fourth Master" Yongzheng has gone through twists and turns. Originally, the first choice in the director's heart was Nie Yuan in the role of "Qianlong" in "Yanxi Raiders", because when Tong Hua, the original author of "Step by Step", wrote the novel, the "Fourth Master" was written with him as the setting, and as a result, Nie Yuan refused because he had filmed too many costume plays for a while.
The director then looked for Zhong Hanliang and Huo Jianhua, but Zhong Hanliang took over this scene, and Huo Jianhua was rushing with Lin Xinru to shoot "The Imperial Princess of the World", and he couldn't move the time at all. Later, the crew saw Hu Ge, but Hu Ge felt that his head shape was not good-looking, not in line with the temperament of the fourth master and refused, but he was still righteous and upright, and sang the interlude "One Thought Persistence".
The rain of the fourth master accompanying Ruoxi, who was punished to kneel, is the classic bridge section of "Step by Step". (Reproduced from the drama scene)
Later, seeing that "Step by Step" had already started filming in Hengdian, the crew even found an alternative actor for the "Fourth Master", but director Li Guoguo decided to try again and look back to find another candidate in addition to Nie Yuan at that time- Wu Qilong, because at the beginning Wu Qilong had not filmed a Qing Palace drama, and he was too fond of beauty to shave his head and refused.
The crew worked hard, not only asked the most wig-making master in Hong Kong to help him customize the wig, but also tried to convince Wu Qilong's agent, after many times of communication and coordination, he agreed to the performance.
Wu Qilong refused to play the role of "Fourth Master" because he loved beauty, but he did not expect to create a career peak again. (Taken from stills)
However, at first, fans thought that Wu Qilong was 40 years old at the time, and he had not acted in Qing Palace dramas, and he was not optimistic about his performance. Later, Wu Qilong proved himself with his acting skills, not only ushered in the second spring of his career with this play, playing the calm and introverted "Fourth Master", but also designing small details with his heart, like he would take the initiative to hold his braids, because when he did his homework to read the history of the Qing Dynasty, he found that Yong was a very strict person, did not like braids to throw around, and also did not let people catch the meaning of small braids.
Wu Qilong and Liu Shishi are sadistic and bitter in love during the play, and harvest happy love outside the play. (Taken from Wu Qilong Weibo)
The love between the fourth master and Ruoxi is not only touching and sadistic in the play, Wu Qilong and Liu Shishi are not only popular because of this play, but also the two outside the play have also formed a good relationship and formed a happy family.