Although Jian Zhou graduated from the Imperial Capital Film Academy, his major was photography. While he wasn't entirely without acting skills, he possessed only a tiny bit.
His perfect portrayal of the character Dan Junhao was indeed due to his past efforts to pursue An Qiuyan by entering the entertainment industry and acting, where he gradually learned the craft through osmosis.
However, his acting skills were not enough to compensate for the character's shortcomings in a transformative way, nor could they compare to Jiang Ling in her peak state.
The primary reason was his own exceptional innate qualities.
The character Dan Junhao presented several challenges: being handsome, possessing aristocratic bearing, and exuding a powerful aura.
Of these, aristocratic bearing was the most difficult.
Jian Zhou, born into the Jian family as the second young master, possessed an innate nobility.
While others might need to act their way into such refinement, he simply needed to be himself.
As for the powerful CEO aura, that was even simpler.
If anyone dared to claim the title of the youngest and most commanding CEO in the business world, Jian Fan would consider himself second to none.
Having grown up alongside his elder brother, Jian Zhou was intimately familiar with Jian Fan's mannerisms and speech. Mimicking him was incredibly easy.
He didn't even need to imitate Jian Fan perfectly; a seven or eight out of ten resemblance would suffice to create an invincible aura.
Under the overwhelming presence of a superior's aura, the naturally cute and boyish charm on his face vanished. His handsome and rugged index soared meteorically, transforming him into a cold, proud, and domineering CEO.
For others, playing a domineering CEO was like encountering the difficult Jiangsu exam paper from the college entrance examination – incredibly challenging, to the point of causing immense distress.
For Jian Zhou, playing a domineering CEO was akin to having the answer key during an exam; it was hard not to score highly.
Jiang Ling had only met him once and didn't know him intimately. Naturally, she was unaware that Jian Zhou was imitating her husband.
If Jiang Yushuang were present, upon seeing Jian Fan's appearance, she would undoubtedly exclaim, "My goodness, how could you have swallowed my husband!"
...
With the role of the male protagonist, Dan Junhao, finalized, the crew quickly released an early promotional announcement, setting the official start date for filming.
Generally, for idol dramas, early promotional announcements should include the names and photos of the male and female leads, as handsome and beautiful people are the selling points of such productions.
However, due to Jian Zhou being a newcomer and the crew's intention to amplify Jiang Ling's status to attract higher bids from video streaming platforms for copyright, the promotion subtly mentioned the male lead's actor was Jian Zhou, while heavily publicizing Jiang Ling's portrayal of the female lead, Ye Tianyu.
In the past two years, Jiang Ling had appeared frequently, with every drama being a successful and critically acclaimed serious production.
Now, both within and outside the industry, Jiang Ling was regarded as an actress with excellent acting skills and solid capabilities. It was unthinkable that she would pivot to acting in an idol drama.
This was indeed groundbreaking news, with major media outlets scrambling to report on it, causing it to trend on social media.
If it were any other serious drama actor, abandoning legitimate acting roles to film these saccharine idol dramas would surely invite a barrage of sarcastic remarks and mockery for their lack of self-awareness.
However, the public's reaction to Jiang Ling's participation in an idol drama was surprisingly unified: delight.
This was because Jiang Ling was different from most other serious drama actors.
The vast majority of serious drama actors were not blessed with exceptional looks. Wanting to remain in the acting profession, they were compelled to hone their skills relentlessly, thus becoming实力派 (skilled actors).
Even with good acting, a lack of stunning visuals in an idol drama could easily lead to eye-sore productions.