Will Pan returns to dramaland after 4 year absence – Bu De Bu Ai with Xu Lu

I’m not going to lie. Will Pan is one of my biases not necessarily because he makes ‘great’ music – let’s face it lyrics like “Cause you’re my baby, my baby my baby my baby, my baby my baby baby~” isn’t going to win any song writing awards (even if I love this song cos it just gets in your head!) but it’s the combination of his personality and his ability to make happy, poppy music. Better known as a singer, he got his first break as a VJ in Channel V and dabbled in acting in one of Taiwan’s longest running idol dramas Great Teacher / Ma La Xian Shi (麻辣鮮師) in the early 2000s. That drama was like a training ground for many actors including Jerry Yan, Ady An, Blue Lan… However, as his focus was in music, it wasn’t until 2008 when Will landed his first lead role opposite Rainie Yang in Miss No Good (不良笑花). Ah one of my guiltiest drama pleasures ever.  The comedy was cheesy, the acting (even from Rainie) was probably way over the top, but Will and Rainie had great chemistry and his acting was fairly natural. His next project, 2010’s Endless Love (愛無限) was a bit too melodramatic for me but the judging panel at the Golden Bell Awards thought it was worthy of a Best Actor Award.

 

Just two years before Will’s win, there was already a huge controversy surrounding Mark Chao’s Best Actor win but at least Black & White was a critically acclaimed and popular drama. Will’s win for Endless Love though, caused a meltdown, with headlines saying “The Golden Bell Awards are shit”. Seriously. Someone actually said that. I know he’s my bias but it’s not his fault for winning, and yet he copped so much flak for it. Will was busy with other projects and didn’t even attend the awards! That just shows he did not expect to win at all. Imagine if you just experienced the highs of a Best Actor award the night before only to wake up the next morning to see headlines questioning your very existence. Will described this as the lowest point of his life.

 

But every cloud has a silver lining, his 2012 album, The Story of Billy (24個比利) was the result of this dark period. Just when I thought he is probably never going to return to dramaland again and just concentrate on music, it was announced he will be the lead in a Chinese drama Bu De Bu Ai (literal translation: Gotta Love You / 不得不爱) – yes it’s the same name as his famous duet with Xian Zi. Classic song that doesn’t get old, let’s refresh our memories.

Bu De Bu Ai the drama, sounds… let’s just say, not all that exciting for me. It is based on the novel by Lan Bai Se (蓝白色) called Bu Bu Cuo (步步错) which its literal translation means Every step is wrong. It is considered related to the Jerry Yan / Tong Li Ya drama Loving, Never Forgetting (恋恋不忘) as they were both based on novels by the same author.

Will’s character Hu Qian Yu (胡骞予) is the bossy, CEO type who is of course cold and aloof with dark secrets. Xu Lu plays the ‘poor princess’ type character Lin Wei Ling (林为零) who will be entangled with four men, including Denny Huang, Johnny Zhang Junn Ning and Taiwanese newcomer Zhang Xuan Rui. According to the book’s description – netizens have described it as “The cruelest conspiracy and love”. Is this supposed to be enticing? I know this type of ‘love = torture’ is quite popular right now but all I can say is – totally not my cup of tea!

Looking at the stills though, does Will look convincing enough for this type of character? Hrm… not really? And the suit doesn’t fit him! Tell me they’re paying him craploads of money to star in this.

 


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12 responses to “Will Pan returns to dramaland after 4 year absence – Bu De Bu Ai with Xu Lu”

  1. shinedropdime Avatar

    Omg 🙂 I remember the Endless Love fiasco haha, I was a young student back then and I think Show Luo issued public support to Wilbur Pan on 100% Entertainment. I think that was why Will picked such a fluffy drama to re-enter dramaland with. The drama looks cute though!! Most rich man / poor candy girl dramas are kind of annoying and tacky but just because it’s Will’s voice and face it’ll be impossible for me to get annoyed haha (though why does your hair look like the top of a pruned lawn, Will?? and I hope they don’t dub his voice because it’s a Mainland production :/)

    1. kat Avatar
      kat

      This one doesn’t sound like a fluffy drama though, it looks like one of those revenge + mix in rich people vs poor girl + probably some birth secret (lol, I’m just guessing) but more melodrama than rom-com.

      The hair – yes!!! It’s so bad. And him trying to look serious…. the dubbing!! Hoping not since they didn’t for Show’s drama? I guess if we keep our expectations low it might surprise haha.

  2. galen Avatar

    I find Will’s personality in real life really fun so quite like him, but somehow is acting is always… ummm… for me.

    Here’s hoping Will’s improved in the intervening period, but since it’s a modern C-drama, I doubt I’ll be able to stomach more than an ep or two. Somehow C-dramas only work for me when they are period dramas…

    1. kat Avatar
      kat

      Yeah he’s definitely not a great actor, but I loved him in Miss No Good because it was a really fun drama and you don’t need to take it too seriously.

      I’m quite allergic to these type of melodramatic c-dramas as well. These storylines just work better in a historical context and since they just transplant it to ‘modern day’, it seems totally unrealistic and WTF.

  3. vanilladreamcream Avatar

    i loved him in miss no good and I had no idea about his dark period with endless love. I transitioned into kdramas for a period. Bu De Bu Ai was one of those songs that I heard once and totally fell in love with. Thanks for the post to keep me updated with current tw dramas. Love your post

    1. kat Avatar
      kat

      Thanks! 🙂 I think he would’ve done more dramas if he didn’t get all those criticisms after his Best Actor award. Sad really.

  4. Jen @ These Dramatic Days Avatar

    Oooh nice to see this! Maybe I’ll have a look at this drama. I didn’t bother with Endless Love because I agree with you that it looked wayyy too melodramatic. But i did love Miss No Good and all its cheesy glory….I also agree that he hasn’t been styled well. Not sure about that hair or those shoes :/ But then again, I was happy to watch Jasper Liu in Hawaiian print in Pleasantly Surprised…so I guess my fashion standards aren’t crazily high if this drama brings the feels…

    1. kat Avatar
      kat

      LOL about Jasper, although he’s such a sunny character the Hawaiian shirts matched that. At least it puts a smile on your face (even for a non-fan like me).

      I’m guessing this will be more melodramatic than Endless Love though!!!

  5. Sonnie Avatar
    Sonnie

    His hair had to be like that because he had his head injured on October 24th 2015 and it hadn’t grown long enough yet

    1. kat Avatar

      You mean 2014 right – ahhh I forgot about that injury, it was pretty serious.

      1. Sonnie Avatar
        Sonnie

        Oh I’m sorry, it was 2014…. I’m still looking forward to his role in this drama, After Endless Love, his acting in “Clown” MV really impressed me. Blogger on weibo said that the drama will be broadcasted on Zhejiang TV on Sept 6th this year, but I’m not sure it’s real or not…

  6. Sonnie Avatar
    Sonnie

    Oh sorry, it was 2014

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