Painted Skin (Hua Pi) 2 Casting Decision

Written by mango_cake:

I read somewhere recently an interview with one of HP2's producers. He said he did not choose YM/FSF to act in HP2 because of their huge popularity after Gong (he said he doesn't really pay attention to idol series anyways), but because when the two of them auditioned/screen-tested together, he was extremely impressed by their unique chemistry and said their "aura" together was something he had never seen before. Definitely looking forward to their storyline here!

I don't know exactly what the process was...I'm guessing that they were probably invited to audition together because of their huge popularity after Gong, but ultimately they were chosen because of their amazing chemistry together. I just went back to read that article--sorry, what I posted above isn't very accurate (it was awhile ago so I forgot the specifics). It was actually HP2's producer Chen Guofu that said it, not the director. Sounds like he had a big say in the casting--he probably was not the one who invited FengMi to audition (he seems to be one of those film "snobs" who doesn't think highly of idol dramas, lol! He doesn't seem to be that aware of or excited about FengMi's enormous popularity, either--making it all the more impressive that he chose them!).

In regards to Yang Mi, he said: "It's not that her fanbase is not good, it's just that for me, this is not the key for choosing actors. In deciding on YM and FSF, it was only because the two of them screen-testing together gave me a completely different feeling, the "charisma/aura/feel" of the two of them together is something that no other actors can compete with/compare to." Considering he's directed/produced a lot of big-budget popular films, involving many famous actors, this is very high praise! He also goes on to say, "How long can an actor's popularity last? Right now maybe she is extremely popular, but one of my projects may take 2 years, so really what good is it to grab a currently "hot" actress?" (In talking about the fact that he did not choose YM because she is one of the most popular, "hot" actresses at the moment.)

I keep being surprised by how many of YM/FSF's directors/producers seem to be so pro-FengMi! (Mind you these are all middle-aged/older men who have been in the industry for a long time...so definitely not your typical "celeb couple shipper". ) I mentioned this before but YM's DMGD producer has got to be the most obvious about it on his weibo. In fact, he's been so blatantly and unabashedly shipping the two of them (even pretty much declaring himself a "FengMi") that it seems like many people have been accusing him of just faking this for publicity's sake. He recently reposted a FengMi shipper's weibo picture and added rather indignantly: "Stop telling me constantly: 'The movie has already finished its box office run, you don't need to promote anymore.' Well can I not just genuinely/wholehearted love FengMi?"

Actually to be honest I myself previously also wondered if he was just exaggerating it because he wanted more people to go watch DMGD. But indeed, it seems pointless for him to continue now that the movie hasn't been in theatres for awhile... Personally, I think he must've been involved in FSF's secret surprise for YM at her DMGD promo event, so I bet the producer was just really touched by it--thus making him a diehard FengMi shipper.

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Synopsis of Painted Skin 2:

 North of the "Northern Underworld", in a secluded mountain peak, there is a hell of bitterly cold ice. They say that this is where demons and spirits are kept locked; the snow and ice on the mountain top do not melt for ten thousand years. Here, apart from bird species, no living thing has ever passed by.

A hundred and some years ago, a fox demon was thrown into this hell of bitter ice. In the freezing cold she suffered countless torture, all because she used her thousand years of demon magic to save a human's life, breaking the laws of the demon world. She said that she had encountered the most beautiful thing in the human world.

Legend has it, "Every time at the solar eclipse, day and night blur, yin and yang reverse, chaos reigns everywhere...this is the sole moment when the dead may return to the living, when humans and demons may interchange with one another. If a demon wishes to become human, there must be a human who willingly gives up their heart to the demon; the demon spirit melds into this heart, becoming one with the human, and together they spend their lives..."

...This, is a film describing the journey of human discovery, created in a new world of Oriental supernatural fantasy and dark magic.

Recently FSF gave very high praise for HP2 and seemed super excited about it too. (Yeah I know he's one of the mains, but he doesn't seem like the type to just shamelessly promote his own series/movies so I believe him when he says it'll be really good!)

I assume the fox demon mentioned was Zhou Xun's character in HP (didn't she use her powers to revive Zhao Wei and Chen Kun's lives?) who encountered the beauty of "love" in the human world. No idea how everyone else fits in.

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JoleCole's comments:
I must give mango_cake a loud applaud for her great translation work. She does a wonderful job trying to convey the original poetic feel of Chinese language into English. Even though I can understand Chinese/English pretty well, translation is definitely not my forte! I always tend to do a literal translation and the translated text always end up too bland and "unprofound."