Synopsis: How Did We Get Here is a new scripted series under the #PopVultures banner, which will take a look in each episode about a celebrity, a band or the cast of a movie or film that made an impact on Asian entertainment and how they got to where they are now.
There is a good argument to be made that the most famous Chinese drama ever aired is the Qing-dynasty set period royal romance My Fair Princess, which is best known for its first two seasons aired in 1998 and 1999.
The story follows a case of mistaken identity. An orphaned street urchin named Xiaoyanzi who accidentally becomes a princess in place of her friend, the Qing emperor Qianlong’s illegitimate daughter Ziwei.
The series broke viewership records, became extremely popular across Asia and was an all-around unprecedented hit that made household names of its main cast of Vicki Zhao, Ruby Lin, Alec Su, Zhou Jie, Fan Bingbing and Julian Chen.
Now, 26 years since the drama first aired - a lot has happened to the main cast. Two have been effectively cancelled by the Chinese government, one has apparently become a successful farmer, one is widely disliked by Chinese netizens and one quite literally got burnt.
#PopVultures host Jan Lee discusses exactly how we got here.
Here is what she talked about:
1:20 Introduction about My Fair Princess
4:11 How the series got cast and its impact on Asian entertainment
11:57 What happened to Julian Chen?
14:16 What happened to Alec Su?
17:16 Is there a feud between Ruby Lin and Zhou Jie?
28:03 The cancellation of Fan Bingbing
35:12 The many troubles of Vicki Zhao and her eventual downfall
Produced by: Jan Lee (janlee@sph.com.sg) Amirul Karim
Edited by: Amirul Karim
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