The drama My Brilliant Friend (《天才女友》), starring Hu Yitian and Tian Xiwei, has officially started filming, but reports quickly emerged of a casting controversy involving second female lead Zhao Jiamin.
On the first day of filming, the production announced Tian Xiwei as the heroine Lin Zhixia, Hu Yitian as the male lead Jiang Yubai, and Zhao Jiamin as the second female lead Tang Tingting. Zhao even attended the opening ceremony herself. However, shortly afterward, Zhao’s agency publicly questioned the director, claiming he had already “preselected” another actress. They alleged that Zhao was deliberately made things difficult on set from day one, being told to repeatedly dye her hair and perform in an exaggerated style.
Ultimately, Zhao Jiamin was replaced by He Shiyu, who rose to fame for her role as Liu Xiying in When the Wild Flowers Bloom (《山花烂漫时》). Interestingly, this replacement also had a ripple effect—He Shiyu’s casting led to changes in another project, where Zhou Jieqiong’s scheduled role as Nie Xiaoqian in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (《聊斋》) was reassigned. As a result, Zhou was left without a filming project for eight months.
This string of casting changes has fueled heated online discussions, with netizens debating issues of “resource favoritism” and the phenomenon of “professional role snatchers” in the entertainment industry.
