Nicky Wu and Wallace Huo in “Chinese Detective”
Nicky Wu (“吴奇隆) and Wallace Huo’s (霍建华) new mainland China drama, Chinese Detective <刑名师爷之迷情双龙>, has completed post-production and will be released at the end of 2012. The highly-anticipated 30-episode mystery drama was based off a popular internet novel trilogy, which has been downloaded more than 10 million times via Shanda Literature’s group of websites. Recently, hundreds of stills from the drama were released, revealing plot details which excited many fans. A 35-minute trailer was currently being edited for promotional release shortly.
Decked in pirate garb, Wallace Huo portrayed a mysterious man who returned from Italy to Ming Dynasty China. Intent on finding the whereabouts of his father, Wallace hoped to solve the mysteries of his own identity and why he was born in China, but raised in Italy. Aside from his non-conformist personality, Wallace lacked knowledge of traditional Chinese culture and customs, making him stand out like a “fish out of the water” in imperial China.
Wallace’s quest for this father’s whereabouts led him to Nicky Wu, an adopted son of a wealthy merchant and also a legal advisor to the Magistrate. Nicky possessed a traditional, serious personality whose strength was in logic and reasoning. Wallace put his western logic, mechanical skills, and knowledge of anatomy to good use by helping Nicky solve complex crimes. Although initially at odds with each other due to their personality and cultural clashes, the duo form a strong bond of brotherhood together as they escape dangerous situations.
As Wallace and Nicky approach closer to uncovering the truth behind their fathers, a group of mysterious figures begin a frenzied attack on the duo. What was the reason behind why the pair became the targets of sinister forces? What shattering secrets laid behind their fathers’ identities, which attracted even the Emperor’s scrutiny? A layer of puzzles nestled within Chinese Detective, whereby Nicky and Wallace had to unravel one by one.
Chinese Detective promised a thrilling mystery, the search for one’s own identity, and an intense love triangle. Nicky Wu and He Zhouyan’s character have known each other since they were children. However, their love was divided by Wallace Huo, who went to romantic extremes to demonstrate his love for Zhouyan, such as creating a colossal painting, arranging heart-shaped candles, and cooking Italian delicacies for her to enjoy. Wallace’s outrageous character in Chinese Detective represented a 180 degree turn from his past introverted characters.
He Zhouyan portrayed a butcher’s daughter, whose father became rich overnight for mysterious reasons. Zhouyan’s father claimed that he owed Wallace a human life and promised Zhouyan as his bride. Who was the mysterious figure who backed Zhouyan’s father and what role will he play in their destinies?
Chinese Detective was directed by Yuan Xiaoyuan (袁晓满) and adapted into a television drama script by Zhou Zhiyong (周智勇). Director Yuan complimented both Nicky and Wallace for their performances in Chinese Detective, “Nicky Wu and Wallace Huo are both male co-leads in the drama. With Nicky possessing traditional Chinese values and Wallace full of westernized habits, there exists a cultural and personality clash between the pair. They are both very promising actors and complemented each other well. Perhaps they are both natives from Taiwan, which made communication with each other easier.”
Watch Promotional Clip of “Chinese Detective”!
[vsw id=”Mycl7pVHI5A” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]
Sources: ifeng.com, Netease.com, dbw.com, sina.com.cn, Netease.com
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Jayne: The synopsis of Chinese Detective appears interesting. Would like to see the 35-minute trailer, which will be shortly released. Has anyone read the internet novel?
Looking forward to seeing Nicky in another good drama. However, with Wallace’s pirate wardrobe, I can’t help but think flashes of Jack Sparrow.
The Chinese title tries to be epic, but fails.
Now it is called Chinese Detective?
I have been waiting for this to be released until forever!! Still not out yet.
It is not the same as the novel thanks to China banning time travel story.
, “Nicky Wu and Wallace Huo are both male co-leads in the drama. With Nicky possessing traditional Chinese values and Wallace full of westernized habits, there exists a cultural and personality clash between the pair. They are both very promising actors and complemented each other well. Perhaps they are both natives from Taiwan, which made communication with each other easier.”
No lar sir! It is because Nicky goes to extra length to be friendly to his fellow co stars and Wallace is just someone into his work. No big egos here. In fandom is a different matter.
Personally I am excited for the guys, but am not pleased with dubbing again. The actress I wasn’t ok until I saw her in JTTW and I thought she is ok, I just hope not that robotic female voice dubbing her. She is rather young.
As for Wallace I don’t like the Jack Sparrow getup and I can never understand the need to diet until so thin, which he himself did it for his own reasons. I suppose Italy didn’t feed its citizens and guests well. But at least the hair isn’t some Tao getup. I swear I see Wallace and I thought his tao geuup is his normal everyday hairstyle. Very used to that look.
Yes, Nicky is pleasant & easy going, tries to create a friendly atmosphere at ‘work’ with co-stars.
You seem to be a fan, Funn.
I agree with Jayne. This shows sounds promising and interesting.
Yea, it sounds good but I hope the expectations aren’t too high or else we may get disappointed.
I like Nicky after BBJX. I love Wallace after QSHF. So yes, very excited and has been following this news for some time but still no release date. Am getting tired from being hyper.
This story is originally a time-travel story? I supposed Wallace’s character in the time-traveler in the novel?
Kidd,
According to the synopsis, Wallace is the person who doesn’t really know why he appeared in China and his past, so most likely he is the time traveler.
10 million copies sold of the internet novel sold is quite impressive! Everyone who has a knack for writing should give it a try….
Yes, original story is Wallace’s character is from the future who time travelled back and helped solve cases. Since China banned that aspect, so now he is from Italy and he meets Nicky’s character who is not in the book originally.
Funn,
I saw a promotional poster of the drama and it was entitled “Chinese Detective.” For Cantonese speakers like myself, saying and remembering the pinyin titles can be a mouthful. However, the drama is still widely referenced as Xing Ming Shi Ye across the internet.
Perhaps there is a reason why Wallace is dressed like he stepped out of “Pirates in the Caribbean.” Maybe there is a good reason cited in the drama?
Canto,
I like a good story about the bonds of brotherhood, which is one of the most appealing aspects of wuxia novels.
Agree that the actress seems rather plain.
I’m still familiarizing myself with mainland artists, but I find Tong Liya rather beautiful. Her face reminds me of Gigi Lai, especially her dimples. In “Beijing Love Story,” Tong Liya’s resemblance to Gigi was striking, due to her hairstyle.
It would be have better to cast Tong Liya in “Chinese Detective” lah…
Jayne,
I agree and love stories about the bonds of brotherhood since those are really touching… I have seen Tong Liya a few times and she is a decent actress… There are many really pretty and talented actreses from China…
HeTieShou,
Actually, I’m a bit bored by the heavy emphasis on romantic love found in most dramas.
Stories of brotherhood usually speak about men surviving danger and death together, where they are willing to sacrifice even their lives. Perhaps best summarized by “brothers are like one’s arms and legs, while women are like clothes.” It’s about honor, courage, bravery, sacrifice–very noble themes. I enjoy the exploration of such virtuous themes, rather than brothers turned enemies.
While stories of sisterhood speak about women being there despite heartbreak, chatting their hearts out. Sisters are there for emotional comfort, crying, finding a comforting shoulder. A true sister is like a mother, where you seek comfort of the heart.
Actually I can’t really think of any dramas right now that truly center on sisterhood, aside from some Hollywood movies. Perhaps TV sitcom, “Friends” would illustrate the sisterhood among the females the best?
Jayne,
I agree and get really really tired of series that emphasize too much about romance. I love stories of brotherhood which was why I think the series Shui Yue Dong Tian got so popular. You should really see that series. That was the series where Ada Choi met her current husband. That series had love and romance but it also had a strong emphasis on brotherly love which I think was one of the strongest themes in that series. I also can’t think of a series about sisterly love but I think I have seen some before. Let me see if I can remember… Another series that really emphasizes brotherly love is any series about the Yang family. You should see Shao Nian Yang Jia Jiang from China. It had a great cast and I loved the chemistry between the brothers. Since I have all brothers, I really love stories about brotherly love….
HeTieShou,
Thanks for your recommendations. War stories always serve as a good backdrop for brotherhood. “The Patriot Yue Fei” should offer a good story for loyalty and sacrifice.
“Perhaps there is a reason why Wallace is dressed like he stepped out of “Pirates in the Caribbean.” Maybe there is a good reason cited in the drama?”
Not really. Supposedly he came back from Italy, and Wallace himself designed his own look, I suppose that’s what they think ITalians look like.
@ Jayne
There are some great sisterhood moment in Sergeant Tabloid where Nikki’s character has 4 female friends (all police officers) who are there for her during he heartbreak moment.
Kidd,
“There are some great sisterhood moment in Sergeant Tabloid where Nikki’s character has 4 female friends (all police officers) who are there for her during he heartbreak moment.”
Hehe was it a crying moment? Women love to bond over love problems.
Jayne,
You are welcome and I think you should see more series from China since many of them are really good…Yea, any series about Yue Fei is really good for sacrifice and loyalty. It really ticks me about how loyal they can be at times to those tyrant kings that don’t deserve it.
@ Jayne
Not a crying moment but a boxing moment. They let Nikki release her frustration and sadness in a boxing matches and give her words of encouragement. 😀
yay Wallace! i’ve been anticipating this drama. I never knew who would be the female lead until now and I’m disappointed…..
Why are you disappointed? Do you not like Huo Zhuo yan?
hmm i don’t NOT like her but i’ve never heard of her or seen her in any drama. i just thought the female lead would be a familiar/prettier face.
I thought she was in Duke of Mount Deer, the Dicky version? Or which version?
And she was the rat demon in JTTW 2011, which was given a lot of air time.
Well if you haven’t heard of her, then you should give her a chance. Just because you don’t know her doesn’t mean that she is not famous or is not a familiar face. There are many new people that you don’t know at first so you have to watch them and give them a chance, and then you will know them… She has been in a lot of series so maybe you have not seen them OR you just don’t remember her.
Ahh Funn, mentioning Dicky makes me want He Me Tian to return in a big production like this. I’ve always liked her cuteness and babyface.. I kind of find a lot of mainland actresses these days to be very similar looking or bland looking.. not very pretty. Even Yang Mi, I find her not that pretty. I guess I used to like Ady An in Chinese Paladin but she’s Taiwanese as well.
@Funn
definitely not the Dicky Cheung version because I saw it several times, and she’s supposed to be young right? This version is quite old! Well not as old as the ’98 version with Jordan Chan haha.
@HeTieShou
oh I know that just because I don’t know her it doesn’t mean she’s not famous, when I said that I wish it was a familiar face, I meant familiar face TO ME. I just started mainland dramas the end of last year so there are a lot of actors and actresses I have yet to know. but there are a few that I like such as Liu ShiShi, Yang Mi, Tong Li Ya, Tang Yan, Janine Chang(TW), Li Xiao Lu. Anyway, i don’t know if I would be able to give HZ a chance because I don’t find her particularly attractive, she might be a good actress but I just don’t know if she suits this role to me especially when Nicky and Wallace’s character are both crazily in love with her…
okay I just googled her pics, she’s not bad looking! Quite different from the video clip here… maybe it’s the makeup and hair but her face is awfully more round. She looks nice here though http://x66.xanga.com/e9bf165518330231757312/m182749206.jpg anyone know what drama this is from?
@Tirah,
Great to know that you are seeing more series from China. There are a lot more actors and actresses for you to know. I think you should give any newbie a chance.
Speaking of HeMeiTian, where is she nowadays?I have not seen her act for awhile now. is she still acting?
@ tirah
That picture is from the drama ‘Heaven Sword Dragon Sabre 2009′(倚天屠龙记). She played Xiao Zhao in the drama.
Here’s one of the drama’s poster
http://www.cqplc.com/up/upvid/2010071504820313.jpg
@HTS: Last I checked she had an injury and stopped acting for a bit. That and probably with the influx of new actresses, its hard to get a leading role now. So sad because she was probably one of my fav actresses, so cute.
@ Tirah: Li Xiao Lu is cute, but very “alien-like” to me for some reason. Not sure if you’ve heard of Gemma Ward.. but she reminds me of her because her eyes are so large and far apart.
@lychii,
Thanks for the info. No wonder I have not seen HeMeiTian for so long. yea, it is hard to get a leading role in the circle due to the high competition in the circle…
Huo Zhuo yan is cute n she was in Royal Tramp as Shuang Er.
This series really sounds interesting. I thought that China did not allow anymore time traveling series?? I guess they still do but you need to go through more in order to get it approved? I can’t wait to see this series.
I remember seeing Huo Zhuo yan in Mei gui Jiang Hu with Wallace Chung and Sun Fei Fei and enjoyed her performance. I hope that she will do well with Wallace Huo and Nicky.
No longer time traveling story which is why Nicky’s character was added.
Isn’t it still time traveling since Wallace’s character goes back in time??
No. The storyline is changed to him coming back from Italy, hence his pirate look.
Oh ok, thanks for the clarification. That is a good change then…
Eh, the govt can banned such thing one? . Whats wrong with time travel, but frankly they hv lots of time travel story line just this past few years alone.
Read somewhere that they didn’t like how scriptwriters were manipulating or creatively writing about historical events and figures.
I would of rather like to see liu shi shi to play the female main lead for this drama instead
but oh well, looking forward to this drama.
Are you still thinking of bu Bu jing xin too much?? I like Liu Shi Shi and all, but there are many other talented actresses from China as well so you really need to give them a chance. I have seen Huo Zhuo yan before and her acting is not bad at all.
as much as i love bu bu jing xin. love to see nicky and liu shi shi together again.
but i was reading an article online, liu shi shi was meant to be the main lead for this series but she didnt have time and all.
i acutally never seen her before but i would watch this series not only for nicky and wallace, the storyline seems interesting.
Really?? LSS was supposed to be the lead in this series? I did not hear anything about that. Can you give me the link to the article?is it the actual Chinese article or a translated one? I like LSS but it would be great to give other actresses a chance. You should always watch a series for way more than just the cast.
Do you mean He Zhou Yan or someone else, HTS? The one who acted Xiaozhao in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber? If you are talking about her, she is a cute girl with quite decent acting.
I quite like Jing Tian, too. She is pretty.
@Fox,
Oh yea, I was talking about the wrong person… I was thinking of Huo Si Yan.. But yea, I do agree that He Zhuo yan is a decent actress and is really cute as well. yes, she was the one that played xiao zhao in HSDS 2009.
This is tangren production right? So by default LSS is always supposed to be the lead in all Tangren production. Is this tangren production? I think it is. So darn confused these days. And I swear the lead actress is quoted as from some series I have seen before, just can’t remember which.
Huo Si Yan = 霍思燕? The sexy angelic girl? I liked her in Seven Fairies but after the quarrels with Huang Yi, I find her somehow too desperate for fame. Her naive face and the way she shows her assets can’t make a good combo in my mind. I prefer He Zhou Yan than her.
I have enough of LSS who isn’t that great in the first place. Moreover she is overworked already in Tangren productions, let her breath a little.
excuse me, are you saying that LSS isnt a good actress? then you tell me, who is a good mainland actress these days. she is one of the best young actresses they have other than yang mi.
She was a terrible actress, then she improved to be average, above mediocre but not fantastic. She has lots to improve on. And who is a good mainland actress? Anyone older than her. In China acting talent is something they’re not lacking, but LSS is given a lot of opportunities and at some point she has to improve, if not that would be a waste on all these opportunities.
Yang Mi isn’t great either; if her real voice is used I am sure it would impede her acting credentials but people has to improve sometimes.
@khanh,
There are many many other really talented actresses in China. There are so many that I can’t list them all of course. But of course the more talented ones have moved onto movies and better things. I like LSS too,but would not say that her acting is fantastic or is the best that I have seen. Don’t you notice any other actresses in China??
I agree and like LSS and all but would love to see more of others since I do get tired of seeing her everywhere all the time.
Well I was talking about mainland actress that are still young like early 20s to mid 20s.
Of course there is heaps of older actress that’s ate better. They have potential that’s all.
Nah, too much if her lately, was quite surprise he got promoted so much with so so look and acting.
He Zhuo Yan’s face look so round. She looks plumper here compared to in JTTW.
Apparently she got very sick I think twice during filming, hence he plumper looks. Also the hairstyle is not helping much with the already round face.
I actually like Wallace’s Italy image better than his later one, which still similar to many other character of him, except for the earing.
It’s clever of them to change time traveling into space traveling. However, I hope that they would not overuse the Westernize elements.
I see all of the Chinese Series I seen recently need dubbing, all the Hunan shown series, maybe the filming stations are too noisy to have direct record?
Yeah, the noisy environment. Was watching some other BTS and I can hear planes lar, cars honking lar, fans chattering away lar.. but I would hope one day for real voice. TVB films on street and I don’t see the problem.
I do like his later image here; less clean than his previous Tao sort of look. At least the hair a bit different. The italy took is just Jack Sparrow minus the heavy eyeliner. I read he bought that earring himself.
P/s I thought this getup is more Ling Huchong than the official Ling Huchong getup.
Well, I prefer Wallace’s messy looks over his clean ones. I like his hair in Yi Zhi Mei and his role too.
Wallace and Nicky will be dubbed since they are not from Mainland. But even the mainland actors and actresses often get dubbed so I rarely get to hear their real voice which sucks.
They dub everyone, more so non Mainland even in series they don’t dub. As far as I know Wallace’s mandarin is almost devoid of his Taiwanese accent and yet they still dub.
Oh, to be honest, I find it annoying when only one or two actors being dubbed, then I’d rather everyone is dubbed.
They just used to dubbing everything I think. I can hardly find undubbed Chinese series theseday, especially the popular ones, all dubbed.
“Hi”…? What happened to the “Italian” pirate aspect? If anything, why Italy of all places? (I’ve yet to read the novel so I don’t know if that holds any significance. Unless they think it’s simply cool/different…)
I get rather agitated when the actors/writers aren’t consistent (mostly out of laziness). For instance, you’ve grown up in England/studied there for most of your adult life, and yet you speak with an American accent?! I’d rather listen to someone TRYING to speak the language – even with the heavy accent and broken English – as opposed to someone who fully understands the language but thinks the audience are too dumb to distinguish between the accents. Grrr. Sorry, it’s just a pet peeve of mine when I watch Asian dramas.
No significance except maybe only europeans were more adventurous back then. Marco Polo perhaps?
I’m watching this series only because of Nicky. Why didn’t they cast Lin KengXin or Yuan Hong for Wallace’s character. I think the result would have been better.
Excuse me but Yuan Hong is overworked. Is this Tangren production? If yes he doesn’t want to be in it. Wallace was cast first. You should read the fans conspiracy theory, not that I care. I just want this series to be released. I am bored with anticipating it. Ling Kengxin is who? Lin Gengxin issit? Too young, and not enough star power.
What’s the fan conspiracy?
Yeah, What’s the fan conspiracy?
It’s not up to us who they cast. Also, you should always watch a series for more than just the cast or else watching a series becomes meaningless….
Cant help myself thinking that wallace huo expression from the above clip look a bit similar when he was in wu shi lang?
Won’t deny that. But he is still handsome even if too thin. Nicky also same expression.
Oh yea… No wonder his expression looked familiar.
刑名师爷 I’ve read first part of the novel (it has 3 parts). I don’t know 迷情双龙 will be which part because I can’t follow the novel to the end. It’s very boring :P. 纳妾记 (same author with 刑名师爷) is definitely better but I also can follow to part 2 since it gets more and more boring. 沐轶 always has good beginning for his stuffs but after that, the more it comes to ending, the more boring it is. He should shorten his novels. Like Wen Rui On, Mu Yi is better with short stuffs, I blv so.
So hope the series won’t be as boring as the novel.
P/S: Why nobody adapt Cang Hai (沧海) of Feng Ge? It’s an awesome internet novel and its storyline isn’t really hard to adapt. Meh, I can’t wait to see Kuk Chun on screen!
I’m not one who follow period dramas…but Scarlet Heart was an exception. I’ve gone ga ga over Nicky Wu again.