Ex Mediacorp Actor Dai Xiangyu Face-Swapped Onto Scandal-Plagued Actor In Chinese Drama; Looks “Less Attractive”

More than a year after filming wrapped, Chinese drama A Date With The Future, which stars Hong Kong actor William Chan and Zhang Ruonan, premiered on June 2 on streaming platform Tencent.

The drama, which tells the story of journalist Xu Lai — played by Ruonan — pursuing William’s Jin Shi Chuan, a firefighter, when they meet again 10 years after he rescued her during an earthquake, has won viewers with its refreshing storyline.

But that wasn’t the only thing that got people talking.

Chinese actors Xu Kaicheng and Wang Dong, who were cast as Fang Huai, captain of the fire brigade, and Qin Ye, team leader of a TV station’s news department, respectively, and featured in earlier promotional materials were noticeably missing from the show.

Last August, both actors reportedly made the Chinese government's list of “tainted celebrities” after their respective scandals. Kaicheng was accused of cheating on ex-girlfriend, Chinese actress Zhang Tian Ai. Wang Dong, on the other hand, was accused of spousal abuse.

Instead of reshooting the entire drama, they were simply replaced by Wang Zirui and former Mediacorp actor Dai Xiangyu (who you might remember as Dai Yangtian) with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Besides looking “unrealistic” and “abrupt”, viewers complained about “obvious traces of editing” and how the facial features of the actors were flickering, which were distracting.

There were also scenes where evidence of Kaicheng’s face could still be seen.

Poor editing aside, many of the comments zeroed in on how “weird” Xiangyu looked and that he appeared “less attractive” and "fatter" after being face swapped onto Wang Dong’s body.

“I was wondering why his figure looked inconsistent,” mused one fan, while another said: “Sometimes he looks like Dai Xiangyu, and sometimes he doesn’t. The neck is also short.”

Photos: Dai Xiangyu/Weibo, Sinchew