Eleanor Lee May Be Replaced By AI In New Drama, Face Swop Could Cost S$3.6mil

As each day passes, China-based Singapore actress Eleanor Lee’s leaked voice clip scandal just gets messier.

The 25-year-old daughter of Mediacorp host Quan Yifeng was allegedly recorded making derogatory comments saying “Most Chinese people are fools” though she has since released a statement denying the accusation.

However, the damage may already be done.

There have already been widespread calls for a boycott Eleanor’s upcoming drama Go to the Mountains and Sea which was originally slated to be released on May 20.

Despite already removing all promotional materials featuring Eleanor, there are now rumours that the production team may go a step further by using AI face-swapping technology to digitally replace her in the series.

As Eleanor is one of the leads, it is said the process would be time consuming and complex, with an estimated cost ranging between 800K to two million yuan (S$144.5K to S$361K) per episode.

In all, this could cost the production team a whopping 20million yuan (S$3.6mil).

The team has also said cutting Eleanor’s character is out of the question as it would disrupt the narrative flow.

Online comments have been mixed, with supporters arguing that the AI solution would mean that the cast and crew wouldn’t be collateral damage because of Eleanor’s controversy.

Eleanor’s fans, on the other hand, say any decision should wait until a full investigation into the allegations is completed.

So far there’s been no talk on which actress is being considered to replace Eleanor through AI, but the practice has precedent.

In 2023, former Mediacorp actor Dai Xiangyu (previously known as Dai Yangtian) had his face AI-ed into Chinese drama A Date With The Future, replacing actor Wang Dong. The latter was blacklisted by the Chinese government after being accused of domestic violence.

However, the AI face-swap received criticism, with viewers then calling it unrealistic and jarring. Some even said Xiangyu looked weird and less attractive.

Well, it’s been two years. Maybe technology has been improved since?

Photos: Sinchew, eleanorleex/IG