One of iQiyi’s headline drama for 2025, A Journey to Glow <一念江南>, originally slated to star Wang Anyu (王安宇) and Esther Yu Shuxin (虞書欣) in the leads, has announced a change of cast with Gulnazar (古力娜扎) coming on set instead!
Esther’s Silence Amid Scandal Dragged Project
Esther, who previously achieved success with the likes of Love Between Fairy and Devil <蒼蘭訣> and Love Game in Eastern Fantasy <永夜星河> was recently mired in controversies, from her bullying other female artistes to her family’s supposed corruption and business favoritism.
As A Journey to Love‘s <一念關山> sister production, the production team has already invested much into the drama, with filming slated for September 9. However, Esther’s non-response in the face of negative publicity stopped the team from proceeding despite the set being ready, fearing A Journey to Glow might suffer the same fate of being shelved like 2020’s The Golden Hairpin <青簪行>, bogged down by Kris Wu’s (吳亦凡) rape controversy and causing production efforts, along with investors’ monies to go down the drain.
While other actresses who had been in talks include A-listers like Zhang Ruonan (章若楠) and Bai Lu (白鹿), Gulnazar of The Journey of Legend <赴山海> was supposedly favored for her ravishing costume looks which captured viewers’ attention once she came onscreen; her action scenes in Legend, though not many, were also well-executed and beautiful to watch, hence making her the choice lead replacement for Esther.
Cast as Cheng Yi‘s (成毅) sister in The Journey of Legend, Gulnazar’s exquisite appearance stood out; though few, her action scenes involving wire work and aerial kicks also looked impressive. Though there were rumors that Wang Anyu might drop out, he had put in much efforts previously to secure the role; it has been confirmed that there will be no male lead changes, evoking viewer excitement for the Gulnazar-Wang Anyu fresh pairing!
Source: 1
