Dilraba Dilmurat (迪麗熱巴) rose to fame 10 years ago through her supporting Diamond Lover <克拉戀人>. Recently, she revealed on a variety show that she was almost replaced during casting.
Diamond Lover’s producer Liu Yang (劉陽) revealed the off-screen drama was even more exciting than the script. Filming had already begun for a week when an investor wanted to replace Dilraba. Liu held meetings with the crew and asked everyone to help keep her in the role. He explained the role of Gao Wen was originally intended for a top-tier actress, but her agent turned it down.
The script was then revised to suit a newcomer and the screenwriter recommended Dilraba. However, the male and female leads had not yet been decided at the time. Liu Yang told Dilraba that if she was willing to wait, the role of Gao Wen would be hers so she ended up waiting for six months.
Even after the male and female leads were confirmed and contracts signed, Liu rejected various casting suggestions from the investors. Amid internal disputes within the team, they even forgot to give Dilraba a screen test before filming began.
What drew the most attention was Liu Yang’s claim that Tiffany Tang (唐嫣), who played the female lead, joined the production a month late. During that time, the screenwriter frantically rewrote the script, giving more scenes to Gao Wen. Dilraba gradually brought the character to life and the entire crew became her fans.
Amid speculations behind Tiffany’s delay which questioned her professionalism, her fans found an old post from her agency’s Weibo account from late December 2014, which stated that she was filming a movie in Dunhuang at the time and was scheduled to join the Diamond Lover production in January. Tiffany’s agency later issued an official statement clarifying that Tiffany’s start date had been negotiated in advance with the crew and she joined according to schedule and that there was no delay.”
Source: [1]
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
