Dilraba’s (迪丽热巴) new series with Leo Wu Lei (吴磊), “The Long Ballad” (长歌行), has been performing well since it aired. Dilraba recently sat down with Tencent News for an interview about the series. One of the questions they asked Dilraba was about her experience working with Leo Wu.
As this is their first time working together, Dilraba explained that she was just like some netizens who were worried about too strong of an age difference between her and Leo Wu. Dilraba is 29 this year while Leo Wu is 22. Dilraba explained, “Even though I am not old, I am only in my 20s, but I would think…would there be that age difference? In addition, it’s a series where the romantic storyline isn’t so strong. So I would worry about not being such a good fit. Even though he is 6, 7 years older than me, but during his performance, I couldn’t feel any age differences between the two people.”
In a separate interview, Dilraba was asked to comment on Leo Wu and his character. Dilraba said, “I think Wu Lei’s future girlfriend should probably be very fortunate because he is a really attentive boy. Everyone’s impression might be stuck on his appearance when he was younger. My impression of him is also stuck on when he was relatively younger. Prior to this, we had only worked on a magazine shoot. Later on, when they said to let Wu Lei portray Ashina Sun, I thought is he too young?” Dilraba felt a bit awkward after learning they would be co-stars. However, after filming started on the first day, Dilraba said Leo Wu wasn’t what she had imagined. Dilraba described Leo Wu as a very mature actor and said, “He is someone that would make you feel he’s older than you. He’s also taller than me. So it would feel like a gege that’s older than you because he would take care of you and your emotions.”
Dilraba also mentioned a scene where she and Leo Wu have to hold each other while rolling on the rooftop. She said Leo Wu added the part where he holds her head to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. After the scene ended, he would ask her if she was hurt or in pain anywhere. Dilraba also mentioned aside from Vic Zhou, Leo Wu is another male co-star that has never said anything when carrying her. He said, “Not heavy. It’s acceptable.”
I love The Long Ballad, kept watching it over and over again because I like the slow-burn romance of Ashile Sun and Changge. I don’t understand why people making big issue on their age difference, when I watched the series, I could not feel any age difference between Wu Lei and Reba. Wu Lei looks mature and Reba looks younger. Wu Lei performed perfectly as Ashile Sun and I love the way he paid extra attention to Reb during filming. They looked so cute and sweet. I am hoping they will be given another series to work together. I love their team-up!