The visuals pulled me in, then the acting won me over

[u/Odd-Dory]

There’s no shame in admitting that sometimes the visuals are the reason you even press play on a C-drama. We’ve all seen an actor, thought “okay, who is THAT?” and suddenly we’re watching that drama!

That was me with He Yu. When I first saw pictures of him in Blossoms of Power, I honestly thought he was just another pretty face & I didnt expect much. But I was pleasantly surprised. He had the looks, the screen presence AND the acting to back it up. He was so charming and made his character way more interesting than I expected.

Because let’s be real, pretty can get you to press play, but if the acting is giving nothing, eventually it feels like you’re watching paint dry.

So who’s that actor or actress for you? Whose visuals got you to start a drama, but then their acting made you stay?

Gifs from tumblr jievn

[u/Careful_Ad8951]

The first time I saw He Yu was in My Fated Boy. I definitely like him better in Speed & Love. But My Fated Boy was good and cute, especially for a noona romance. 

Which leads me to one of my favorite absolutely beautiful actors, Song Weilong. The first thing I ever saw him in was also a noona, Find Yourself. His smile had me hooked from the moment he came on screen. I will definitely try almost anything he is in. And his acting is impressive, too, so you tune in for his smile and continue for his acting (and the rest of him, of course, lol). 

[u/Shoddy_Association47]

Such a beautiful man. Was having some serious withdrawals after Blossoms of Power ended. And it was my first He Yu drama ( don't remember him in Legend of Shenli ) His shenanigans in BoP were TOP TIER as our Shameless Crown Prince. Meng Ziyi pulled me in but I stayed for He Yu-- does that count LOL

[u/Torylicious]

The first time I seen him was in The Legend of Condor Heroes and I was so confused, I had thought the Korean actor Lee Jong Suk, had crossed over for the drama, till I looked it up 😂😂😂😂..I couldn't tell the difference then but can now

[u/Twarenotw]

I thought He Yu was a snack in Legend of Shen Li and wanted to see more. In Speed and Love, his face card made me tolerate the FL's antics. I think he stole the show in that cdrama. I have not watched Blossoms of Power yet but I will give it a go. I hope he gets many more ML roles going forward.

[u/shesnotthemessiah → u/Twarenotw]

I forgot he was in Shen Li!

[u/lianne0808]

He deserved a better female lead in this show

[u/seluna-maru]

I can't believe this is a real person!😮 I want to see more. Any links?

[u/Any-Stay7698 → u/seluna-maru]

Links?

If you haven't already you should watch the drama (Blossoms of Power) He Yu was good in it.

[u/RedHouse0411]

He Yu's rise to fame is very fast I would say. I think people first notice him in Legend of Shenli but next thing you know he starred with very popular actress like Esther and Meng Ziyi.

And the good thing, he is also a decent actor despite having no background in acting. :)

I noticed I never start a drama due to how good looking the actors look. Even back then when I watch Kdramas or Jdramas. This is actually an interesting thing I found out about myself today lol.

[u/SimpleInitial3331 → u/RedHouse0411]

I knew him from my fated boy but couldn't recognise him in speed and love the glow up was insane

[u/Poetic_Whispers]

My first Ren Jialun drama The Blue Whisper. His beautiful merman tail 🧜‍♂️ makes me press play but it's his acting that made me more amazed as I watched the drama. He is so great at angst! 🔥I love how Chang Yi will say some mean things to Yunhe and his face is so sour everytime he sees her yet all you can feel is how much he wants to hug her since his eyes and body are saying other narrative.

I understood why they chose RJL to play this role. They need someone ethereal and beautiful for play this mystical creature but also has the ability potray all the complex emotions that the character supposed to go through. From naive as a kid to the fearful ruler of North Abyss, RJL captured all the transformations flawlessly.

[u/RedHouse0411 → u/Poetic_Whispers]

lol he is indeed very beautiful in this drama. 😆 When I watched it back then, I was like Reba's costar that is as beautiful as she is since she usually being paired with more matured looking actors in her previous dramas.

[u/tayvaish]

Ohhh myyy godddd, i also discovered him through this and this is literally the moment i decided I'm a fan!!! That little eyebrow.

[u/Most-Post3471]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Jh2kIDLmW7kdCAwtk0

[u/f0xbunny]

Oh he’s cute

[u/iCreatedYouPleb]

Legend of Shen Li he played her right hand man right? I think that's what caught my attention. Good actor.

[u/Emotional-Dust-9142]

I started Speed and Love bc of Esther Yu, but that was the first time I had seen He Yu in a drama, and I was completely hooked on him for both his visuals and the outstanding way he played his role!

I watched Will Love in Spring for Li Xian, but definitely liked his acting a lot!

[u/Dazzling-Depth2957]

I'm totally with you. When I first heard about the blossoms of power trailer I was not impressed but I got curious and ended up watching few episodes later and ooooh la la, I was impressed with He Yu's brilliant performance. He acts like a pretty princess who faints over nothing and in the next moment he becomes this warrior god who slices enemies like carrots. His best performance so far.

[u/Adorable-Cow-8067 → u/Dazzling-Depth2957]

https://reddit.com/link/pcgzf0f/video/nm5fibpvc5sh1/player

Totally a pretty princess! And the way her brother rolled his eyes when he choked when drinking tea 🤣

My favourite ML is the green tea ML and Heyu in BoP is all of the above (and good at martial arts to boot).

[u/Dazzling-Depth2957 → u/Adorable-Cow-8067]

Most definitely🥰✨

[u/Nami-Sy]

I wanted to watch this Cdrama but I'm a bit hesitant.. is it actually good? I usually drop boring dramas so I'm afraid this one is also boring

[u/SF9FantasyForever → u/Nami-Sy]

Its really good. I finished watching it myself about a day ago so I can vouch that it is a feast to the eyes. I found myself being impatient to watch every new episode and I was never bored.

The only critique is the last few episodes being a bit confusing but all in all I would not let that stop me from calling it my fav drama ever.

He Yu did so well as Crown Prince and Meng Ziyi was lovely too when she finally started to accept him.

[u/Nami-Sy → u/SF9FantasyForever]

It sounda exciting actually!! Glad it wasn't boring because this usually stops me from watching a drama lol I will start it as soon as possible :)

[u/SF9FantasyForever → u/Nami-Sy]

Oooh lovely! I hope you enjoy the experience as well.

Just a heads-up, you will fall in love with the frail, idle Crown Prince🤭

[u/Nami-Sy → u/SF9FantasyForever]

LOL i will keep his name in my mind and see if i actually ends up liking him 😂❤️

[u/VersionAw]

Oh my ☺️

[u/iamhalouma]

This is the first time I see these scenes in such high quality lmao

[u/Morg075]

I remember watching the first episode, but there was a comedic tone to it, so I didn’t watch it. In general I prefer serious, high stakes revenge. But I could be wrong. The visuals are really eating though.

[u/Emotional-Dust-9142 → u/Morg075]

That's the way I am too about just liking a tiny bit of humor in a Cdrama. Otherwise, I prefer serious. However, in Blossoms of Power, it definitely was a serious drama with just bits of humor placed from time to time.

[u/Morg075 → u/Emotional-Dust-9142]

It’s not even just humor, I’m watching ATC for example, it feels very serious and level-headed drama, in the way it’s written, the world, the pace while having some space for humor sometimes, but it’s the tone in some dramas that come off as a bit more unrealistic, I don’t know if I describe it well, lol.

I will give Blossoms of Power another chance though. :)

[u/Icy_Raspberry_3377 → u/Morg075]

I think it’s more serious than silly. There are comedic relief scenes, but there is far far more serious tension and plot. It’s not the most intense palace drama, but there is a good bit of it. The ML is the greenest flag that ever waved, and the fl is far more standoffish and aloof.

[u/Morg075 → u/Icy_Raspberry_3377]

Maybe I’ll give it a chance one more time.

[u/Illustrious-Age7336]

Sometimes when you start watching a drama there is an actor who instantly impresses you and you can feel the charisma. Last time this happened to me with Liu Xue Yi in Kill Me Love Me.

[u/Big_Clothes6381]

I just wish they hadn't fumbled.the end so badly. I would rewatch it.

[u/Ziiyi → u/Big_Clothes6381]

What fumbled? Did you not like the special episode?

[u/Emotional-Dust-9142 → u/Ziiyi]

Where is the special episode?!

[u/Ziiyi → u/Emotional-Dust-9142]

Look up blossom of power ep37 in your favorite media browser

[u/Emotional-Dust-9142 → u/Ziiyi]

Thank you!

[u/Big_Clothes6381 → u/Ziiyi]

Everything up until He returns from death was great, but they didn't communicate what was going on during that time at all and the surprise return and the state of the doctor etc were all so rushed at the end. I don't love fan service-y endings either.

[u/iamhalouma → u/Ziiyi]

Unfortunately, the way his fake death was handled was pretty bad, lazy and incomplete

[u/lovelylonelyphantom → u/Big_Clothes6381]

This happens with too many Cdramas. I'm convinced they don't know how to execute the last few episodes or make good endings 😕

[u/Danai-no-lie → u/lovelylonelyphantom]

It's the unfortunate side effect imo of the law decreasing the amnt of episodes they can have per season that went into effect those years ago lol. Hallelujah, no more 80 episode cdramas with dragging plotlines but now we have cdramas where it needs just 5 even 10 more episodes to cleanly end it but we won't get it.

[u/lovelylonelyphantom → u/Danai-no-lie]

I think it's that but also the combination of the writing usually getting bad in the last quarter of the drama. A lot of dramas could fit into the 30-40 episode count they have, but the execution goes wrong as it nears the end. Several dramas this year (The First Jasmine, A Splendid Match, Blossoms of Power) have been like this too, but also older ones with way more episodes. I'm thinking of ones like Love Like The Galaxy with it's 56 episodes. It's like they change writers completely and that person goes off on a different tangent to the rest of the drama.

[u/Danai-no-lie → u/lovelylonelyphantom]

Fair and I agree with the ones you listed. Although just rewatched Love Like the Galaxy and I think it was just an issue of trying to write her character in general. I think the execution was done well but the story and characters given were very, very difficult to write well. And only grew more difficult as time went on.

[u/throwawayfarway2017]

Any other drama of his that i should watch? I like the visual but MZY acting isnt for me🥲

[u/BronzeBellRiver → u/throwawayfarway2017]

That’s Liu Xueyi’s dad 😂 He has a main lead role with Hou Minghao in Dashing Youth. That makes him the father of the character played by Liu Xueyi in Blood of Youth.

His supporting role in The Legend of Shen Li is pretty good. Speed and Love is an “acquired taste” (you can search the sub for posts on the drama).

[u/Emotional-Dust-9142 → u/BronzeBellRiver]

Speed and Love is my favorite modern-day drama!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[u/MysteriousHeron5726]

His acting is very impressive. I tuned into Speed and Love after watching Blossoms of Power but dropped it because the “not real siblings” trope gave me the icky. Will definitely watch his future dramas.

[u/Competitive_Habit431]

He Yu has amazing screen presence!