
Chinese woman funds her own TV series to star in, requests 60 kissing scenes with male lead
A wealthy Chinese woman reportedly funded her own short-form drama, cast herself as its leading lady, and requested more than 60 kissing scenes with a handpicked male actor.
According to Mothership, the unnamed investor paid for a customized series spanning more than 50 episodes.
She then took the role of a princess and personally selected actor Zhong Yufei to play her love interest, a down-on-his-luck prince.
However, director Meng Xing claimed the investor also insisted on packing the show with more than 60 kissing scenes. Crew members reportedly joked that the pair had to kiss every few steps.
The director said she tried to reduce the amount of intimate content, but the woman refused to change her plans.
Actor claims rich woman crossed boundaries while filming intimate scenes
Zhong later addressed the production in a video, alleging that his co-star repeatedly crossed his boundaries while filming intimate scenes.
“Don’t stick out your tongue when filming kissing scenes. Don’t keep sending saliva into my mouth,” he said, according to 8world.
The streaming platform reportedly removed more than 20 kissing and intimate scenes before releasing the drama because they were considered too explicit.
Those cuts allegedly created gaps in the story and even led some viewers to believe the two stars had developed a real-life relationship.
Meng later clarified that she was only hired to produce the customized series after some viewers incorrectly assumed she was the wealthy investor.
She also claimed the woman refused to pay the remaining 30,000 yuan, approximately $4,200 USD, after becoming upset that so many kissing scenes had been removed.
The production company has since apologized to Zhong and pledged to introduce clearer contracts protecting actors during future shoots.