There are expensive whims, and then there is this. 💸
A Chinese millionaire, whose identity has not been revealed, decided she wanted to be an actress. But not just any actress: she financed an entire miniseries of more than 50 episodes just to star in it herself, and personally chose her favorite actor, 23-year-old Zhong Yufei, as her on-screen love interest. The small detail is that she included a very specific clause in the contract: more than 60 kissing scenes.
Director Meng Xing said she tried to lower the number, without success. Yufei, for his part, claimed that there were advances that crossed the line, including the request not to use tongue in the kisses, something that, according to him, was not respected either. No one on the team wanted to stop her: the production’s funding depended on her.
When the platform saw the result, it removed more than 20 scenes for being explicit, leaving the story with gaps that confused viewers. The millionaire was so angry about the cuts that she refused to pay the $4,200 she still owed. The production ended up publicly apologizing to the actor. 🎬