The team of “Joy of Life 2” has denied the notion that lead actor Zhang Ruoyun was asked to shed his weight in reprising his role for the second season.
As reported on Sohu, director Sun Hao and screenwriter Wang Juan were recently asked about Zhang’s weight loss in “Joy of Life 2”, which had become the topic of discussion among fans of the series.
Saying that it was Zhang who made the decision based on his understanding of his character Fan Xian, Sun said, “Ruoyun is very hardworking and very strict with himself, not only in terms of his [appearance], but also in terms of large sections of dialogue, which were all improvised on the spot.”
Wang Juan added, “As I said before, Zhang Ruoyun has never left the role of Fan Xian. This is his own pursuit.”
It is noted that fans of the show had been singing praises for Zhang’s new look, with many saying that the actor looked even more dashing in his ancient costume since losing weight. Others said that his new look seemed to be more in line with the role in the second season.
The first season of “Joy of Life” was released in 2019 and stars Zhang as a man from ancient Southern Qing with memories of the 21st century who begins his journey to uncover the mystery behind the identity of his mother and the reason why anyone would want to kill him.