33-year-old mainland Chinese actress Dilireba rose to fame ten years ago for her role as the second female lead in the drama series “Diamond Lover.” On June 10th, the producer of the show revealed that due to the first female lead Tang Yan’s one-month delay in joining the crew, the production team had to continuously give Dilireba more scenes, leading to the creation of the iconic character “Gao Wen” portrayed by Dilireba. The discussion surrounding Tang Yan quickly trended on Weibo’s entertainment hot searches, sparking outrage among Tang Yan’s fans.
Dilireba recently appeared as a host on the variety show “Starting to Reason” and engaged in conversations with another actor, causing the 2015 TV drama “Diamond Lover” to trend. Dilireba reminisced about the time when she almost got replaced during the filming of the series but decided to take the chance and perform, which unexpectedly garnered positive feedback.
As internet users were shocked by the revelation that Dilireba was nearly replaced, the producer of “Diamond Lover,” Liu Yang, shared a clip on June 10th in the early hours and disclosed that the “war” without gunpowder regarding “Gao Wen” (portrayed by Dilireba) resurfaced vividly.
According to Liu Yang, someone demanded to replace Dilireba during the first week of filming and immediately ordered him to do so. Liu Yang called for an emergency meeting with the crew, rallying everyone to protect Dilireba. He stated, “The behind-the-scenes of ‘Diamond Lover’ are more captivating than the script.” He also mentioned that due to the one-month delay of the first female lead, the crew kept adding scenes for Dilireba’s character, Gao Wen, without knowing when the first female lead would join.
Since the first female lead of “Diamond Lover” was Tang Yan, on the day of the producer’s revelation, the hashtag #ProducerRevealsTangYanOneMonthDelay quickly rose to the top of Weibo’s entertainment hot searches. In response, Tang Yan’s studio released a lawyer’s statement stating that after verifying with the client, Tang Yan had agreed with the crew on the timing of her participation in the series’ filming and had entered as scheduled, refuting the circulating rumors of her delayed arrival. The statement emphasized that the false information posted by internet users had led to misunderstandings and negative evaluations of Tang Yan, severely damaging her public image. Tang Yan’s side intended to pursue legal action against the source of the leak.
Additionally, Liu Yang exposed a chat screenshot from 2014. The conversation suggested that the director of “Diamond Lover,” Chen Mingzhang, proposed replacing “Gao Wen,” which was agreed upon by “Boss Zhang.” However, Chen Mingzhang recommended Dilireba to play a different role and suggested finding a new actress for Gao Wen.
Information indicates that “Diamond Lover,” starring Tang Yan, Luo Jin, Dilireba, and Korean star Rain, commenced filming at the end of 2014 in Shanghai. Dilireba played the second female lead in the series and had significant screen time.
According to the mainland media outlet “Red Star News,” in a 2016 interview, Dilireba recalled that she was not in a good state of mind at the time. During the first week of filming, she struggled to get into character, feeling uncomfortable delivering lines such as “I won’t wear clothes that others have worn,” “I am Gao Wen, is there a problem,” and “I like you so much, if you like me back, I might die.” These lines made her feel awkward as she was only 21 years old and struggled to portray the confidence of a 27- or 28-year-old character. Dilireba mentioned that as a newcomer, she was constantly criticized by the director, leading to severe insomnia and dependence on medication to sleep. She was prepared for the possibility of being replaced if her performance did not meet expectations, but she eventually won immense popularity by portraying the role of “Gao Wen” with determination.