To encourage more people to watch her new Chinese wuxia drama The Journey Of Legend, China-based Singaporean actress Eleanor Lee spent 39,900 yuan (RM24,000) of her own money to help promote it.
The 25-year-old daughter of Taiwan-born local TV host Quan Yifeng reportedly purchased 666 monthly VIP membership cards each for video-streaming platforms iQiyi and Tencent Video, which typically offer premium content for a monthly subscription fee starting at 30 yuan.
She gifted the cards, which cost 30 yuan each, to her fans over Instagram so they can watch the series.
It is not uncommon for actors, businesses or fans to host “buyouts”, where they purchase viewing rights which are then given away in hopes of increasing a show’s viewership.
The 40-episode The Journey Of Legend, which also stars Chinese actor Cheng Yi and Chinese actress Bextiyar Gulnezer, began airing on Sept 11 on iQiyi and Tencent Video in China.
Cheng Yi reportedly shelled out over 530,000 yuan on a similar buyout, and other cast members Xu Zhenxuan, Liu Mengrui and Ding Xiaoying also used the same strategy to boost viewership.
These efforts seem to have paid off, as the show is now the most popular drama on iQiyi, while Tencent Video placed it at the top of its list of most searched-for dramas.
In the TV adaptation of wuxia novel The Heroes Of China Saga, written in the 1970s by Malaysian author Woon Swee Oan, Lee plays beautiful swordswoman Tang Fang – the love interest of Cheng Yi’s character – and makes her first appearance in the third episode.
There had been rumours that her role was going to be replaced by artificial intelligence, after a messy scandal involving an alleged leaked voice clip which seemed to show Lee criticising people from China.
The controversy led to some netizens calling for her to be dropped from the show.
It was eventually revealed that the clip was edited and posted online by a former assistant. Lee ended up winning a lawsuit against the woman. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
