Renowned mainland Chinese veteran actress Liu Xiaoqing, who has portrayed Empress Wu Zetian on screen four times in the past, is currently preparing to film a vertical mini-drama titled “The Legend of Wu Zetian” (tentative title). According to mainland media reports, the production of the drama is set to commence soon.
On January 6, Liu Xiaoqing shared two photos on Weibo, one showing well-known makeup artist Mao Geping doing her makeup and the other featuring the script of the drama “The Legend of Wu Zetian.” She captioned the post with, “32 years later, it’s a guaranteed success (Mao Geping, Liu Xiaoqing).”
At 75 years old, Liu Xiaoqing has portrayed Empress Wu Zetian on multiple occasions.
As early as 1995, Liu Xiaoqing collaborated with director Chen Jialin, actor Chen Baoguo, and others to film the TV drama “Empress Wu.” In her forties at the time, Liu Xiaoqing portrayed Empress Wu Zetian’s life from a 14-year-old girl to her old age in her 80s. The drama aired in 1995 and achieved a high viewership rating of 34.7%. Paired with Mao Geping’s makeup skills, her portrayal of “Empress Wu Zetian” became a classic in the hearts of many.
In 2007 and 2011, Liu Xiaoqing once again portrayed Empress Wu Zetian in the TV dramas “The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber” and “The Secret History of Wu Zetian.” In 2015, Liu Xiaoqing interpreted the legendary life of Empress Wu Zetian in the stage play “Empress Wu,” presenting the character in a theatrical form for the first time.
After trying her hand at both TV dramas and stage plays, Liu Xiaoqing is now collaborating with makeup artist Mao Geping to once again play Empress Wu Zetian in a vertical mini-drama. In her seventies, Liu Xiaoqing previously starred in two mini-dramas, “Cute Baby Assist: Fifty-Year-Old Marriage Pet” and “Lucky Star Descends.”
Liu Xiaoqing has been known as the “professional young girl” in the industry since her debut, often portraying youthful characters. With age, she has been teased for “pretending to be young.” In 2021, she finally played an age-appropriate grandmother role in Feng Xiaogang’s film “Mr. Zhang and Mr. Zhang,” receiving widespread acclaim. The outspoken Liu Xiaoqing said in interviews, “I know the whole world is surprised that I finally played a grandmother role.”
Liu Xiaoqing approaches her performances with no limitations, confidently stating, “Sometimes I get criticized for looking younger, but what’s the blame in that?” She also revealed that she has never considered retirement, believing that actors can play characters of any age, be it 90 at 90 years old or 100 at 100 years old.
Regarding Liu Xiaoqing filming the vertical mini-drama “The Legend of Wu Zetian,” some netizens expressed, “If Liu Xiaoqing can set aside the insistence on ‘playing characters of all ages’ and focus on perfecting the details of the elderly Wu Zetian, she might create a character more iconic than the 1995 version.”