Follow us on Twitter | Instagram
Falling in love on the sets of a movie/series seems to be a rising sub-genre in Asian gay romances, and you can add the Taiwanese mini-series ‘Dual Stars’ to it. If you do want examples, ‘Top Form’, ‘I Became A Lead in a BL Drama’, ‘Love Stage’, and ‘My Stand In’ are some shows that I can think of at the top of my head.
Directed by Momo, ‘Dual Stars’ follows Jian Mo (Ray Chen), a struggling actor, as he gets a chance to play the romantic lead in a new series with Xu Xinglang (Alan Chen), a rising star with massive fan-following. An immediate comedic misunderstanding leads Xu to think Jian is a stalker before their first formal meeting, making Jian Mo instantly dislike the new star. So, the show goes for a slight ‘rivals to lovers’ romance here.
As Jian Mo and Xu Xinglang start to shoot their dark romantic show together, Jian starts to to fall for his carefree, cheery co-star, even though they do not get along at first. Unfortunately, a sudden scandal puts Jian’s already fading career at risk, while Xu Xinglang struggles to assert his creative freedom under an increasingly controlling boss.
This ‘drama within a drama’ makes for an entertaining enough premise, with the actors going for poster shoots, dealing with media scrutiny, and of course stalkers and crazy fans. With just six episodes, ‘Dual Stars’ crams in a lot of themes, and goes through them very quickly, with convenient resolutions. That said, given the show’s evidently modest budget, more episodes might’ve made it a drag.
Overall, ‘Dual Stars’ is a quick, low stakes binge, with the show leaning on familiar silly tropes and working only because leads Ray Chen and Alan Chen are cute enough as the primary romantic leads.
Watch ‘Dual Stars’ on YouTube/iQIYI
Read Next: Teach You a Lesson Episodes Ranked As Per IMDB Viewers (Audio Version Below)
