LayarHijau – The Early Spring (早春晴朗), starring Jing Boran and Sun Qian, may have come to an end, but Luan Nian remains one of the drama’s most talked-about characters. In a recent interview, Jing Boran opened up about what drew him to the role in the first place.
Interestingly, it was not Luan Nian’s seemingly perfect side that attracted him. Instead, Jing Boran was drawn to the character precisely because of his many flaws.
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Jing Boran candidly said that what appealed to him most about Luan Nian was that “he has more flaws than strengths.”
For Jing Boran, that imperfection makes Luan Nian feel more like a real person. He is not written as the kind of perfect male lead who always knows exactly what to do in a relationship.
Luan Nian is a successful, accomplished adult man, but beneath that polished exterior are some very obvious personality flaws.
He is arrogant and stubborn. When it comes to his relationship with Shang Zhi Tao, he does not always know how to love someone in the right way.
But Luan Nian is not simply a character defined by his flaws with no room for growth. He makes mistakes, eventually realizes that he has hurt someone, and is capable of feeling guilty once he understands what he has done.
That, Jing Boran believes, is what makes Luan Nian feel alive.
Rather than being a male lead who is always right and effortlessly likable, Luan Nian is someone who can make the wrong decision, misunderstand another person’s feelings, and only realize the truth after the damage has already been done.
Jing Boran acknowledged that taking on a character like this comes with certain risks. A male lead with so many flaws is naturally more likely to draw criticism from viewers. Yet, in his view, that is precisely the kind of character many male actors might hesitate to take on.
For Jing Boran, Luan Nian is not a character who can be played simply by emphasizing his looks, success, or romantic side. An actor has to truly understand what is going on inside him and the reasoning behind his actions.
That was one of the main reasons Jing Boran decided to take the role.
Jing Boran Initially Found Luan Nian and Shang Zhi Tao’s Relationship “Too Awkward”
Beyond Luan Nian himself, the way The Early Spring portrays an adult relationship was another aspect that caught Jing Boran’s attention.
When he first read the script, Jing Boran said he initially viewed the relationship between Luan Nian and Shang Zhi Tao from an outsider’s perspective. From that vantage point, he even felt that the two were “too awkward” and “too exhausting.”
Yet that very feeling eventually made him want to play Luan Nian even more.
Jing Boran was intrigued by the restraint, push and pull, and emotional complications between the two characters. He wanted to step inside Luan Nian’s world and understand why their relationship developed the way it did.
So what drew him in was not an easy, straightforward romance. It was the emotional messiness that continually forced both characters to confront their own feelings.
Jing Boran Wanted to Avoid Making Luan Nian Feel Like an Over-the-Top “Boss” Character
During filming, Jing Boran also paid close attention to one particular challenge: making sure Luan Nian did not come across as an overly stylized successful businessman.
A character like Luan Nian could easily turn into the stereotypical domineering “boss” who expresses his romantic feelings in an exaggerated way. Jing Boran deliberately tried to avoid that.
To make Luan Nian’s emotional expressions feel more natural, he actively sought input from the female members of the production crew. Their feedback helped him make sure that each scene felt comfortable and that the emotions did not become excessive.
Jing Boran did not want to simply amplify Luan Nian’s dominant or romantic qualities. Instead, he chose to convey the character’s feelings through small details and more restrained expressions.
With that approach, Luan Nian could remain a flawed adult man rather than a flawless fantasy designed to fit the usual image of a romantic-drama male lead.
Jing Boran Feels He Met Luan Nian at the Right Time
Jing Boran also admitted that he might not have been able to portray Luan Nian in the same way if he had taken on the character when he was younger.
In his view, Luan Nian’s restraint, awkwardness, and tendency to realize his feelings only after the fact require a certain level of life experience and maturity from an actor.
Now, after gaining more experience in both life and acting, Jing Boran feels that he encountered Luan Nian at exactly the right time.
He could understand the character’s complexity from a more relaxed perspective without feeling the need to turn him into someone perfect.
Instead, he could follow Luan Nian’s emotional journey—from a man who is constantly late to recognize his own feelings to someone who eventually learns to take action and confront those feelings directly.
For Jing Boran, playing Luan Nian was more than an opportunity to portray the male lead in a romantic drama. A character with more flaws than strengths gave him the chance to explore how a real person makes mistakes, feels remorse, and gradually learns to face his own emotions.
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