It’s only been a few days since it was announced that William Chan is set to star in the new mainland drama, “Love Kills Slowly,” and now a controversy has sparked regarding its billing.
Fans of the mainland-based actor recently expressed dissatisfaction towards the production team, after William’s name is listed second instead of first in the billing, supposedly under the pretext that villains cannot be listed first. The first instead went to co-star Zhong Chuxi.
However, they claimed that other dramas airing at the same time have precedents of first-billed villainous roles, leading them to question whether the production team is “using policy as a pretext to deceive actors” and tampering with billing order.
According to the fans, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television’s new regulations in 2026 require billing order to be based on the number of strokes in the actor’s real surname, but “Chen” has fewer strokes than “Zhong,” meaning William should be listed first.
The team has yet to address the allegations.
The upcoming drama is adapted from Yi Shu’s novel of the same name, and tells the story of Zhu Lizi, a self-media investigative reporter with a wealthy family and a happy life. In a chance encounter, she meets Wang Zhicheng, a cardiac surgeon, and the two fall in love. However, unbeknownst to Zhu, there is something lurking in the shadows.
This marks the first collaboration between William Chan and Zhong Chuxi in seven years since the film “Adoring.”
(Photo Source: William Chan IG, Hedgehog Drama IG)