'Wu Xia' Portrait Session - 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival (Photo : Getty Images)
A love-comedy movie, “This is Not What I Expected,” opened on Saturday, April 8, the 24th Beijing College Film Festival at the Beijing Theater. The film’s cast, director, and executive producer attended the filmfest’s opening ceremony.
Food Connoisseur
The romantic encounter between an overbearing CEO and a special girl because of food is where the "This Is Not What I Expected's" story revolves around, Xinhua News Agency reported. Gu Shengnan, the talented chef master, is played by Zhou Dongyou, while Lu Jin, the CEO, is portrayed by Takeshi Kaneshiro.
As a successful businessman and international economist, Lu is so particular about food and people. He is harsh and critical. Lu has made being a food connoisseur a hobby. Gu’s creativity comes from the heart. Lu falls in love with her food in a chance encounter, but as a person, he despises Gu.
To prepare for her role, Zhou visited a cooking school for five days and attempted to learn practical cooking skills. Because of her immersion, it made her behave more like a chef in the movie, the actress said.
School Debut Ahead of China Theater Premiere
The film was shown 20 days ahead of its premiere in Chinese cinema. Xu Hongyu, director of “This is Not What I Expected,” said the move is very risky. However, since the movie is in line with the theme of the film festival, Xu considered it an honor the movie was chosen as the opening film. Except for the director, the people behind the movie “Soulmate” are also behind the film.
Beside Zhou Dongu, a Golden Horse Awardee in 2016, the film stars Sean Sun Yuzhou, Ming Xi, and Tony Yeung. Based on their appearances, the actors picked seemed to be the choice because they are the stereotype. Xu is a woman with tattoos and a badass dog, while Kaneshiro is a well-dressed executive, according to Drama Panda.
