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| “We Didn’t Exclude Anyone”: Yang Mi & Zhang Ziyi Respond to Zanilia Zhao Friendship Claims (Weibo/Sina.cn) |
Chinese A-listers Yang Mi and Zhang Ziyi recently had to speak out after a playful social media exchange between the two spiralled into a full-on rumour storm. Some fans of Zanilia Zhao (Zhao Liying) were quick to cry foul, accusing the two of excluding the Legend of Feathers co-star from their apparent off-screen friendship.
It all kicked off when Yang Mi casually posted a snap of a cake decorated with corn and wheat on her socials. Zhang Ziyi jumped into the comments with, “Cake! Reminds me of our cake. Let’s have a cake gathering in Shanghai!” Yang Mi replied, “Absolutely!”—and just like that, a slice of sweet talk turned into a debate.
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Netizens clocked that while Yang Mi and Zhang Ziyi were clearly vibing, Zanilia Zhao wasn’t mentioned—despite the three of them being central leads in their upcoming film. The internet did what it does best, and soon there were whispers (okay, loud accusations) of a snub.
But the two actresses cleared the air in style during the Legend of Feathers premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Speaking to press, Zhang Ziyi and Yang Mi explained the “cake” reference was nothing more than a nod to their characters’ relationship in the movie.
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| Sina |
Zhang Ziyi plays the composed and battle-hardened Zhan Zhou, while Yang Mi takes on the role of the resilient and warm Wang Xumei. According to Yang Mi, there’s a symbolic moment in the film where Xumei offers Zhou something sweet—a moment that reflects how the two women lean on each other through some of their darkest moments.
“The cake talk was just a bit of fun tied to that scene,” said Yang Mi. “It wasn’t meant to be private or exclude anyone. We were just playing off the story.”
Zhang Ziyi added with a laugh, “We really didn’t think it’d get this dramatic over a cake!”
As for Zanilia Zhao’s noticeable absence from the Shanghai event, no bad blood there either—she was simply across the globe, attending the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, where her own project What a Wonderful World was screening.
So, while the internet loves a bit of drama, it looks like this one’s just a classic case of misunderstood cake banter. No shade, no snub—just co-stars, cake, and a bit of character promo done right.