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| AI Controversy Hits 'Legend of The Female General' as Legal Drama Forces Actor Replacement (Photo: Weibo/Upmedia) |
Legend of The Female General has landed in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, after rising star Li Mingde was replaced with AI technology due to his involvement in a legal scandal.
The historical drama, which stars Zhou Ye (known for Scent of Time and Love Me, Love My Voice) alongside Cheng Lei, premiered to massive success, with the series topping ratings on both Tencent and MangoTV. However, the show hit a major snag due to Li Mingde, who plays the third male lead, Cheng Lisu.
Li Mingde’s promising career took a nosedive earlier this year when he was arrested for a DUI scandal that resulted in property damage.
Actor #LiQing takes on the role of Cheng Li Su, replacing #LiMingde after the character's face change.#LegendOfTheFemaleGeneral #ZhouYe #ChengLei pic.twitter.com/FS7ocHSuH7
— Blossom | Legend Of The Female General | T.I.A (@InBlossom_Lotus) August 6, 2025
After refusing to compensate the victim, he was sentenced to six months in prison and banned from all entertainment projects by Chinese authorities. As a result, Legend of The Female General faced the dilemma of replacing him mid-production.
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Instead of recasting the role, the production team decided to go high-tech, employing AI to digitally replace Li Mingde’s face with that of Li Qing, an actor from A Dream Within A Dream.
The digital replacement process cost a whopping 6 million yuan (835k USD), involving advanced skeletal matching and micro-expression capture.
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The swift turnaround—just 72 hours—was a technical feat, but the results have not been kind to the show’s reception.
The AI swap faced harsh criticism from viewers, who pointed out the awkwardness in the replacement.
Li Qing, standing at a noticeably shorter height than Li Mingde’s 183 cm frame, led to some rather jarring visual issues, particularly in neck joins that many compared to a “wax statue.”
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With AI technology becoming increasingly prevalent in China’s drama industry, it seems like the trend could soon turn into a double-edged sword.
For the show’s devoted fanbase, this AI move was more than just an aesthetic issue. The character of Cheng Lisu, originally a charming, flirtatious figure in the novel Rebirth of the Female General Star, was subjected to a significant rewrite for the adaptation.
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The romantic dynamics with Song Taotao (played by Zhang Miaoyi) were also altered, turning what was once a lighthearted “will-they-won’t-they” into a full-blown marriage plot. Fans were quick to voice their displeasure, calling out the production for overstepping its bounds and making unnecessary changes to the source material.
If this latest AI misfire isn’t a one-off, it could signal a future where technology starts to replace human actors in increasingly jarring ways. And with dramas like The Journey of Legend already facing similar issues, viewers are left wondering if the magic of acting might be lost in the digital realm.