Veteran opera actress Chen Ya-lan (陳亞蘭) has been nominated for Best Leading Actor at the Golden Bell Awards. She is the first woman nominated in the television award’s category usually reserved for male performers.
Chen was nominated for her role as the male Qing-era Jiaqing Emperor (嘉慶帝) in Lord Jiaqing and The Journey to Taiwan (嘉慶君遊臺灣).
The 30-episode opera series in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) features a number of other female performers in male roles.
Photo: CNA
The story was adapted for television using techniques and filming styles pioneered by Chen’s mentor, Yang Li-hua (楊麗花). Yang, considered a national treasure by many opera fans in Taiwan, laid the groundwork for actresses to play male characters in operas serialized on TV.
The trend became a tradition in Taiwanese operas, with Chen and fellow actress Sun Tsui-feng (孫翠鳳) seen as two of the most prominent leading male character performers.
Golden Bell jury member and television producer Chen Hui-ling (陳慧玲) said Chen’s impeccable acting and convincing portrayal of the emperor persuaded the jury to nominate Chen in the actor category for the 57th edition the awards, schedule to take place on Oct. 21 and 22.
Also nominated in the category are Berant Zhu (朱軒洋) for Danger Zone (逆局); Kuo Tze-cheng (郭子乾) and James Wen (溫昇豪) for Gold Leaf (茶金); Tony Yang (楊祐寧) for Light the Night (華燈初上) and the late Camake Valaule for Seqalu: Formosa 1867 (斯卡羅).
Chen’s groundbreaking nomination at the TV awards follows Ivy Ling’s (凌波) recognition at the second Golden Horse Awards in 1963 for playing the titular male role in the Huangmei opera movie The Love Eterne (梁山伯與祝英台).
After the jury could not agree on whether Ling should be nominated for Best Actor or Best Actress, she was instead awarded a Golden Horse Special Award for Outstanding Performance.
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