5 things to know about Triad Princess, the new Chinese-language Netflix drama starring Jasper Liu and Eugenie Liu

Dec 5 , 2019

Jasper Liu stars in Triad Princess, Netflix’s second Chinese-language original production.

Netflix’s newest Taiwanese drama, Triad Princess, launches on December 6. The story centres on Liu An Qi (Eugenie Liu), the daughter of a notorious triad leader who is keen to gain some independence from her overbearing father. Gifted the opportunity to work as an undercover bodyguard for a famous actor (Jasper Liu) – one she happily happens to have a crush on – Liu leaps at the chance to strike out for herself and to get closer to her idol.

Ahead of the series’ launch, here are five things to know.

1. Star Jasper Liu has huge buzz

Triad Princess’ main man, Jasper Liu, is one of the hottest stars in Taiwan right now. The Taipei native already struck gold this year with another drama, the hugely popular Before We Get Married, an emotional roller coaster that followed the relationship between its two leads (Liu and co-star Puff Kuo), who are both engaged to other people at the start of the show. Liu also starred in the highest-grossing Taiwanese movie of last year, More than Blue. Netflix will be hoping that Liu helps Triad Princess reach similar levels of popularity.

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2. This is Netflix ’s second Mandarin-language show

Netflix, by some distance the most popular streaming service in the world, caused quite a stir after announcing production of its first-ever Chinese-language original programmes. Triad Princess follows the company’s debut Mandarin-language show, Nowhere Man, in which Joseph Chang plays a death-row inmate who starts experience alternate timelines. Next up is The Ghost Bride, to be released early next year, based on Yangsze Choo’s novel of the same name, which takes place among the Chinese community in late-19th century colonial Malaysia.

3. Eugenie Liu is a ‘goddess of sports’

The series’ heroine, Eugenie Liu, is much more than a pretty face. Although her grandfather, Liu Ming-tze, was an actor, Eugenie initially had her heart set on a different career. She won an award for her work when studying journalism at Taipei’s Chinese Culture University. While there, Liu indulged in a love of sports, in particular baseball, that resulted in her receiving the nickname “goddess of sports”. As a student, she intended to combine her two main interests and become a sports reporter but, eventually, she switched tracks and opted to be an actor.

4. Director Neal Wu Tzu-yun was responsible for At Cafe 6

Neal Wu is another member of the Triad Princess team that should be familiar to fans of Taiwanese entertainment. An author and a director, Wu’s most popular work is the screen adaptation of his own novel At Café 6. Released in 2016, the film proved a success, winning a clutch of awards including a prestigious Golden Horse award for Austin Lin in the Best Supporting Actor category.

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5. The pressure is on?

Triad Princess follows Netflix's first Taiwanese drama, Nowhere Man.

There is potentially a lot riding on Triad Princess. According to reports in the Taiwanese media, Nowhere Man has failed to pull in the viewers – and has proved anything but a hit with critics – and Netflix is now reconsidering its investment in further Mandarin-language programmes as a result. High-budget political drama Island Nation, dubbed “Taiwan’s House of Cards”, was reportedly due to screen on Netflix – though producers deny that was ever the case, and are currently without a broadcast partner.

Fingers crossed then that Triad Princess is a success and Netflix stays in the Chinese-language cinema game.

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Soon after the debut of Netflix’s first Mandarin-language original series, Nowhere Man, comes another Taiwanese gangster drama, Triad Princess – here are 5 things you need to know