Trivia / Scarlet Heart

• Cast the Runner-Up: Kevin Cheng was almost cast as Yin Zhen. Then Nicky Wu was cast instead, so Cheng got the role of Yin Si.
• Completely Different Title: The series has two English titles: Scarlet Heart and Startling by Each Step. The second one is a direct translation of the Chinese title. The first one isn't even close to it.
• Dawson Casting: At the start of the series Liu Shi Shi is 25 playing a 16-year-old, while Nicky Wu is 40 playing a character in his late twenties.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Liu Shi Shi sings "等你的季节/Děng Nǐ De Jì Jié/Season of Waiting".
• Fake Nationality: Most of the Mongolian characters are played by Chinese actors. Only the Mongolian king is played by an actor of Mongolian descent.
• Genre Popularizer: Along with Palace, Scarlet Heart popularised time travel dramas in China. Unfortunately, China's illogical and tyrannical censors responded to both series' popularity by banning time travel in dramas. Nowadays the ban is rarely enforced, but it was the reason Scarlet Heart 2 is conspicuously missing time travel and is set entirely in the present day.
• Romance on the Set: Liu Shi Shi and Nicky Wu started dating after starring in this series and got married in 2015.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Nicky Wu originally didn't want to be cast in this TV series only because this role required him to grow out his hair, shave it, then tie it back into a queue. Once he read the script he changed his mind and decided to go along with it.
  • Kevin Cheng was originally going to be Yin Zhen if Nicky Wu decided to not to take the role.
• Word of God: Tong Hua doesn’t consider the ending in the TV series to be canon because she cherishes the ending she made in her novel. ( Ruo Xi dies in heartbreak and sorrow in the arms of Yin Ti, thinking Yin Zhen stopped loving her just like the TV series. However the outcome is different. This is because Ruo Xi doesn’t get to return back to modern day China as Zhang Xiao ever again.)
  • She also admits to be a Shipper on Deck for Zhang Xiao/Ruo Xi and Aisin Gioro Yin Ti because she thinks that Yin Si and Yin Zhen aren’t husband material for Ruo Xi ( Yin Si is far too ambitious to a point that he’s willing to die trying to fight for something he knows he’ll lose and wouldn’t care that this could mean he’ll not just die but also experience Dying Alone. Yin Zhen on the other hand, despite being the winner and becoming emperor in the second half of the series, now known as Yong Zheng, he isn’t able to keep Ruo Xi by his side. So many lives had been lost due to his reign as emperor but in Yu Tan’s case, she did commit a crime and he had no other solution but to have her executed by steaming. He tried his best to keep her alive for Ruo Xi’s sake but the fact that she tried to make his relationship with his oldest son strained, it was the last straw. He got himself stuck in a damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t situation. Them getting together was probably not meant to be lasting long even though they waited for 10 decades in order to really be a couple. All ends in failure and they separate for 2 years. Sadly before they could patch things up, Ruo Xi dies thinking Yin Zhen stopped forgiving her and that he hated her for the past romance she had with Yin Si.). Ironically enough, Ruo Xi and Yin Zhen are the endgame ship despite the author admitting that she’s not a fan of the ship. She knew that Yin Ti is the only guy out of anyone Ruo Xi could fall in love with and probably have a happy ending, it would be him. But then the story wouldn’t be as dramatic and not as meaningful.

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