Boys love the “My Stand-In” set as a Thai original series for China’s iQiyi

“My Stand-In,” an action drama that begins filming immediately, is a new Thai original series for Chinese streaming platform iQiyi.

A series fitting into the growing boy-love genre is the adaptation of the Chinese-language web novel Stand-In Ship written by Shui Qiancheng. The novel has gained more than a billion readers on platforms including Weibo and iQiyi Novels.

The streamer also reported that “My Stand-In” is the first Chinese web novel to be adapted into a Thai drama.

The story follows a passionate stuntman who falls in love with Yan Minxiu, a young scion of the Yan family. She goes all out for this relationship, only to discover to her shock that she is just a prop for a famous star, both on and off screen. Even after the trick man undergoes a two-year rebirth and accepts the position, the two men remain connected.

Production is by iQiyi and Thailand’s YYDS Entertainment, with production by “Yuan” Wan Thabkrajang (“I Feel You Linger in the Air”). The show is directed by “Pepzi” Banchorn Vorasataree and co-directed by “Khom” Kongkiat Khomsiri, who participated as creators of “KinnPorsche”, another famous BL show for iQiyi.

The two main screen leads are Thai actors “Up” Poompat Iam-Saman and “Poom” Phuripan Sapsangsawat, who portrayed Yang Mingxiu, a member of the 188 boy band with a deep and passionate personality, and Zhou Xiang, respectively. Yan Ming’s lover who is gentle, sexy and caring.

The show will end in 2024 and will be available worldwide exclusively on the iQiyi international website and apps). It will not be available in China.

Iqiyi is one of the leading premium video streaming platforms in China and has been pushing into Asian and other international markets for the past few years with significantly different content offerings. Its international operations are mainly directed from Singapore.

In the three months to June, iQiyi reported an average daily number of subscription members, excluding those with trial memberships, of 110.7 million. That compared with 97.7 million in the same period in 2022, but also represented a sharp decline from the 128.1 million recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2023. The company does not disclose the breakdown of subscribers in China and abroad.