"Born for the Spotlight" is not about Cheryl Yang and Elva Hsiao
13 Nov - Writer-director Yen Yi-wen has recently dismissed the idea that her new drama, "Born for the Spotlight" starring Cheryl Yang was a true story inspired by the drama's lead actress.
As reported on Sohu, a theory has recently gone viral online that the drama is a story about Cheryl's friendship and subsequent fallout with best friend Elva Hsiao. Some even said that the name of the character Hsueh Ya-chih, played by actress Hsieh Ying-xuan, even sounded similar to Elva's real name Hsiao Ya-chih.
However, when asked about it at the press conference for the series, Yen denied the theory, saying, "There is no such tribute. It has nothing to do with that."
As to whether the character Hsueh Ya-chih's name was inspired by Elva, she responded, "Not at all".
In the drama, Cheryl and Hsieh play former best friends who had a falling out after the latter decided to withdraw from the limelight to become an artist manager. In real life, Cheryl and Elva had been close friends for 16 years before they were rumoured to have ended the friendship.
However, in a past interview, Cheryl said there was no such fallout, and that it was only a matter of having different directions in the way they live. She also stressed that Elva will always be a sister figure in her life.
(Photo Source: Cheryl Yang IG, Elva Hsiao IG, Born for the Spotlight IG)