Taiwanese actors Stan Huang and Xuan Chen are currently starring in the GagaOOLala BL (boys’ love) series “VIP Only.”

In “VIP Only,” Stan plays the role of a chef who owns a restaurant while Xuan is a writer who lives upstairs in the same building. 

Taiwanese actors Xuan Chen (left, 2nd from left) and Stan Huang (3rd from left, extreme right) are the stars of the GagaOOLala BL series "VIP Only" (GagaOOLala)

“VIP Only” is Stan and Xuan’s first series where they play the leading roles, saying they are very excited and thankful for the opportunity. 

The 10-episode series premiered on GagaOOLala last Nov. 24 and is currently streaming on the platform. As of this writing, “VIP Only” ranked No. 4 in the Philippines among BL/Yaoi titles on GagaOOLala. 

In an interview with Manila Bulletin, Stan (黃丞邦) and Xuan (陳玹宇) talked about their roles, challenges in preparing for the BL series, their kissing scenes and goals and wishes in the New Year. 

Stan Huang (Gu Jing) and Xuan Chen (Liu Li) in "VIP Only" (GagaOOLala)

Getting, preparing for their roles 

Stan and Xuan were ecstatic when they learned that they would be starring in “VIP Only.” They had met because of their work but did not know each other and have never worked together in an acting project. 

For Stan, he made a lot of preparations in order to portray the role of Gu Jing. 

“When I received the role, I felt quite a gripping pressure. It was quite stressful because in terms of the age and profession of the character of Gu Jing, this would both be the first time portraying this,” he said. In real life, Stan is 26 and his character, Gu Jing, is about five years younger.  

He added, “There are a lot of things for me to learn but there was only a month to make this preparation. I have Xuan beside me and he was really supportive and I’m really happy to have Xuan always telling me you believe in myself and you have already all the tricks you need to put into production and you don’t need to worry that much.”

Xuan said that “when I first received the role, I was really, really excited and happy because I have met Stan before but have never worked together in a production so I really looked forward to this collaboration.”

“Also the team allowed us a lot of space for discussion on how we should really build the role. This entire process is very unique for me. I’m really excited to see the results because it is the brainchild of our efforts,” he said. 

Stan Huang and Xuan Chen (GagaOOLala)

Chef, writer 

In the drama, Gu Jing is a chef, which is a total opposite of Stan in real life. He said he took voice training and cooking course for “VIP Only.”

“I was a lot many years older than the actual character. About five to 10 years older than the character of Gu Jing. The first part of my preparation was actually to take a voice training course to make my voice or the sound lower and mellower. Also I took a cooking course,” said Stan. 

He added, “I also observed people in my daily life around the age of Gu Jing, the character to observe how they actually talk and how they actually dress. I sometimes cook but very simple meals and not something on a daily basis.” 

Xuan is a writer in the drama and his background in journalism helped him a lot. 

“Actually my background in journalism helps me in preparation for the role of Liu Li, the writer. When I was in the university, the journalism training actually asked us to focus on our writing so that really helped me prepare for the role as an author because the role really has to express his own emotions and feelings through language. I am also a very expressive person. I also wrote some long pieces about my character on my Instagram account and shared that with my fans,” he said. 

Actor Stan Huang (GagaOOLala)

Actor Xuan Chen (GagaOOLala)

Pressure 

Since they are the lead stars of the BL series, they felt pressured to make it popular. 

“I have to say, indeed, we feel the pressure. For this whole production, we are also putting our own creativity into this whole production. We just hope that we can reach out to as many audience members and we want to make people see our efforts as well. We have done all the best we can. We just leave it to God and just do our best,” said Xuan. 

Stan added, “Just do our best and we’ll just leave it and see how it goes.” 

Similarities between their roles and real selves

About the similarities between their roles in the drama and real selves, Xuan said it is about 70 percent. 

“I feel that the similarity between my character Liu Li and myself is around 70 percent. We share a lot in common. For example, sometimes we have this lack of confidence and sometimes we feel anxiety. And because of the role of Liu Li, I have come to terms with all these things,” he said. 

In contrast, Stan said he is different from his role Gu Jing. 

“To be frank, actually Gu Jing the character is very much unlike myself. We are very different, two kinds of persons. For example, when it comes to romantic relationships, I’m not really the active one. I’m more the passive one in a relationship. Also age is a big difference,” he said. 

According to Stan, “Thirdly, Gu Jing is a chef and I’m not a cook. So these differences require me a lot of time to really put in the effort to build that role. That is why I mentioned before, getting this part gave me a lot of stress.” 

Stan Huang (right) and Xuan Chen (GagaOOLala)

Chemistry 

About their chemistry on and off the set, they said they didn’t really have time to get to know each other during the shooting. It was after the shooting that they were able to know more about each other’s personalities. 

“Actually the shooting time was really short so while we were on the set, the time was really limited.  And during that period of time, we were really into acting with each other in the roles of Gu Jing and Liu Li. After the shooting that we have more time to get to know each other and we get to know different aspects of each other,” said Xuan. 

Stan said, “For Xuan, I felt the difference the most because when I was on the set, I was really in the role of Gu Jing. Gu Jing has a cold, quiet personality. After the shooting, Xuan started to realize that I am a very sporty person, that I enjoy mountain climbing. I took Xuan mountain hiking as well.” 

“And I would be the one taking the lead  and always asking like to follow and the scenery was really beautiful on top of the mountain. So that difference was quite dramatic. Actually after the screening, during the live streaming of the two of us, the fans would actually mention between the actual Gu Jing and Stan because I always crack jokes and also play magic tricks,” he said. 

Kissing scenes 

A BL series will not be complete without kissing and intimate scenes. Stan and Xuan said they were comfortable with their kissing scenes. 

“Actually what really matters is you have to have a very strong connection with each other so you can reach the right status to make that scene possible. You need to make it authentic, realistic. Months before, we really started the shooting, we really needed to fastly build our connection with each other,” explained Xuan. 

Stan said, “Actually when it comes to these intimate scenes, I didn’t really feel it was stressful or any pressure to really play it well. Thanks to Xuan and to the entire team, that on set shooting was really enjoyable. It was really relaxed and people were really happy. It was really a relaxed environment.”

The “VIP Only” director, he said, “didn’t really dictate what I should do for certain scenes or certain parts so I felt I was really in character. I have been given lots of liberty and freedom to do the scenes for my role. In order to make this really work and click, we have to learn about each other.”

Sexiest part of their partner’s body

When asked to name the sexiest part of their partner’s body, Xuan said Stan’s eyes make his heart beat faster.   

“It is Stan’s eyes because in many of the scenes, when Stan trains his eyes on me, I can really feel my heart really beating fast,” he said. 

For Stan, he likes to caress Xuan’s nape and neck areas because it makes Xuan blush. 

“I really like the part of the back of the ear and the area to the neck. That is like the sensitive part of Xuan. I really like to observe when I touch that part and Xuan would really blush and he would become like really shy. So I really like during intimacy scenes to caress these parts from his head to behind the ear and to actually see his reaction. That is something very cute and adorable,” he said. 

About the concept of flirting, Xuan said, “I myself do not really get the whole thing about flirting at all. When I was in the character of Liu Lu, I think he really enjoyed the whole flirtatious experience. In real life, if someone wants to flirt with me, that would be nice.” 

For Stan, “It really depends. Like what I’ve said before, in a romantic relationship, I really don’t always take the active or preemptive move. But once the relationship is confirmed it really depends on the mood or status of the relationship so I could be the giver or receiver of flirting.“

Their most memorable moments in 2023

Stan and Xuan remembered the most memorable moments of their careers and personal lives in 2023 and both of them agreed that their focus was “VIP Only.” 

“For me, 2023 is entirely dedicated to the production of VBL. There are so many firsts for this production for me, including first time going camping, first running the east promotional campaign for the show. I really cherished all these different experiences and firsts. I also look forward to what 2024 has in store for me,” said Xuan. 

VBL refers to the BL series produced by Vidol studio: “Stay By My Side,” “You Are Mine,” “VIP Only” and the upcoming “Anti Reset.” 

According to Stan, “Basically my whole year 2023 is also dedicated to the entire series. I have learned a lot and also there are so many firsts for me. For example, for my first time being the lead character, also portraying someone that is so different from myself. Also we learned how to receive media interviews and go to different programs for campaigns. We have to train ourselves for that as well. I’m really grateful for that. Just like Chen, for me this is a lot of learning, lots of takeaways. I also look forward to 2024.” 

Wish to have fan meeting in the Philippines 

Stan and Xuan are hoping that through “VIP Only,” they can travel and have a fan meeting in countries like the Philippines. 

“For me, I hope 2024, ‘VIP Only’ can actually take us to travel like to even farther places more places and nationally the program can help us reach wider audience members as well,” said Xuan. 

Stan said, “Pretty much the same but I also hope that in 2024, we can actually go to the Philippines for a fan meeting and fan gathering as well. For 2024, I also want to take my acting a step further. And also try as many roles as possible. And also try new things.”

“VIP Only” is available on GagaOOLala.