Recipe for survival

At just 13 years old, she is taken by her single mother to a sports school, where she lives and trains alone as a boxer until she is 25. To make pocket money, she sometimes collects discarded plastic bottles or runs small errands for classmates.

She deeply misses her mother. Her emotions are shaken by a shocking letter announcing her mother's death — along with a notice about a massive inheritance overseas.

However, it turns out to be a scam orchestrated by her younger stepbrother — the son of her mother's second husband — who wants to shift their mother's enormous gambling debt onto her.

This twist-filled plotline unfolds in Her, the online drama series in which singer-actress Leah Dou makes her debut.

Dou, who inherited her musical talent from her parents, formed a band at 14 and released her first original song a year later. With early recognition in both music and acting, she quickly rose to fame, winning multiple awards — including the Tiantan Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 9th Beijing International Film Festival for her silver screen debut The Eleventh Chapter.

In Her, Dou plays Liu Yan — a character whose life is vastly different from her own. Dubbed by some netizens as one of the most "ill-fated female leads" in recent years, Liu is forced into an underground black-market boxing ring to pay off her mother's debt. Though she manages to clear it, her body is left covered in wounds. Her next challenge: finding a way to support herself and her younger brother.

Thanks to the cooking skills Liu learned as a teenager from her mother — once a chef at a state-run restaurant — she lands a job at a high-end restaurant. Starting as a dishwasher, she works her way up, eventually teaching herself to cook and offering a sliver of hope in her struggle to survive in a foreign land.

The 24-episode series — costarring Wang Chuanjun and Yan Bingyan — began streaming on iQiyi and Tencent Video on July 21.

Dou, described by director and close friend Li Mengqiao as a "foodie" before joining the project, trained in boxing and cooking for over seven months in preparation for the role. Filming took place in Beijing and Macao between June and October 2023.

When asked what drew her from music to acting, Dou said she's always admired the art of performance.

"I have memories of watching films with my family at home and taking drama classes in school. I've always enjoyed the idea of being able to play someone else. You know, there's a sense of liberation. Because in real life, I think we're all playing multiple roles whether, you know, it's mother or daughter or just a person with a name," she says.

Recalling the first time she read the script, Dou says she was particularly struck by the character's first name, Yan, which literally means "salt" — a detail that felt symbolic, given the role's connection to food.

In addition to her formal training, Dou has also been deeply influenced by her parents, both famous musicians. The atmosphere of creativity has infused every part of her daily life. "Growing up in a musical household, conversations were always more feelings — and nuances-driven rather than logical. That in itself is quite helpful when it comes to creativity, you know, because logic can be a trap," she explains.

"In music, the sense of breathing and rhythm is really important, and I think that translates into acting as well. So, even though I think acting and making music are quite different experiences, they share the common factor of having to let go of things — like, for example, your ego — and just be," adds Dou.

The drama marks Dou's second collaboration with director Li, following their 2021 film Bipolar, in which Dou plays a young woman who travels across the country to set a lobster free.

Speaking about Her, director Li told China Daily that the character marks a striking departure from Dou's well-off background. Yet, she sees the role as an opportunity for Dou to step into uncharted creative territory, shed her long-held public label, and reveal a new side of herself to the audience.

Li, a native of Beijing, recalls that what initially drew her to this drama was its exploration of family, friendship, and love in the face of life's impermanence.

"We tend to have certain expectations when it comes to family — it's almost instinctive. We don't like it when those expectations are not met. It's like we take it for granted that our parents should love and support us, but often that can lead to unrealistic hopes," says Li.

The drama features the hutong culture of Beijing and the street scenes of Macao. Li shares an interesting behind-the-scenes detail: while filming in downtown Beijing, the crew discovered a hutong courtyard that was slated for demolition. Although the residents had moved out, the houses remained intact. After a makeover by the art department, the courtyard was transformed into a key filming location.

During the shoot, some elderly locals from nearby neighborhoods gathered to watch. Li recalls that, instead of turning them away, the crew invited them to participate — and their spontaneous, authentic reactions made them natural "extras" in the background.

This sense of spontaneity runs throughout the drama. One of Liu Yan's most repeated lines — "When there's no way out, eat first" — embodies the show's quiet resilience. "The story wants to say: even when things are hard, even when you can't change the past — eat, rest, take care of yourself," Li says. "The hard times will pass."