Overseasidol.com — In the drama “Sunshine by My Side”, Xiao Zhan takes on the role of Sheng Yang, a spirited young designer.
According to the actor, he and the character share a similar foundation.
“Like the title suggests, Sheng Yang is like a little sun. He has an energy that turns bad things into something good.
To me, he’s always bright,” Xiao Zhan explained. Coincidentally, both he and Sheng Yang once worked in the design field before stepping into showbiz.
However, their personalities differ in many ways. Xiao Zhan describes Sheng Yang as lively and optimistic someone who encourages himself in the face of challenges and keeps charging forward.
“This kid is way too upbeat,” he joked. In contrast, Xiao Zhan in real life prefers calmness and often enjoys being alone.
Screenwriter Li Xiao revealed that the character was shaped partly based on Xiao Zhan’s real-life traits after meeting him during the writing phase.
Xiao Zhan recalled their in-depth conversation months before filming, when Li Xiao told him that he seemed “different from before”.
He didn’t have a clear answer why, but simply noted that people naturally grow and change over time.
Beyond this personal connection, what drew Xiao Zhan to the drama was its grounded storytelling.
Sheng Yang is portrayed as an ordinary young man chasing his dream of becoming a designer, growing up in a warm and relatable family, and unexpectedly reconnecting with a director he admired a decade earlier.
“It’s not like the cliché romance plots I’ve seen. Everything feels natural work, life, friends, family,” he said.
Xiao Zhan has loved drawing and art since childhood. His passion for design led him to major in graphic design in university, where he and his friends built a small design studio that took on logo and visual identity projects.
After graduating, he worked as a designer and even had several pieces accepted by clients during his internship.
