(Photo courtesy of Kat/Rainie Yang Fan Club-Singapore)

When I first heard that Joseph Chang Xiao Quan was going to be Rainie Yang Cheng Lin’s leading man in “Love You” (said to be the sequel to “Fated To Love You” but believe me, it ain’t in so many ways), I thought the pairing was weird. I wasn’t the only one, many fans felt so too.

In the first place, Joseph and Rainie played siblings already in a previous drama. Now, they’d be playing lovers? Besides, Joseph looks so old even though, like Mike He Jun Xiang, he’s just six months older than Rainie. (An interesting trivia: Mike and Joseph were born on the same year, month and day — go figure.)

But the first time I saw the teaser of “Love You”, I knew this was going to be an interesting watch. From the same team as FTLY, it ought to be. And I wasn’t wrong.

Surprisingly, Joseph and Rainie have chemistry. Not the kind of chemistry that Mike and Rainie have that threatens to explode the screen. It’s more because of their performance.

Now, I no longer think Joseph was the wrong choice to act in this drama. First, he’s an actor and not an idol so he does not have reservations to do the dorky, stupid scenes of Song Jie Xiu. He does not have to look good onscreen all the time. In the process, however, he brings a fresh take on a male lead role: a combination of humor, dorkiness and being adorable. So much so that fan girls have professed love to him already.

Who knew that Joseph Chang of “Eternal Summer” could appear in an idol drama and get away with it?

(I call him “Uncle” because they said he looks like an “uncle” in person, in a good way, of course.)