Legendary Foreign Actress Shares The Reason Behind Her Involvement With IU’s New Album

IU‘s upcoming mini-album, The Winning, has been garnering huge interest even outside her fanbase, thanks to the high-profile collaborations on the record.

IU | @dlwlrma/Instagram

The pre-release single “Love Wins All” became a hot topic immediately after the music video’s release since IU collaborated with BTS member V as the male lead in the video.

With the release date of her album approaching, the singer has unveiled more teasers of the upcoming music videos, including “Shopper” featuring DPR IAN and “Shh…” featuring the popular Chinese actress Tang Wei.

DPR IAN and IU | @dlwlrma/YouTube Tang Wei in “Shh…” teaser | @dlwlrma/YouTube

Tang Wei, who is often referred to as the “Goddess of China,” is an actress of global reverence. In her long career spanning more than two decades, she has achieved accolades from all over the world, including a BAFTA Rising Star Award and a Cannes Film Festival Award. She is also well-respected in South Korea, having won a Blue Dragon Film Award and two Baeksang Arts Awards. She is the only non-Korean to receive the latter award in the Best Actress category in Baeksang‘s history.

congratulations to tang wei for winning the BEST ACTRESS (FILM) at the 59th baeksang arts awards 2023 #TangWei#BaeksangArtsAwards2023#59thBaeksangArtsAwards pic.twitter.com/8EHCWbzOjX

— (@snowzeaz) April 28, 2023

While featuring such a legendary actress in her video is a shocking flex on IU’s part, it is a milestone project for Tang as well. This will mark her first time starring in a music video, a new kind of debut for the veteran actress.

People’s curiosity over this unexpected collaboration has been increasing since the music video teaser came out. Accordingly, Tang Wei explained her reasons for choosing to be a part of the music video, stating that she simply likes IU as an artist.

The reason for my appearance is simple. I like artist IU.

— Tang Wei

She also showed admiration for IU’s personality, adding that being on set with her made her learn a lot.

I, too, like IU’s talent, personality, and music, just like other people. It was my first time appearing in a music video during my entertainment career, and I was happy to be with IU. I was able to learn a lot on set.

— Tang Wei

“Shh…” was already a highly anticipated song on this upcoming album, thanks to the featuring artists Joe Won Sun and NewJeans’ Hyein. Further, the tracklist mentioned a “Special Narration” in the song name, with the narrator’s name kept a secret. Now, with Tang Wei’s participation, “Shh…” has easily become one of the most anticipated releases of this month.

Joe Won Sun | @wonsun_joe/Instagram Hyein | @newjeans_official/Instagram

Meanwhile, The Winning will be out on February 20, 6 PM, KST.