By Boon Chan

China's Wu Jingjing might portray the titular beauty in the period drama series The Legend Of Xishi, but offscreen, the actress is more likely to be wearing baggy and comfortable clothes without a trace of make-up on her face.

Even so, she was recognised once on the street and asked if she was the small-screen Xi Shi. Wu's response was to deny the fact and flee the scene.

Speaking over the telephone from Beijing, the 21-year-old tells Life!: "Since then, I've come round to the idea that I should be more feminine and put on some make-up when I venture out."

The series is currently being shown on weeknights at 7pm on mio TV's Jia Le channel.

Wu was chosen from over 6,000 hopefuls to play Xi Shi and she admits that she felt the pressure at first. She says: "Xi Shi is the number one classical Chinese beauty and I was worried I wouldn't act well enough or audiences might think I'm not beautiful enough."

It was series director You Xiaogang who reassured her: "Since you got the role, it must be because you have that essence of Xi Shi that I want."