Kang Min Hyuk and Park Shin Hye Go on a Lollipop Date in Hollywood for Heirs

Wouldn’t Kang Min Hyuk look adorable in a Superman costume? I only suggest this because from the look of things in Heirs, he might have just come to the rescue of a highly anticipated K-drama that has been releasing a succession of pretty on picture but dead with emotion stills. The first pictures are out of Kang Min Hyuk and Park Shin Hye having a lollipop date at the Universal City Walk and I’m totally smiling from the cuteness. For starters this is the first two of the main cast that can convincingly pass for high schoolers – they both have baby faces and age-wise Park Shin Hye is still in her early twenties. Their characters are junior high classmates that reconnect by chance when both visit LA for various reasons. Looks like Kang Min Hyuk’s character doesn’t let this opportunity pass him by and manages to hang out with his crush and tour the city at the same time. He’s a smart go-getter, that one. Whatever tangible expression of chemistry has been all the talk around here, I feel it between them in these stills. It’s a friendly chaste chemistry, but they are engaging each other and animated. While I get the critique from some drama viewers who find Park Shin Hye a tad cold when it comes to engaging her male leads for romantic scenes, I’ve always been ambivalent about it. I see it at times, but it’s not for the lack of acting ability rather it’s more like she has never fallen for a guy in real life so that unconscious need to angle towards him and draw closer isn’t deep in her bones that she can tap into anytime the camera rolls for a romantic scene.

As an actress, this tiny bit of lacking in her emotional arsenal worked perfectly for her in Flower Boy Next Door because her character could feel and love but couldn’t express it well due to past trauma. I almost want to introduce Park Shin Hye to her dream man and have her go have a heartbreaking love affair with him in real life and then see her come back and do a drama. I think acting is a skill at expression but the underlying emotions to be expressed stem from what the actor has experienced before. Need a sad scene, scrounge up a very sad memory. Need to laugh, remember something funny. The disconnect with many bad actors is they lack the skills at expressing feelings they do have. Park Shin Hye I feel has the skills but when it comes to passionate romance in particular (the heart thumping, I want to kiss you silly, let’s stay in bed for a week kind), I’ve not seen that fire from deep within her. She does well with angst forbidden love like in Tree of Life or with innocent school yard romances. But I’m still waiting for her to fursplode the screen with her passion. I love her and think having room for improvement is always a good thing. She’s come a long way since being a child star and I’m fairly confident she’ll get there one day. Whether it ends up being with Lee Min Ho in Heirs, I’ll have to wait and see. At least I know she’ll have a cute buddy in Kang Min Hyuk’s character to be friends with in the drama.


Comments

Kang Min Hyuk and Park Shin Hye Go on a Lollipop Date in Hollywood for Heirs — 42 Comments

  1. Thank you for another update! Yesterday, there was a discussion going on about CJH not wearing any socks, as seen on the stills. Is it just me or is KMH not wearing any socks either, in the last picture?

    • they might be wearing these super low cut socks that when worn with sneakers, it seems like one is not wearing any socks at all.
      these are similar in style/cut to those nylon foot stockings worn for high heel shoes except made with the usual material for running /sports socks.
      [wearing one right now… hahahaha…]

  2. Aww..they look cute..

    I think why some stills work and some don’t with respect to Heirs is maybe because the scenes require that kind of emotion with the respective actors.
    Example..here they are enjoying hanging out and so cheerful vibes are coming out…same way…Lee min ho and Park shin hye stills were showcasing a different scenario.

    • (perking up) Did someone say socks? I’ve got socks! I wouldn’t mind sharing some that I have left over from giving to Choi Jin Hyuk. Minhyuk is completely adorable, and I would even buy cutsey socks for him to wear with that outfit (superman socks , anyone?).

      • ROFL, every time socks are mentioned I expect a funny comment from you. Last comment you made I was just laughing but refrained from commenting but I can’t help it this time. Besides SK actors/actresses did you see the locals sans socks with shoes. Are you going back to SK for your graduate educ again?

  3. Kang Min hyuk’s character seem to resemble his real personality. So cute!
    Btw, is koalas-playground.com an affiliate website of koalasplayground.com? Do they have the same owner/blogger? I’ve been seeing it on search engines recently.

    • made me check it out. i think it’s a copycat site. and since koala unnie doesn’t really follow kpop so much (as some post were), i think it’s mostly using the popularity of her blog to get site traffic. 🙁 plus you’ll notice most of its tabs are in french!

      • I thought so too, though I thought Ockoala made that site so her followers would still be able to read her posts even if Google blocks this site. It has the same caption too.

    • I’ve never heard about the site until now. It’s not me but the site appears to be taking my posts in addition to the similar name. What a douchey thing to do.

      • And it’s pretty updated, too. It takes everything from this site, even the images. What a thief. I probably should just bookmark this site so that con site won’t get search hits.

      • They even have hits stats running so they can monitor how many site hits they get. Not an issue if they are legitimately running/writing their own blog, but it’s absurd when they are pirating it from other sites. It looks like they steal from other bloggers as well.

    • Minhyuk is not the cheerful and playful type in real life. He is the reserved one, strict one. He himself actually thinks that he has a boring personality.

  4. IMO bcuz generally we like her we try hard to find excuses for her lack to express emotions.Some times we blame her lead man,some times we ‘ll blame her inexperience in some subjects(example fall in love). Maybe is that the reason but maybe plain and simple she is not able to do it.I am thinking all the other actors -especially kid actors-do they had a previous experience before playing a particular role?
    Just my opinion though.
    The socks thing I believe is a fashion statement in Korea cuz I see all of them with out socks.LOL.I remember JKH appearance in Cruel City ‘s pres conference with No socks .

  5. Her lack of ability to express those type of emotions are merely excuses.

    Kim Yoo Jung and Kim So-hyun can perfectly portray those emotions and they’ve never been in a romantic relationship before and neither have fallen in love yet either. If you are a good actress like these 2 young ladies, you should be able to portray any type of emotions.

    • Hahahaha r u kidding me ??? Those child actresses prob watched stairway to heaven thousands of tyms to learn frm park shinhye . AND park shin hye z charac in stairway to heaven was sooo loved so much thts y child actresses r in trend .

  6. I think PSH is a late bloomer. I like that. Kids grow up too fast these days. I remember some time ago I saw some fashion spread of a child actor made to look sexy….it was creepy and wrong.
    I like the way everyone is styled in Heirs especially PSH. Looks like they are going for the preppie clean cut look. Everyone looks like they shopped at Jcrew. Usually kdrama style is to overaccessorise and tend to be too trendy ….it is like walking into Forever 21… the Japanese are really good at individual personal sense of style.
    I love that they are not putting anything on PSH’s head and hair. Just simple straight natural hair like Makino’s in HYD. I hated Jandi’s style. She dressed like a twelve year old with so many colorful accessories. Just couldn’t accept that LMH’s GJP would be desperately in love with someone like that. I can totally see GJP falling for PSH. There is something classy about this girl.

    • Yes, well…I like late bloomers, too – I have three teenage daughters, so I have a deep appreciation for any female on TV who doesn’t dress like a ho and have a string of past lovers by the age of 16. But, on the other hand, she’s 23 now, of an age to be out of college and definitely considered an adult. That’s a little late, even by my standards, to be carrying a lollipop and wondering about your first kiss.

      • oh she has makeup on all right, it’s just perfectly done here – she looks absolutely beautiful, in a very natural way (same with FBND)

  7. I think the scripts in K drama is lake of emotions and how to express it I don’t give excuse to shin hye but her roles is written by the script writers who want this character to be shown on Tv Like that way .
    Park Shin Hye able to do any thing but she enjoying her age and she do everything step by step , I enjoy watching her and I want to see her in the next movie 😀

  8. @donette, PSH was also a child actress and has done melodramas with heavier roles heavier than them. I’m pretty sure you have not seen those. What the writer pointing out is PSH’s lacking in romance dept. Well honestly i disagree but people have different taste so I understand. But comparing her with Kim So Hyun and Kim Yoo Jung? I don’t think you really know PSH.

  9. I love her but she’s simply never had to portray that kind of heart-thumping romance onscreen as an adult, since all her characters have been of the super-naive/inexperienced/ or emotionally disconnected (in FBND) variety. I’ve generally liked her chemistry with Jang Geun-seok, Yonghwa and Yoon Shi-yoon even though Yonghwa is, er, not really a good actor – but yeah, it wasn’t really of the heart-pounding sexual variety, though FBND had a very nice emotional kind of chemistry going on between its leads (didn’t feel anything between her and Kim Ji-hoon though, but maybe there wasn’t supposed to be?)

    And given that Heirs main loveline is between high school students, I wouldn’t be super optimistic that this will have that kind of sexual chemistry either. But I’m willing to wait and see.

  10. WORD. THIS. Thank you, Koala, for finally putting your finger on exactly what I also feel is the issue with Park Shin Hye. I could not explain it half so well as you. She is a good actress, and she can do melo scenes down to the ground, and she can play cute and wide-eyed all day long, and she can get a nice friendly vibe – which passes for chemistry for those who don’t necessarily see chemistry as sexual – with her co-stars but the deep passion is just not there yet, I’m with you; I think she has not yet had that sort of romance that strips you bare, literally and figuratively. She’s still a bit of the Lady of Shallott.

    • I’d count it as a thing in her favour that at least PSH makes me want more, well, MOAR with her leading men, though.

      The dead-except-for-friendly vibe that some people (i.e. fans) mistake for chemistry is more appropriately illustrated by Gu Family Book, where the OTP looked and felt like siblings despite the open-mouth kissing and falling on each other a lot – that’s what true non-chemistry makes you feel, like you don’t care what the actors do together onscreen at all.

  11. *nods*

    She’s fine with cute and innocent, but IMO seems to have trouble with anything romantic/sexual/sensual. Don’t kill me for saying this, but… she kind of reminds me of Gu Hye Sun in that respect. PSH is obviously far more talented than GHS (understatement), but personally I find it very hard to connect with her characters.

    Kang Min Hyuk looks adorable – it makes me kind of sad to think that his loveline (and probably most of his screen time) will be with Krystal. 🙁

  12. There’s the Koala we love to read. Minhyuk does seem like the “mild mannered Clark Kent type” who turns into “Superman to save the world.”I love the goodness shown here. This is one reason we love Korean dramas. You can’t find the goodness or wholesomeness on American T.V. anymore. Please don’t try to be like Hollywood. Most of the stars are so messed up, it’s so sad.

    As far as Park Shin Hye showing passion…You are probably right Koala she needs her dream man and she needs him now. Her husband is going to be one lucky man-just saying. They better plan at least a month long honeymoon not just a week, right.

    • I think she has a boyfriend.heck she is 23 years old..every grl at tht age is bound to hav one . Her roles or charcters dont demand her to b sexual . She isnt a nun u kno .

    • Vk I agree with you on the “wholesomeness” of mainstream Kdrama. Cable Kdramas are a bit different, they do push the envelope a bit although it’s nothing compared to the US. Kdrama is refreshing none the less.

  13. I used to think an actor’s potential to express emotions stems from their own experiences. What do they have to draw on for a crying scene?
    But then i saw all these child actors that are amazing. Like Yeo Jin Goo, kim yoo jung, kim so hyun. How do they possibly express such emotions at such a young age. Where does it all come from? Surely they haven’t had to go through such harsh experiences already at that young age.
    It just really all comes down to talent. But that’s a different story.

    I absolutely agree with you koala that when it comes to portraying a feeling of being in love, you really have to have had that experience at least once in your life in order to project that feeling to the audience onscreen. That’s the one thing that cannot be acted out genuinely without experience — love, falling in love, and being in love.

  14. I believe child and teen actors and actresses these days are getting more pressure to become good actors so they can land better and more lucrative roles. I remember Kim So-hyun even studied abroad to learn English, and probably she underwent some intensive acting workshops as well.

    I always think PSH is a good actress, but I tend to compare her with other actresses her age or even those younger or older than her. When I watched Ha Ji Won, Son Ye Jin or even Moon Geun Young, I asked myself if PSH can do well like these actresses. I hope she finds time to polish her acting skills so she can put more emotions into her acting.

    • I like Son Ye Jin for her work in Personal Taste(one of my favorite k-dramas). However, I don’t see how you can compare Ha Ji Won and Moon Geun Young(whose a conniving brat), especially when there are rantings about Park Shin Hye being a chid actress who has gotten everything handed to her. (They must be confusing her with Moon Geun. :$).
      Moon Geun picks strong emotional dramas with a pity me ambience, which might be why people think she’s better at acting. I have watched Moon Geun both in the drama Mary Stayed Out All Night and in the movie Innocent Steps, and I liked her in those… :/
      She definitely has the syrupy guile going for her, with her wide-eyed expression(not plural) casting an innocent glow, but there always seems to be something lurking in the shadows of her well-painted persona. (Well, maybe not such a well-painted persona, because she can easily hide it in dramas, but when I was watching the Running Man Show, her “shadow” was more discernible. It makes me wonder about how comes out of some situations unscathed) Hm…Please refer to more qualified adversaries.

      • It’s because Ha Ji Won does lots of physical training for her movies and dramas. She may not be an excellent actress but she can definitely deliver her stunts. PSH may still yet to showcase her talent in other forms, but I hope she undergoes more training in other areas. I love her a lot, so I want her to improve on her craft.

        I don’t have strong opinions about MGY. I watched her in Painter of the Wind and Cinderella’s sister, where she won a Daesang for the former. I want PSH to get a proper Best Actress Award from a mini-series too (other than what she got for DWIAG). So again, I’m not comparing PSH to MGY because I liked MGY better. I just want PSH to better her acting skills so she too can be recognized as an excellent actress.

        As for your other opinions about MGY, well, they are your own. I don’t share them because as I said, I don’t have strong opinions about her.

  15. Ya abt the copycat website ! U wont fool me ! This site is bookmarked and home screened in my cell for like ……ever !
    Dont worry unni its all safe

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