Idol Turned Serious Actor Junho Draws Mad K-netizen Praise for His Sageuk Acting, Diction, and Onscreen Presence in The Red Sleeve Cuff

Okay, for anyone wondering how well Junho is doing in MBC sageuk court drama and romance The Red Sleeve Cuff, just go watch yourself. Because he’s just phenomenal, as good as a young actor can hope to achieve in a serious sageuk setting. He holds his own against the veteran heavyweights, he generates young energy as the prince, and he makes all the moms and grannies swoon from his precise diction and crisp enunciation. There is a sageuk speaking cadence that needs to be learned through acting, and the only way to get around it is if the sageuk drama is a fusion or intentionally wacky so not to be taken as seriously. Otherwise every actor and actress gets the same lens from which to judge the delivery and so far through 4-episodes Junho is getting effusive praise. I rarely see such uniform opinion and it’s especially meaningful I think for him because he’s an idol turned actor that had to overcome that hurdle to be taken seriously.


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Idol Turned Serious Actor Junho Draws Mad K-netizen Praise for His Sageuk Acting, Diction, and Onscreen Presence in The Red Sleeve Cuff — 57 Comments

  1. His diction, acting, screen presence, charisma…the guy is killing it! Not to mention his chemistry with LSY. I agree with K-netz for once. ?

  2. Waiting for at least 10 episodes to dig in, I tried Bossam and LOTRS but didn’t finish both they just fizzled out in the second half lol

    • Higher TV ratings please. MBC must be so happy The Veil did well and now Red Sleeves. After having flops like My Ladylord, MBC executives would now be all smiles. Their efforts are paying off. Even Kairos which rated lower got positive reviews feedback.

  3. I’ve been one of Junho’s ahjumma fans since his drama Just Between Lovers. But I couldnt finish his other dramas after that.

    I’ll wait until this drama is over to binge-watch it. And now I’m so happy with how other praise Junho’s good acting.

    • Another ahjumma fan here, since Memory and Chief Kim. Versatile, isn’t he? After reading this I guess he can do anything. I’d call his style bravura.

    • He was amazing in Just Between Lovers. I’m sad that he didn’t get recognition for that drama because of the low viewership in Korea. He didn’t do it for me in his follow ups though. I’m glad he’s getting praise for this drama.

  4. Junho has always been good. I remember him from the bit part he had in that movie with Han Hyojoo. He was a scene stealer even then and had more presence than even Jun Woosung who was the villian. Not surprised that he has good sageuk diction either. Junho works extra hard on everything and is a stubborn perfectionist. He’s also good at having chemistry with literally everyone including Nam Gongmin and Jang Hyuk. He even had extremely good chemistry with Kim Sohyun in the short music videos for 2AM. He deserves finally getting his widespread acting acclaim.

    • Cold Eyes! I agree with you I’ve always found him to be good too, his pick of projects aren’t that memorable in general maybe, but so happy he is doing so good in Red Sleeves.

  5. I prefer Park Eun-Bin as a Crown Prince, her acting is more impressive for this role. She’s tiny but fill the space with charisma.

    Junho is good but until now I didn’t find him extraordinary. He didn’t have any scene that made me think he was specially better than any other actors in sageuk.

    • Ah, there you are. Of course this mediocre Rowoon fan will jump in to shade the better idol actor who’s getting all the praise and attention both locally and internationally. And bringing up PEB? Is this a ‘who is a better crown prince?’ competition post?

      • I didn’t speak about Rowoon but about Park Eun-Bin. I like her as an actress and it’s why I watched all her dramas.

        They’re both playing a Crown Prince so yes it’s not weird to compare. And I prefer her Crown Prince than Junho’s one for now. Her character is more interesting and she’s playing it perfectly.

        Lee Joon-Hyuk was pretty good in The Royal Secret Agent Joy as Crown Prince too.

      • Why you dragging Rowoon here ? Junho is a veteran Idol Actor, and Rowoon is still newbie in acting and in Sageuk and Knetz are praising his improving. He’s not the best but he growth.

      • Smiley twit has checked in! Trying to start a Rowoon fan war & picking on SIG fans. Thinking no one would notice. Carrying pretending as different people. LOLOL.

    • Park Eunbin has had acting experience for more than 20 years. By this time it is understable and expected that she should have acting prowess…

      But diminishing Junho (performance) who has been praised by veterans, co-stars and general netizens (watchers who usually are high up critical with saguek speech in stars) by saying “he didnt have any scene that made thing he was specially better than any other actors in saguek” kinda speaks for itself.

      • I didn’t say he was bad. I said that I didn’t find any scene who made me think he was outstanding in this role. He’s good yeah but it’s all for me. I didn’t watch episode 4 yet.

        Jun-Ho is acting since 10 years, he’s not a newbie anymore and not his first historical job neither.

      • @Sayaris you should watch epi 4 then. The post which is trending on qoo is because of a clip taken from this episode.

      • Well, i love Junho but @Sayaris has the right to not be attracted by his performance or by him . I’m not attracted by Lee Byung Hun’s acting even if he has a house full of awards . It’s like that . I like Park Eun Bin and i’ve watched all her dramas and enjoying the king’s affection but even if her acting is good i can’t believe that the characters never guess that she was a girl . The best performances as a guy until now are Moon Geun Young And Yoon Eun Hye .

      • @Sayaris He has not been acting for 10 years. His first role was a small part in Cold Eyes (2013).

    • I want to share my opinion. If u have watched the whole 17 episodes, u would have changed how u viewed junho. He is an idol, so i thought he would have a mediocre acting skills, but no.. his acting exceed some of actors. He suits to become the CP and king. His body is perfect wearing the CP’s outfit and king’s robe. I wouldnt say the same thing for PArk eun bin. She has petite figure and she looked drown in that big cp’s outfit.

  6. Preach! So true. I don’t have anything but praise for Lee Jun-ho. He is so good in the The Red Sleeve and the drama itself is amazing overall. Lee Jun-ho’s chemistry with Lee Se-young is as amazing. I love both of them now.

  7. My first time watching junho in a project. And I am obsessed. His screen presence, acting and charisma is insane. I hope this drama proves out to be his breakout role like how litm was for park bo gum . Honestly, junho despite being an idol actor is better than many of his peers . I started just between lovers and not surprised why so many people praise this drama.

    • You should also check him out in Chief Kim where he plays the antagonist you can’t help but like. That was his breakout role as a 2nd lead in South Korea. It’s what led him to graduate to male lead status.

  8. Also his expressions are so good that you can feel what’s going inside his mind. Funny how his bandmate taecyon is also doing a sageuk but my good, he hasn’t improved at all .

  9. Lee Deokhwa called him a natural actor and Jang Hye Jin said he just IS Jeongjo and honestly I couldn’t think of higher praise than that coming from some of the best veterans in Korea. Junho’s always been good, but he really brought his A-game coming off his army hiatus for this role.

  10. I’ve just started watching this drama and I’m liking it. The 2 leads match each other’s screen presence and acting. I hope it continues to be entertaining. I’m only familiar with Junho from watching I Live Alone, I thought he’d overacting and awkward in a drama, but acting suits him – he can control his facial expressions well.

  11. Couldn’t agree more , he was already good in previous works but here he is really a PRINCE . Some actors should take lessons from him . Bravo for showing that some idols can be actors too . I like Lee Se Young since i saw her in “Missing you” 10 years ago and after her good performance in Kairos , she is doing a good job too . She is the kind of actress who is casted for her talent and not just for her ” beauty” and popularity . I just see a court lady and not the actress . That’s what i call acting .

  12. Junho has always been a phenomenal actor. I’ve never seen him as an idol actor because he’s better than a whole lot of trained actors I won’t name lol. He’s fantastic and I’m so glad he’s getting a lot of hype for this performance. I hope it will get him to do more dramas because my god he can be right up there with the best.

  13. junho is good at acting but it’s hard to find him handsome or attractive he just didn’t do it for me but overall his acting is good. he does not have the it factor that appeal to me. i dont know what it is. still trying to find it. he is similar with lee jehoon quite a bit

    • That’s your personal opinion and your own taste and preference. I don’t think it matters to other people. What seems to be attractive to you may not be as attractive for other people. By the way, the post is about Lee Jun-ho’s acting skill not his looks. So posting rude comment is unnecessary.

    • I’d take a comparison to Lee Jehoon as a compliment bc he’s a phenomenonal actor. Nothing wrong with having different tastes but talking about the It factor I do find that ironic since Junho went viral for most of 2020 and the first half of 2021 in Korea for being the definition of “K-sexy” due to his fancams lol.there rly is no accounting for taste tho.

      • Right? It was because of his fancam last year that their 5 year old song went viral. Even if I am not a 2PM fan, I still know abt it. Infact this year too, he went viral during their comeback .Posts related to him were trending everywhere on pann.
        He is the only male idol this year having a fancam with 1M+ views. Even Eunwoo or any other 4th gen idol didn’t achieve that.

    • You are not wrong, that’s why many people always overlooked him in 2PM compared to the more handsome members like Nichkhun and Taecyeon. It took knetz more than 10 years to rediscover his charm and he went viral with a song that was released in 2015. I’m not surprised with his sudden popularity because he always been attractive and talented, just need to see him more other than only his face.

  14. I agree with K netizen that Junno gives strong performance, and even though I am not Junno’s acting fan previously, but now I am waiting for his Royal Prince scene
    however, I have to admit and agree with palace maid girls that Tutor of Royal Prince is the most handsome man in whole Joseon..lol xixixixixixi

  15. some people say siwan or kyungsoo are the best idol-turned-actors, but i’ve always felt it was junho. he has amazing onscreen presence and charisma. there isn’t a role that he hasn’t been able to pull off. kyungsoo is great too, but he needs more lead roles for me to judge. siwan I feel is good but limited. he had this deer-in-the-headlights expression in majority of run on that i found distracting. but these three show that there are idols who can act better than some hallyu actors with years of experience that I will not name lol.

  16. I remember first seeing him act in Chief Kim and wondering “whoa, where did this charismatic guy come from?” Didn’t realize he was from 2PM even though I was a casual listener of their music/watcher of their MVs. It’s always interesting to me that some idols have little screen presence when they’re doing their idol thing on stage and then come to life while acting on tv.

    • Actually it wasn’t that he didn’t have any stage presence, it’s just that man was highly neglected by jyp and barely given any lines or any other opportunity. He actually went viral last year as well as this year just because of his fancams

      • Not surprised since he always had that screen presence and charisma. It’s a plus too that his voice is nice and expressions are spot on.

    • Yes he was good in Chief Kim , i got the same reaction as you . I highly recommend this drama as all the cast did a great job and it was so fun to watch !

  17. Yes! I am so impressed with him The Red Sleeve Cuff. I have heard compliments for his acting brfore and always assumed it was faint praise because what they really meant was he was good for a idol (and that’s a low bar) but he is excellent as the Crown Prince.

  18. He is a solid actor who also has the “it” factor. He will be in good and bad dramas because that’s just the way the k-drama gods play, but he is so good here as is the lead actress. Definitely one of the better actors that got a start in the idol world. Good for him.

    • I agree! Junho may not be clasically handsome, but he has always had the ‘it’ factor for me. His charisma fills the screen and he’s great with micro-expressions and emotive acting.

      For those who have just found out about Junho, try watching some of his past works – my favourite are Just Between Lovers, Chief Kim and Wok of Love. Wok of Love was a bit of a mess plot-wise but his chemistry with Jung Ryeo-won made me giddy, their romance was cute, realistic and heart fluttering.

      Junho is also a phenomenal singer/dancer/songwriter and has a great personality. I got into 2pm after watching him in Wok of Love. If you want a taste of what idol Junho is like, I recommend his I’m Your Man and My House fancams, and his ADTOY dance practice video. What I love is that he never makes it seem like it was easy to get to where he is now. He’s a true workaholic and he has improved so much over the years through pure hard work and ambition. Also, man is sexy and he knows it.

  19. As a long-time Hottest I’m very biased but even I’m surprised by the amount of praise he’s getting from the ever-critical knetz. Not being a native speaker, it’s hard for me to judge things like sageuk diction, but since knetz are raving about his, it must be good.

    Anyway, I’m just extremely proud of him. Taking the role of such a famous king must’ve been daunting but he’s applying himself so well. Junho has always been my 2PM bias. For me, he has incredible onstage presence (his fancams went viral for a reason) and I think that translates well to onscreen presence when he’s acting. I’ve read some people think that he’s too theatrical and intense but I love that about his performances. I feel so invested in his characters and I really appreciate his utter commitment to the scene.

  20. Junho is getting a lot of recognition as he should! He really is a versatile singer and actor and can literally do anything. He starred in a number of dramas and movies and I can say that his acting never disappoints no matter what role he portrays. I’m so proud that his drama is doing so well even though its competitor dramas have veteran actors on it. Not a fan of sageuks but this drama was beyond my expectations, his acting, diction, facial expressions, and chemistry with LSY are all insane! I just know that he will bag awards from different award shows soon.

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