Kim Tae Ri and Nam Joo Hyuk Go Back to the 90’s in First Look Video at Coming of Age Romance Drama Twenty Five Twenty One

Seeing the making of video with so many BTS moments released by tvN as the first look at February 2022 drama Twenty Five Twenty One, I get a Memento moment with female lead Kim Tae Ri. She’s so bright, bubby, radiating optimism as required by her character a fencing prodigy, it feels like her acting career is going backwards in terms of what roles she tackles. She started with the dark dark The Handmaiden which basically threw her in the deep end, it’s the kind of role a young actress would take after at least a few performances under the belt as a challenge. So going backward from that and next tackling the serious melodrama that was Mr. Sunshine, she’s now getting the chance to play what a classic K-drama female lead trope – plucky, energetic, cute with aegyo, and radiating the kind of positive charm that gets the male lead and the viewers to fall in love with her. And she’s totally nailing it from the making of video snippets alone, while male lead Nam Joo Hyuk is like the bow to her arrow, steady and there to complete the main coupling and she’s the more forceful side. I find myself getting more and more interested in this drama so good job tvN in the effective promos so far.

Making of Twenty Five Twenty One:


Comments

Kim Tae Ri and Nam Joo Hyuk Go Back to the 90’s in First Look Video at Coming of Age Romance Drama Twenty Five Twenty One — 14 Comments

  1. Even 30-31 year old actresses are still doing high school and college roles so why do people make a fuss for younger actresses? There isn’t a lot of variety of tv for actresses.

  2. I don’t think she goes backwards but tries different roles. I really like her.

    There is one of the racket boy! I’m happy for him he got the chance to act in a more famous drama.

    The only bemol is NJH, I don’t think he’s bad as an actor, but he lacks charisma on screen.

  3. Is anyone annoyed or creeped out by K actresses/dramas putting grown ass women in school girl outfits. And yes, its ageism like next thing we see Song Hye Kyo in her next role in a school girl outfit to depict her flashback scenes. Ugh, even in Homecha Shin Min Ah had to wear one.

    Also, Kim Tae Ri has to act opposite NJH?! Is this for popularity because it feels like a step down from working from the big acclaimed talents.

    • Meh she’s gonna work with gong yoo next anyway. Plus it’s not like NJH wasn’t good with acclaimed actresses like han ji min and jung yu mi.

    • They put men in school uniforms too. There is various reasons why production options to go with actors themselves, from money to hire new actors to meaty acting moments, that important to give to rookies. But none of them wearing school uniforms for short flashbacks or couple of episodes is not really matters so much, that it requires non-stop complains. Hollywood is into whole “de-age” technology, because it’s always better to have acting continuity. Majority of “young” actors don’t even bother look and act like their older counterparts and looks wise don’t even match.

  4. I’m tired of the perception that acting in dark project means more respectable, when most of the time the characters don’t show that many different expressions/layers and the stories usually focus more on the plot than the characters. I understand it’s cool, charming, mysterious, and people tend to fall easily in love with this kind of characters. but I personally think playing a happy, optimist, cute, fun role is equally hard as showing seriousness, angry, upset etc.

  5. I was probably the only one here who thought NJH was the brilliant one in the drama Start-Up. The rest of the cast were all good but him, I felt his struggles. So I’m looking forward to his new project and see if he delivers again.

  6. Being a k-drama viewer for yonks, I just don’t give a toss about career trajectory, critical/ratings success, buzz, blah, blah, blah. Life is too short for quibbles. This OTP is giving me plenty of positive feels, squee moments and happiness. That’s all that matters to me as a viewer. To able to connect with OTP, get healing and be entertained. Getting that Weightlifting Fairy vibes here.

    • Yeah, i hope this will be good. I crave for some feel-good, addicting romance dramas right now. While many of the current offers sound promising from the reviews, i am somehow not in the mood for saguek, political or melodramatic shows.

      • Agree. Who needs bloodshed, politics or horror when the current time we live is already full of that. Yeah give me an addictive rom-com any time. See what 2022 will serve up. Keeping my expectations low though.

  7. Don’t understand what’s the fuss about older actresses/actors playing school aged characters. This has been a common practice in k-dramas for decades. Don’t think Korean drama producers and artistes are going to change their practices just to please somebody’s standards. It’s been done to death in Answer Me series. Eun Ji Won was 34 playing 18 yo Hak Chan in AM 97. Anyways, good on Kim Tae Ri for doing something different.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.