This is both a companion post to the list of My Obsessions and a counterpoint to my post on memorable performances. People have their own taste and tics, resulting in some folks fangirling certain performers no one else seems to like, or conversely leaving others scratching their heads over why certain performers are so popular.
I say: embrace our idiosyncrasies! Revel in loving unique individuals and eschewing other more popular options. Similarly, dare to state your dislike of wildly-beloved actors and confess that certain much-lauded performances actually annoyed you.
Be prepared to defend your position, to withstand onslaughts of oh-no-you-didn’t and how-can-you-feel-that-way. But remain firm in your opinion, because to buckle under pressure would be to succumb to the masses and lose your individual spirit. K-drama watching for me is all about the sharing of different view and divergent tastes.
With that said, I hereby present to you a list of My Allergies. These are the actors and/or performances that grated on my every nerve and made me wish there was an un-watch button in my brain to erase the memory forever. Go ahead and flay me alive for my unholy reaction to these folks, some of whom you may love to eternity and back again.
I welcome that, but don’t you dare do a drive-by-flaying without leaving a memento – let me know who you are allergic to. Sharing is caring! Also, there are many performances I don’t like, but I tried not to turn this into a full-on beating session. I’ve only included the performances I really, really, really didn’t like.
Finally, I noticed that I’ve disliked way more actress performances than actors, and I concede it may be because I am a female viewer and there are certain female acting methods I find grating to the extreme. I am probably more forgiving with the men. While I like to think I am an equally opportunity hater, sadly, my own gender does get more grief from me.
My Eyes, My Eyes:
Jang Nara in My Love Patzzi – She ruined an otherwise cute drama for me. If the character was played by most any other actress, I would have enjoyed the twisted-fairytale and the subversion of traditional tropes. As it stands, her mannerisms, her voice, her very face-scrunch turned me nearly homicidal. I finished the drama only because the Kim Wons collectively made it worth it.
Lee Da Hae in Chuno – I hated her character and I hated how Lee Da Hae played her. She was ethereal when she should have been grounded, she was pristine when she should have been muddied, she was girly when she should have been gritty. I wanted Dae Gil to end up with Un Nyun because he wanted her so much, but I wished he wanted to take a bath and buy some new clothes instead. She had some flashes of real emotion, but for the most part her performance and character was as placid as my white walls, and who wants to stare at white walls all day long.
Gu Hye Sun in Boys Before Flowers – She started off mildly annoying and devolved into pure unadulterated hatred (from me) by the end of the drama. She made an already annoying character (as written by the manga author) into one that caused me to scream at my computer episode after episode. Her “acting” was over-the-top, lacking in any nuance or subtlety, and above all else, elicited from me a nails-on-a-chalkboard reaction. Yes, I concede that at least she acted, as opposed to Kim Hyun Joong who did no discernable acting whatsoever. But it’s my own personal eyes that we are talking about, and Ji Hoo-sunbae did not annoy me, but Jan Di annoyed me from one end of the earth to the other.
Kim Min Joon in Tazza – He was so good-looking in this role I could have muted the volume and just watched him dressed to the Mad Men nines on screen. Except he had dreadful body movement in this drama, lurching to and fro and all tightly wound. He started to annoy me mid-way through the show, and by the end I wanted someone, anyone, to put him out of his misery. He looked like he would have preferred to be undergoing a colonoscopy. So did I.
Choi Jung Won in The Kingdom of the Wind – I remember reading a manga as a kid about an actress taking on the role of a human-sized doll in a stage play. She had to sit and be still for 2 hours, which required a super-human effort not to blink even. I feel like Choi Jung Won delivered that performance for 30 some episodes in the drama. The worst part was her performance as a human mannequin was unintentional. She was a piece of wood, period.
Kim Jeong Hoon in Witch Amusement – Oh lord, this performance was so unintentionally funny and mock-worthy, perhaps I shouldn’t include him in this list. He was out-acted by Dennis Oh in this drama, for gods sake! Now that is a hard feat to muster. Kim Jeong Hoon, never a strong actor to begin with, looked so constipated and ridiculous in his performance, he caused me to break out in brain hives from trying to scratch him from my memory.
Kim Jung Eun in Lovers in Paris – She ruined this drama for me. The drama itself I did like (the first half only, no one could save the maudlin mess that was the second half), but her weird facial twitches, her over-acting, her strange features, all of which combined to make me totally turned-off by her. This is yet another instance where most any other actress would have been preferable for this role. I refuse to watch Lovers because I am so allergic to Kim Jung Eun.
All Four Leads in Stairway to Heaven – this drama may have been a piece of crap, but it was exacerbated to the nth degree by the collective suckitude of the four leads. Kwon Sang Woo was supposed to be dashing but he was instead smarmy. Choi Ji Woo was supposed to be plucky but instead she was shrill. Shin Hyun Joon was supposed to be devoted but instead he was creepy. And Kim Tae Hee…..you all know what I thought of her performance here. Suffice to say, this was a moronic way to spend 16 hours of your life. But I can’t say I didn’t marathon it, riveted by the sheer ballsy spirit by which these four actors hammed their way through their lines and the writer kept throwing more insane plot developments at the screen.
With the Good, must also come the Bad:
How boring would life be if we adored every performance, loved every actor or actress, thought even the most inane dramas were pieces of art? We’d all end up living in a free-love drama-hippie compound, wandering around in states of euphoria re-watching scenes from Boys Before Flowers or Stairway to Heaven.
I’ve only presented allergic performances of famous actors and actresses. To date, some annoying performances have come from actors or actresses that appear to no longer be acting (I’m not crying any tears over that). A few off the top of my head: Song Seung Heon’s girlfriend in Autumn in My Heart, Jae Hee’s noona crush in Delightful Girl Choon Hyung, and the second female leads in Prince’s First Love and Queen of the Game (see, I don’t even know what purpose they served in that drama).
And a special shout out goes to Chae Young In in Wish Upon A Star. I was so deathly allergic to her psycho obsessed with Kim Ji Hoon in that drama – but I can’t figure out whether I should commend her for creating such a vile performance and going a great job, or for making me want to eat her liver every Mon/Tues for 10 weeks straight and creating a lifetime of allergy to her.
This was so much fun to compile. Knowing my increasing picky tastes, this list could have been twice as long, except I would have had to go find screen caps of these folks and thereby increasing the amount of time spent with them, which is a very silly way to spend my time. I’m off to find some choco-abs now.
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I'm allergic to Kwon Sang Woo in EVERYTHING! There's just something about the guy and his acting I cannot stand, and I haven't even seen Stairway to Heaven yet! He is my arch kdrama enemy. The only thing I can bear to watch that he is in is My Tutor Friend and that is only because of Kim Ha-neul.
However, Kim Ha-neul in On Air has to be on my list of drama allergies too. Her character just plain sucked as did her "acting" on the show inside the show. BLECH.
ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING in Witch Amusement (except Jae Hee) but especially Dennis Oh. OI VEY who allowed this guy on screen??
Here's one I might REALLY get stoned to death for but Jang Dong Gun in All About Eve. I don't get it. His character had no chemistry with Chae Rim, no charisma, personality and I really didn't even find him attractive physically. Really the entire show was blahs-ville except for waiting to see what evil trick Kim So Yeon would come up with next!
Kim Suh Hyung as Sung Ran in Be Strong Geum Soon. Just wanted to throw things every time she was on screen. Not sure if it was the actress, or her character, but I fast forwarded through most of her scenes as the show went on.
Han Ye Seul in Will It Snow for Christmas. I only made it through like 4 eps of this show and I blame a lot of this on her acting. Even Go Soo's gorgeous looks weren't enough to make me suffer through anymore of her or have the motivation to root for him to get "the girl" as she was sadly "the girl" he wanted. Bad choice for him and the casting director. :(
Oh and gotta say I agree about Lee Da Hae in Chuno. LOVE LOVE LOVE the show, hated that Dae Gil spent the entire time longing for that stick in the mud though! *still crying over that one, sniffles*
YAY, another fun post!
I swear I'm not saying this for samsooki's sake, but I thought Jang Nara was ADORABLE in My Love Patzzi. I really did! I loved her little scrunched up monkey faces. Loved Kim Rae-won; Kim Jae-won, not so much. Um, not at all, actually.
Totally agree about Lee Da-hae in Chuno, but what about Oh Ji-ho? What a totem pole HE was, too. Poor Jang Hyuk, acting his ass off against two...mannequins. Sheesh.
Also totally agree about Gu Hye-sun as Jan-di in BOF. I could not for the life of me figure out why Jun-pyo loved her so much. I had second male lead syndrome alright...I wanted Jun-pyo and Ji-hoo to walk off into the sunset together. Anyway...
I'd never seen Han Ye-seul in anything before Will It Snow for Christmas...and the only way I'll ever watch her again is if she ends up in something that Lee Min-ki is in. Otherwise...not a chance. She drives me to the craaaazy side of town.
Lemme see, what else? I didn't like Lee Da-hae in My Girl, either, but loved her in Robbers. Go figure.
I've never particularly been a fan of Uhm Jung-hwa. I didn't hate her in The Man Who Can't Marry, but everything else I've seen her in...she bugs.
Last but not least...Ahn Seok-hwan. Please make him go away for a while! I know the guy has to make a living, but I am truly sick of seeing him pop up in every single drama. He's just...smarmy. He may be a lovely person in real life, but he makes me want to take a shower.
How about a post on Taiwanese drama allergies....=)
My first post on your funny blog, hope you can forgive my bad english.
The ones i really hated :
Both Lee Da Hae and Oh Ji Oh in Chuno. Like someone said, they were like mannequins. They wasted the show for me. I only enjoyed Dae Gil's frenzy quest in the first épisodes.
I also agree on All About Eve. I can't understand why it's considered a classic. There was not a single character i appreciated.
Kang Dong Won in Duelist and Too Beautiful To Lie : zero charisma.
Kim Bum in BOF and The Woman... : way too much self consciousness.
Jung Il Woo in My Fair Lady : he clearly didn't know what he was supposed to do. Can he really act? I had planned to watch The Return Of Iljimae but he prevents me to.
A few ones who simply annoyed me :
Lee Min Ho in Personal Taste : what a waste to have him paired with my beloved Son Ye Jin!
Bae Soo Bin The Perfect Man and Lee Seung Ki The Puppy in Shining Inheritance.
Kim Rae Won and Nam Sang Mi in Gourmet (and the brother) : i had a hard time finishing that one.
Well, much more actors than actresses! Could you say I'm a man?
ha, ha, am I the only one who love LDH and OJH in Chuno-AMAZING CHEMISTRY, amazing chemistry with Jang hyuk as well, maybe I am bias cos I'm LDH's fan, but to me I'm soooo OK with her performance in Chuno cos I'm sicked with common characters in Kdrama nowdays , at least I saw something diff in LDH, not easy to play 'wet blanket' character. I can feel her as UN/HW.
-and most of the guys (100%) that I know love her in Chuno, and 70% of my girlfriends hate her.
I can't believe I failed to mention Oh Ji Ho in Chuno too! Bad casting choice, AGAIN. So wooden and boring. Imagine how boring their wedding night was!
Not surprised I almost have your exact list of Kdrama allergies, exc I'm not planning to watch Kingdom of the Wind.
My 'symptoms' r more severe and usu it's the precipitating factor I stopped watching (eg LDH in Chuno also LDH in Hello Miss) nth's lost since I didnt hold those dramas high up in regards and would've dumped them anyway.
But I can't help but think I may like Lover in Paris if I was not as allergic to KJE, she used to be tolerable playing a bit part in AAE pre numerous surgeries!
Yay! This is really fun, ockoala!
I became a huge Jang Geun-seuk fan after seeing his performance in You're Beautiful. But he's definitely not perfect.
I hated, hated, HATED his acting in Hong Gil Dong. He was so wooden and his acting so bland, that I just had to stop watching it midway through. He ruined the drama for me, and although I still love him, I'm glad that's a drama project he did years ago, because he still has the potential to get better, which he proved in You're Beautiful.
I also hated Lee Dae Hae & Oh Ji Ho's acting in Chuno, but there's also another that annoyed me. It's the little boy who plays the prince! Don't get me wrong - he's absolutely adorable and I would love to pinch his cheeks; His character just made absolutely no sounds or movements. I know, I know. I should cut him some slack since he's only a little kid, and he did what he was supposed to do! I just think that it would have been better if the producers got a lifesize doll, because that's all he was - a cute, little doll! People were dying around him and he still wouldn't cry! A scene that was supposed to cause you to feel anxious became unintentionally funny through and through.
UEE in You're Beautiful. It was something about her eyes that bothered me, even to this day. Her acting was passable but towards the end, her character becomes really pointless and creates emotional drama just for the heck of it.
Seo Woo in the first 8-10 episodes of Cinderella's Sister. I was ready to throw something at her, but that was before I remembered that my computer was worth money that I didn't have to replace it. She over-acted so much in the first 8-10 episodes, that I think I even had a dream about slapping her in the face. I digress. She was whiny in the beginning, but thank goodness she got better later on.
Kim Hyun Joong in Boys Over Flowers. I can't believe that he just got the lead role in Playful Kiss. I really like the guy, but it's no secret that he can't act. When he speaks his lines, it's like a sleepy boy trying to memorize the Ten Commandments or the Bill of Rights. His "pro-violin skills" in the drama were so laughable, that's all I could envision when he was supposed to command my attention! I do hope that he shows some improvement in his upcoming drama,
Other honorable mentions: Kim Tae Hee in Stairway to Heaven, Shin Hyun Joon in Cain and Abel, Choi Ji Woo in A Star's Lover, Kim Myung Min & Lee Jia in Beethoven's Virus, Park Han Byul in Oh! My Lady. There's much, much more...but I'll stop here. ^^
@ Kristal - ditto KSW being your K-drama arch-enemy. He's mine as well. He gives me the heebie-jeebies.
@ langdon-unni - I had to go google Anh Seok Hwan, but yeah, he's always the smarmy guy in dramas. I also HATED Han Ye Seul in WISFC (@ Kristal, ditto here too), but I never finished it, and for some reason, much as I thought she was horribly miscast, I appreciated that she tried very hard, and some of the goodwill from her role in Fantasy Couple still lingers.
@ frac - thanks for sharing! I think JIW can indeed act, his role in My Fair Lady was dreadful, and it's a shame. I'm planning to watch ROI, I've heard he's wonderful in it.
@ samzz - hahaha, totally feel free to love LDH and OJH in Chuno! Like I said, state your opinion! If they had any chemistry, I feel like it was two mannequins made for each other. But you're not the only one who liked them, I think there is a vocal minority that likes their performance and characters in Chuno.
@ twin - you know, I really liked the beginning of Lovers in Paris, even WITH KJE in it. But she just got progressively more noxious to me as the drama went on and the story got more melodramatic and ridiculous. We both know we have very similar idiosyncracies. :-D
@ endodo - Fun?! But of course, that's why this is a "Playground." :-P Don't disagree with much of your choices, I also didn't like pretty much all the ones your listed. Except I think it's hilarious that you put down KIM Myung Min!!! Hahaha, the god-father of acting in Korean and you put him down as an allergy! Totally fine by me (I love him), but you've got some cojones. Li Ji Ah and I are mortal enemies, she annoys me in EVERYTHING I've seen of hers.
I am so glad I'm not the only one frightened by KSW! If I see him as the lead in a new show, no matter what it is, I refuse to watch it. Luckily he hasn't chosen any roles to write home about lately anyways. *shivers thinking of him*