Recently a panel of experienced entertainment veterans ranging from the former head of SBS to an acting professor at Seoul University got together and critiqued the pure acting ability of the top-paid stars in Korean entertainment. I found all the criticisms valid, the rankings based on acting ability pretty much dead on, and some of the critiques so funny I was rolling on the floor.
If you think that liking a star means not being able to be honest about your beloved’s skills, then I suggest you not read on. Otherwise, check out the sad but true reality – some stars really aren’t great thespians. But at least they all try hard. The post tags will show which 10 actors got the full scrutiny.
I’ll translate in the order they were ranked.
Jang Dong Gun: pros – has a masculine charisma and a great ability to convey it, the performance is honest, is not a poser; cons – kind but cannot do vicious, needs to strength the ability to make a dramatic impression and to touch the viewers hearts. (Next up – play a serial killer, Jang Dong Gun – leave the President stuff to someone else).
Jung Woo Sung: pros – exceptional ability to understand and convey a character; cons – like a long time lover or a “newbie” who has been in the industry for quite some time, feels somber and without passion. (Tru dat).
Yoon Eun Hye: pros – finding the right character, can surpass any acting threshold; cons – after Coffee Prince, has lost her way, cannot rely on being cute. (She’s so hit – dead center, or miss – not even hitting the target, much less the bullseye).
Bae Yon Joon: pros – everlasting Hallyu star image; cons – always and forever there are two performances, wearing glasses and not wearing glasses. (MWAHAHAHAHA!, I’m dying here).
Kim Tae Hee: pros – in My Princess, showed a glimmer of hope that acting can improve; cons – appears to have a fundamental confusion about the skill of acting, expressions of anger, expressions of sadness, its always locked into a form. (I definitely see the glimmer of hope).
Shin Mina: pros – has the potential to express any character naturally; cons – always puts the other side in a passive position, dry line readings and expressions makes even the best male actor unable to fully engage.
Choi Ji Woo: pros – has a unique, pure charisma; cons – since Winter Sonata, with her aging, her allure has decreased, needs to learn to act with her entire body rather than just with her face. (So true, but that crying face does work well).
Song Seung Heon: pros – since Happy Together, the freshness has carried over to subsequent projects, acting is mature; cons – acting does not leave a strong impression, whether dialogue or characters. (He usually skims the surface of his characters, which is why most don’t make an impression).
Kwon Sang Woo: pros – has experience and honesty in his acting; cons – its very immature to think that he can overcome his line reading impediments by choosing to do physical roles.
Jeon Ji Hyun: pros – for CFs which require an instantaneous explosion and concentration, she displays an incredible charisma and connection with the camera; cons – has an aura of mystery, even giving off a sense to the viewer that she fades from the screen and into the background.
Whenever idols-turned-actors get eviscerated for their limited acting ability and fans counter that people should cut them some slack, I contend that acting is hard hard work. Even the most experienced and highest-paid actors are judged on their talent and improvement. I love an honest look at my favorite actors, because liking someone means being cognizant of their shortcomings.
[Credit: Chosun Ilbo]
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hahaha, I'm laughing so hard about what they said on Bae Yon Joon, omona!
about Yoon Eun Hye, I absolutely agree --- poor girl has indeed wandered aimlessly after Coffee Prince. No offense to the fans.
Yes, one need look no farther than the awful trainwreck that was Take Care of the Young Lady. *shudder* What a travesty that was for everyone involved.
ahhhhaha...agreed with the comment on BYJ....
those critiques really strike to the point....
so agree with YEH, she quite misses a lot of her recent acting stints. is it me or her choices drama recently are quite blahhhh..?
wonder what the critics can say about Ko Hyun Jung ...?
Well, it's only been one drama since Coffee Prince, so yes she missed it but everyone can have a bad drama. And after Coffee Prince, I think it was hard for her to choose another role. It's not like she's had 2 or more bad dramas after Coffee Prince, so I don't really take the evaluation wholeheartedly.
Besides, it was the script that messed up the whole production..
This was a very interesting article. I always love a good, honest critique of acting from "experts". I would've liked to see more actors included, like Go HyunJung. Everyone absolutely raved about her as MiShil in Queen SeonDeok, but I guess I must be an ignorant, because while I thought she was good, she didn't exactly blow me away either. Maybe I was distracted by all the eyebrow movement.
I like her. I watched her in Spring Day and then QSD and i have to agree she is a very great actress.
But for me she was best at What's up fox? with Chun Jung Myung....
still want more critic on my fave talents like Gong Hyo Jin, Lee Jung Jae, hyunbin, Han Ye Seul and Kim Sun Ah
Dying...i'm dyyyyiiiing here. *dries tears of laughter*
Re: Bae Yon Joon! OMG. LOLling forever and ever.
Every critic is spot on.
"always and forever there are two performances, wearing glasses and not wearing glasses"
lol!
but i just don't get the ranking..the no.1 is the one who get the best or the worst critiques? What does the meter (7.2, 6.4, etc) tells?
Each critic gave a star a score from 1 (sucks) to 10 (rocks), and the number you see for each actor is the combined average.
Hence, the critics didn't rank the stars, but simply gave each one a numerical assessment. The stars are then ranked in that chart based on the combined average of their scores.
Bae Yong Joon and Choi Ji Woo gets scores that are worse than that of Yoon Eun Hye?!.....lol......i might not be able to disagree there but I do think that Shin Min Ah is better than Kim Tae Hee and Yoon Eun Hye
Yah, Couldn't believe Kim Tae Hee scored above Shin Min Ah. Or Song Seung Hoon over Kwon Sang Woo. Really? Maybe the critics were wowed by the recent improvement demonstrated in My Princess, but still seems a bit too easily skewed.
Honestly I'm surprised Kim Tae-hee ranked so highly, even though she did do a great job in My Princess. And I don't know that I would have put Shin Min-ah below Yoon Eun-hye, either. I like YEH in both Goong and Coffee Prince, and you could even say she was downright amazing in CP, but I think overall SMA has had more consistently good acting over a longer period of time. The only other one I'm meh on is Bae Young-joon, but the only thing I've ever seen him in is Dream High (haha!) so I can't really be considered a reliable judge. Thanks for sharing, koala-unni! ^_^
Thank you Ockoala for this.
Omoo I was laughing a lot!
So true this about KSW ''its very immature to think that he can overcome his line reading impediments by choosing to do physical roles.''
And about KTH ''appears to have a fundamental confusion about the skill of acting, expressions of anger, expressions of sadness, its always locked into a form. '' Oh yes! That is right, is always the same, sad she is with her eyebrow down and with the mouth a little open, angry she is like this >_< never change.
But I do think her smile is so honest, don't know why, she do 'happy scenes' well.. seems real :D
About YEH I agree, she seems to have lost her path. I liked her in CP and Goong, but she does some characters that aren't good lately., just MEH.
no ha ji won and hyun bin? and kim tae hee and seung song hun are included! what an insult.
If you read my post carefully, the critics rated the "top-paid" stars in Korea.
These 10 make the most money, through endorsements and on a per-project basis. That is the only reason they were included on the list.
The list does not posit that these are the top 10 best actors in Korea or any such assumption.
So Koala, are those the top ten top paid stars? Or they just pick 10 out of the top paid? I cannot believe that the PD will pay YEH more than Ha Ji Won or Song Hye Kyo or Lee Min-Jeong or Lee Da hae?
Top paid in terms of TOTAL earnings. YEH is a CF queen (as are CJW, KTH, SMA, and JJH). But YEH also has one of the highest per episode salaries amongst the female stars for a drama.
Of the ladies you listed, only HJW can match her price. It might be hard for you to imagine, but YEH is an undisputed top star in Korea.
I'm sure this list is not all-inclusive, for example, where the heck is Lee Byung Hyun? But it's meant just as commentary and not for people to wonder why certain actors were included and others left out.
Hi Koala sorry for my ignorantness. So are those the top 10 "top paid" stars in Korea. Or they just picked 10 out of those top paid stars? As I cannot imagine that the PD will pay Yoon Eun Hye more than Ha Ji Won or Lee Da Hae or Son Yeh Jin? What about the other male stars like So Ji Sub and Won Bin?
Sorry to belabor the point, but the list is the 10 stars who make the most money in TOTAL (i.e. their salaries for movies/dramas, all the make they make from commercials and endorsements, et. al.).
It's not just how much a PD would pay them, but their total earnings. CFs pay very very well, especially foreign CFs and most of these stars are Hallyu stars with work outside of Korea.
You keep pointing out YEH specifically (I'm not sure why), but she is one of the higest paid actresses per project. She's won a Baeksang and has two of the highest grossing dramas under her belt (Goong and Coffee Prince - which are still popular and generating dough today).
Anyways, I'm just sharing the story, and not substantiating the selection of actors for the story itself.
Sthg..wrong with my PC...I thought the message I sent earlier was being removed. Sorry for the repeat post.
Thanks for your clarification as well. Just love your blog.
Oh don't worry! I'm not upset. :-)
You asked great questions, but honestly, popularity and making money as a star is hard to predict. I just try to judge performances based on my personal preferences.
I would have guessed LBH would have been in the top 10 paid - but then I don't know if a) he does any CFs (other than that weird brandy thing The Influence that they peddled as an "online drama" - pretty pretty, but my brain still hurts) and b) whether his US and Japanese movies would be counted, as his salaries for those might not be known as those numbers are usually more closely held. I am pretty sure he was raking in the bucks in IRIS though.
OTOH - I'm just laughing like a loon about Yonsama.
LBH is exactly who I was thinking was missing. Eh, doesn't matter any which way, man is still richer than Creosus amongst the actors.
The Yonsama critique makes it hard for me to look at glasses the same way again.