The Intangible Called Chemistry: When K-drama Couples Swap Onscreen Partners

In the musical chairs game of K-drama casting, the pool is so deep that rarely do onscreen couplings get to work together again. It’s also not common to have two sets of onscreen couples switching OTPs for subsequent dramas. The A-listers age out of leading men roles or grow too big for dramas and head for the movies exclusively, and there is always a deep pool of young and eager newbies ready to jump on any opportunity to headline any project. Sometimes I wonder if the recent trend towards younger men-older women pairings (whether the drama calls for it in the age difference of the characters or merely a casting leap of faith wanting us to accept the two are close in age onscreen) is because there are so many promising young actors ready to tackle being a leading man and not nearly as many same-age actresses of the same name recognition or caliber? Whatever the reason, unlike TW-dramas or C-dramas, there isn’t a lot of repeat. Which is why Jang Hyuk and Lee Da Hae having a THIRD go a it right now in IRIS II is groundbreaking and not likely to happen again. With that said, currently there are two airing K-dramas where the onscreen OTP literally swapped partners for their previous dramas. Song Seung Heon and Kim Tae Hee made magic in My Princess, while Yoo Ah In and Shin Se Kyung were……indescribable in positive terms in Fashion King. Like two couples swinging, now Song Seung Heon is romancing the much younger Shin Se Kyung in When a Man Loves while Kim Tae Hee re-writes history with Yoo Ah In in Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love. I’ve watched both dramas and right now which new pairing has better chemistry is debatable. My gut tells me neither will match what Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Heon created in MP, which is fine by me, but if I had to guess I’ll give the edge to Yoo Ah In and Kim Tae Hee because I enjoyed their frisson of chemistry in the first meeting scene. I got around to thinking of what other rare instances have two couples swapped and which pairings ended up being the best? I found another two couples below, but tell me if you recollect any other direct swaps that would be interesting to mull over.

The other famous four-way switch is Hyun Bin–Ha Ji Won–Jo In Sung–Song Hye Kyo. First came Ha Ji Won and Jo In Sung in What Happened in Bali. Next was Hyun Bin and Song Hye Kyo in World’s Within. Followed up everyone’s love-hate Secret Garden with Ha Ji Won and Hyun Bin. And finally Jo In Sung just romanced Song Hye Kyo in That Winter, The Wind Blows.

I’ve watched all four dramas from beginning-to-end so at least I have the right to render an opinion on chemistry. Here is how I would rank them (from best to……not the best – all four pairing combos are actually qualitatively good, but some are merely better than others).

1. Ha Ji Won and Jo In Sung in What Happened in Bali – So good. So so good. So good they turn wrong into right. So good I needed to take a cold shower after watching them together.

2. Hyun Bin and Song Hye Kyo in World’s Within – This one is kinda cheating since they ended up dating for nearly two years in real life after doing this drama. Their chemistry was palpable yet realistic, tender yet powerful.

3. Ha Ji Won and Hyun Bin in Secret Garden – Their acting styles meshed well, but the chemistry was tempered by having truly incompatible characters so the romance was like a negative sinkhole for me. There was a lot of heated stares and sexiness, but the terrible romance EQ of this pairing takes away from the actors’ ability to sell it convincingly.

4. Jo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo in That Winter, The Wind Blows – The whole fauxcest bit made their chemistry icky, and Jo In Sung overacted as glaringly as his colorful tight pants while Song Hye Kyo was lovely and believably blind but rather felt like she was acting in her own one-woman show. Sometimes they had chemistry, but it was intermittent.