I haven’t seen K-netizens this mad about bad acting in a drama in a long time, but then again, I haven’t seen such levels of bad acting in a drama in a long time. Perhaps it’s due to the bad being doubled in amount, with both leads Ahn Jae Hyun and Gu Hye Sun stinking up the screen in Blood, and that excess visual pain seems to snapped the wire of patience and tolerance for underwhelming output. I also haven’t seen the K-media openly cover the viewer anger towards Blood after the first four episodes, now there is even a petition already passed a thousand signatures demanding KBS replace Gu Hye Sun in the drama even midway through. I doubt that will happen but there may actually be improvements to come.
The Blood production responded to all the outrage by promising that Gu Hye Sun’s acting will change going forward, acknowledging the criticism against her overacting, effected line readings, and awkward non-blinking stares. That’s fine and all, but what about Ahn Jae Hyun! He’s just as bad as her and the double standard, or shielding of him, is so not cool. Either fix them both or just let this drama become a comic standard for what not to do when casting leads. It’s understandable that there is less leeway for Gu Hye Sun bad performance since she’s a ten year veteran in the industry whereas Ahn Jae Hyun has been acting for just over a year and this is his first leading role. With that said, all eyes will stay on Blood to see what positive improvements await.
I feel terrible tagging Ji Jin Hee‘s name to posts about this drama, because he’s basically acting in his own one-person Shakespearean play to power and immortality and doing a sizzlingly good job at it. Contrasting him to both Ahn Jae Hyun and Gu Hye Sun and it’s insulting. K-netz even find the robot Luvvy a better actor than the two leads, LOL. Ji Jin Hee and Ahn Jae Hyun are in the same agency HB Entertainment so one wonders why the agency couldn’t have pitched them swapping roles so that the viewers are spared watching Ahn Jae Hyun actually get on-the-job training in Blood.
I don’t agree with the actors work hard or they need to develop acting experience somewhere excuse. Do you want your surgeon operating on your brain surgery to just be learning on the job? Or do you want that surgeon to be an expert already before he/she takes that knife and cuts your scalp open? The “he/she works so hard!” excuse is even more bullshit, that just means they might win the hard worker award but still doesn’t negate the bad acting side of the equation. If actors and actresses want to learn on the job, do it in smaller roles where they can afford to be bad and viewers won’t mind as much with the limited screen time and lesser importance to the story.
When an actor or actress gets a leading role, it should mean that person is qualified for it, not that person gets a shot to try hard at the chance. Just imagine how much more watchable Blood would be if the leads were Kim Woo Bin as the vampire doctor and Jung So Min as the spoiled lady doc. The writing is still bad but what’s new in K-drama land these days, I’m barely able to squeeze out sense in my recaps for the poorly written Hyde, Jekyll, Me, but at least Hyun Bin is acting his pants off and running circles around his female lead to salvage the experience. I’m still watching Blood partly to get an eyeful of Ji Jin Hee per episode and partly to see what else this drama has in store in terms of unintentional lulzes.
Ahn Jae Hyun’s bad acting in Blood:
Gu Hye Sun’s bad acting in Blood:
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That scene where he gets shot, I saw his portion in a gif to Shinee's song Ring Ding Dong, and I couldn't figure out why in the world was he acting that way. Well, now I know.
I am considering watching this... May be just to see what all the negative press is about.
I think the bad press, is what is keeping the ratings from falling into the 3% range, as some viewers turn away in disgust, some others tune in to see what the fuss is about.
Sadly, GHS is suffering through this public embarrassment, because her fans have shielded her. Supposedly, all the hate is because of her beauty, and many talents. Reading the Soompi threads and the spamming going on, to make sure that it is one of the most commented threads is a side show in an of itself. As is her international fans plan to spam Korean articles that dare to write anything negative about her.
Many of us are used to or have experienced the delusions of K-Entertainment fandoms, but this is unreal. They have actually placed a moratorium on the Soompi thread, forbidding anyone of talking bad about the leads or the drama. Only positive, praising comments allowed. The fact that only they see the acting in the drama as genius, isn't suspect to them at all. All these negative press, and anger at the drama is all a coordinated hate campaign against their precious angel.
Tiwatiwa, good points on the ratings.
It's good she gets to work on her acting now.
I am not her fan so I never respond to anything about her in the past. But I do feel bad for her now and I hope she won't take it too personally and instead work positively towards improvement
At the same time, the director and writer should not shift all the blame to her ... They are also responsible.
soompi is beyond delusional sometimes - they praise the leads of any drama at all costs no matter how bad the drama is and how much all viewers and articles criticise it.
They are mostly teenagers so I put a lot down to lacking life experience but with Blood it was taken to a new level.
Haha really???? That's tragic. Now im tempted to pist this article in Blood's soompi page!!!
We need make a thread of bad acting in K-dramas!!! And then everybody can say wherever they want!
It never occurred to me that the media is helping with the ratings with all the bad press. You are prolly on to something here. It would work for a few episodes, anyway. People checking it out so they can buzz about it with their co-workers or online.
This applies to all fans. I've been brushed off quite a few times on certain other drama threads as well. And lot of times they respond to my criticisms with outrageous rebuttals. I actually make effort to phrase them nicely, that's why I've never been chased out of threads (I leave them on my own accord). It's not just teenagers, quite a few of them are mothers and all.
However, I'm neutral to GHS (I haven't watch BOF past ep6, Angel Eyes past ep3, have no fondness her), but I sometimes shield her on blogs too because everyone keeps bringing up BOF. And it's difficult to believe that it isn't just biased opinions because BOF was years ago. Well, that's my rationale for defending her. I guess now there is finally a more relevant example that can justify these criticisms.
Anyway, this is going to damage GHS's ego a whole lot. I don't think any production company does this. When SJH was being criticised in Mandate of Heaven they jumped out to defend her. They shouldn't have made it public that they had the conversation. Isn't this going to make it awkward?
ahahahahahahahahahahahaha......... @TiwaTiwa
That's right they are crazy. . I can't even say a word there.... The plot is actually interesting but once you criticize one of the actors then you will be called out.
Not all fans are teenagers some of the working adults are there. However it's true though that I can't understand why they can't handle negative comments? Is the world made up of Kdrama rainbows and unicorns?
I just ignore threads like this. It's a pack mentality there.
Anvesha, I am still watching too....
In ep 4, GHS was more watchable but I agree with koala that it would be different with Kim Woo Bin and Jung So Min who both have more charisma and talent on camera.
Having said that, I felt Blood wasn't too bad...
But I disagree with koala that even though writing is bad, the main/all fault lies with actors... I believe many also commented that it's all about writing, acting and directing.....
Anyway it's a good thing criticisms are surfacing early with the team promising changes.
i hate her acting in Boys over Flower, hated how she pout her mouth so many times. She just can't act, just hurting my eyes. Just replace her already! I, myself will never watch anything with her in it.
you make me laugh,it's jealousy makes you talk
you should see a psychiatrist.
GHS plays her roles very well, that you could never do .hhhhh
I am not an actress, and never will be, so your accusation just gave me a little laugh. Thanks for that. I do not hate her in person, I do not know her. I hate her acting, that is two very different thing. Can you not tell the difference?
Me too! She ruined BOF... All other dramas too , except for angel eyes which she us more bearable
You are so right!!! Her pouting which she passes off as being cute. I thought she was passable in Angel Eyes. What happened here??? I'm cringing watching their scenes.
This is exactly the reason why I always think it's hate. People need to stop bring up BOF period. It's been 6 freaking years. You can just say that she's acting horribly in Blood, but using BOF as an example seriously undermines your credibility.
It might be 6 years for you, Kitai. But it was just last week for me to actually watched the drama. I had never watched it before, so, it was fresh memory of her acting in there.
That scene when she screams is hilarious! was it supposed to be so? hahahha
I am not her fan but I feel bad for her. It must be hard on her. On the other hand, it's good that she knows and hopefully, she will overcome it and will be able improve her craft somehow.
@ C
It's a gracious comment. Yes, let's do that. Hopefully she could surprise us...
I feel bad for her too. She may not have been a stellar actress,but she wasn't this bad. She was actually pretty good in Angel Eyes.
Hopefully, she takes all of this as constructive criticism and does something about it.
Ahn Jae hyun is.......well, bland. And that wouldn't have happened if he took on a few supporting roles, honed his skills, and THEN came in as a lead.
I think they actually hurt his future career, by rushing him into a lead drama so quickly, instead of letting him slowly develop his skills and build his fanbase. His management created this mess, because they saw the success of many model turned actors.
Funny enough, modelling is becoming the gateway point to acting, now that the idol scene is over-saturated. With YG's merge with that talent agency, there are more and more models debuting.
@iris
Yeah AJH has potential.
Considering the fact that he had limited screen time experience, I find him pretty convincing in some emotional and tension filled scenes.
If only he had taken up stronger second lead roles then yes he would be much more ready for taking the lead
Let's hope the remaining episodes work out better
I am still annoyed at the director and writer...
I am a writer too so I take responsibility for the outcome of production
Thing is, if she could have been better, why would she choose to be bad? Nothing will change now that everyone has decided that GHS agreed to be better. I guess if nothing else, she has to admit that what we see on camera is not exactly how the script is written. That she will become more aware of herself? She is already so self-conscious and it affects her delivery. Aigoo...I don't understand.
"OH? I am supposed to be a skilled actor not a bad one? Why didn't anyone tell me? This changes everything. I am now going to reach into my soul and pull out the good skills I have been saving. The ones I plan on using to impress people... now...because I actually do have the ability..."
In my whole life, I've never been as allergic to a performance as I was to GHS's in BOF. I tried to watch her in other dramas after that, but the allergy persisted. I gave it another shot for Angel Eyes, and was rather stunned to find a much improved GHS who didn't drive me crazy. Like Koala, I actually liked her in that.
I'm not watching Blood so I don't know how feasible it is, but if I were part of the PD/writing team, I'd try to make her character more like her Angel Eyes character, because she can handle that range. Even if they have to have her character be hit by a truck o'doom to explain a personality change, it sounds like it'd be worth it at this point.
Wasn't she talking about quitting acting a few years back? I do hope she finds something she excels at and really enjoys-- this can't be fun for her.
That comment had me rolling my eyes, as well. They are going to help her "change" her acting? Do they think there is some 90-minute online course out there that turns people into great actors? Over the years I have done a lot of film and theater criticism, first as honors thesis/teaching assistanceship/newspaper job at college and then on my own, and invariably great acting comes from a fortuitious combination of innate talent, self reflection, and years of long hard work.
At this point, any positive change is in the hands of the writer and director, and they need to do as much work with the male and they do the female lead. They need to narrow the range of emotion to fit in the spectrum that these actors can handle. They need to enhance the parts of those side characters who can actually emote, and have them handle the emotional heft. The director needs to shy away from both pathos and comedy, because in the hands of these actors the pathos becomes funny and the comedy is just annoying. The director needs to look at Angel Eyes very carefully, because there was a director that knew how to get something out of GHS.
And then after this, both actors need to do some serious self-reflection; because if they really want to become good actors, it is going to demand a great deal of their time and attention - years of it.
I am not her fan either and just her name is a big No to watch the drama she is in.But I feel bad for her now and I will start to watch it( after my yoga session so I will feel calm enough).It is unfair to blame only the actors and especially her .
I know Gu hye sun acting is bad,but the hate she's getting is too much.this is the first time seeing someone being hated for their acting.
Blood would've been less painful to watch if the lead were given to Yoon Kyun Sang.(Aka ki jae haemyung)
yeah, changing a new female lead, who will step in? the girl-should-not-be-named?
Without beating around the bush I honestly believe JSY is better suited for this role actually. She underacts while GHS overacts, exchange the two to temper their own weakness and emphasize what they're comfortable with (ie JSY in lively roles, GHS in reserved roles) and it would greatly benefit them as actors.
excuse me. JSY ? Ah that replacement actress ? The girl who should not be named that ruined the whole story of Dr.Stranger ? If JSY replaces GHS, make sure her acting is better than GHS. Compare to GHS, her acting is a big no no. After SBS denied she's not in the list, i wonder what happen with her now. While her co-stars in Dr.Stranger are doing a great job in other project. She just stuck in her own project with a big sponsor.She will make Blood getting worse.
An actress ruined the STORY? Please go back to soompi.
1. Seriously, how could the casting person have not seen this coming? Had the person or group in charge of casting never seen these two before?! 2. Now that they've dug this hole, I don't see how any change can get you out short of re-casting it (which isn't possible). You can't just hold a gun to someone's head and say: "Be better at acting, or else." Next time, casting people, doing your fracking job!
The fighting scene is like a video games!
I find her overacting is bearable comparing to his stiff and awkward acting.
agree with you
Thank you for speaking some common sense re: the "they are learning on the job!" excuse for crappy actors. And yeah, the anger against Gu Hye Sun is more because she is a 10 year veteran and still this bad while Ahn Jae Hyun's badness as a rookie is less of a surprise.
This drama really has nothing going for it but the (unintentional) lols.
Yes, that drives me nuts.
And the "hard working" label. But he works so hard, and the set is cold, and the hours are long, and he really means well, so just love him/her...
I even read that SK may be more forgiving of actors/actresses who better themselves through cosmetic surgery because it reflects effort on their part. There may be some truth to that, as long as they are also working on skills to match.
it's too late now. They shouldn't casted both leads in the first place. What were they thinking?