Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook Cheerfully Show Off their High School Selves in The Time I Loved You
The first peeks were out already of Ha Ji Won and Lee Jin Wook playing high schoolers in The Time I Loved You but now the production has released official drama stills to go along with it. I love Ha Ji Won and find her a beautiful woman but there is no way in hell I’ll be fangirl blinded and say that she can pass as a high schooler. She looks as good in a high school uniform as Kim Hee Sun did in Angry Mom but neither convincingly look 18, and for that measure Lee Jin Wook looks more teacher than student even wearing the uniform.
With that said, Ariel Lin and Bolin Chen in the original In Time With You also played their own high school selves and wasn’t all that believable either, so ultimately it’s going to come down to whether the portrayal is distracting in the age regression or not all that noticeable because the acting and chemistry is good enough to smooth it over. The same thing happened in C-drama My Sunshine when Wallace Chung and Tang Yan were asked to play their own college-era selves, and Wallace is 40 years old so slicing his age in half is a stretch. Yet the end product worked marvelously and provided continuity so I’m hoping the same thing happens here.
There are also new drama stills of second male lead Yoon Kyun Sang as a pianist who vies for Ha Ji Won’s heart in the drama. Even if he’s 100% destined not to get the girl, seeing Yoon Kyun Sang get such deserved role upgrade in such a high profile project is win enough for me.
Oh no…what happened to Yoon Kyun Sang’s hair! The first pic makes him look like a girl….
Haha they look so darn silly that it brought a huge smile on my face. I’m still figuring out if that’s a good thing tho. Maybe the production didn’t have the time (budget?) to hire younger actors to look and play the part convincingly?
P.S. KHS looked muuuuuuch more convincing as a teenager than HJW. But LJW desperately needs a younger version. Should’ve just had L to act that part out!
Currently watching Pinocchio and i m in love with Yoon Kyun Sang! His acting is so good and i like the bromance between him and Lee JongSuk better than with Park ShinHye.
You are still fangirl blinded because Kim Heesun looked way better than this 🙂
I thought kim hee sun looked worst because they were intentionally allowing her age to show through while pretending she’s a teenager. For comedy sakes. I thought it was quit funny.
Throwing two grown adults in a uniform does not make them look like high schoolers LOL!
To Ha Ji Won fans -OMG, she looked like a 17 years old.
nope.. they definitely look their 30’s.. but in My Sunshine , the younger college going characters were played by younger(and perfect)actors, not the older ones, isnt it? That is why it worked.
Even in the new show – My beloved Eun Dong, younger actors are doing a fantastic job and I am glad they did it that way. Of course this too can go wrong in so many ways, more easily even but thankfully they picked such adorable actors who are delivering to almost perfection! Although I like HJW, I do think she is not as expressive as some other actors, and leaves me wanting in some ways.
Please give examples of the actors you think are expressive
ah.. I do like her- in bits though. but , in just my opinion (and preference) I do like to watch Gong HyoJin.. umm Bae Doona.. some low profile actors like choi kang hee, oh and sooAe.. Uh I dont really follow actors, but look for their characters.. so its just my experience that I have felt something missing in HJW’s characters at times. In some scenes she nails it,, but kinda holds back in general.
Oh she did surprise me in hwajini though. In fact I am not into saeguks but hwajini did it for me.. so much so i watched empress ki too.. but there are many other actors who i feel are more consistent and better yes. I jjjjust dont remember all their names very well.lol..(oh oh Moon geun young.. like her too)..
Two versions were made for the scenes of the college-age characters for My Sunshine, one with Tang Yan and Wallace Chung acting as the college-age characters and another with younger actors.
Here they both are in high school a little harder to believe, where as in “MY Sunshine” both Tang Yan & Wallace are more of college student which made it a little more believable.
When all is said and done,I’m still looking forward to see the drama.
I really hate korean drama when an adult with aegyo stuff. The only girl that I allow to act cute actually is Jang Nara. But somehow, her projects also far away from aegyo things.
Lee Jin Wook’s acting never convinced me. I don’t know the reason. Maybe his pronounciation or tone? Not sure. Ha Ji Won is good at picking the projects even though I don’t find her actings is superb but she’s watchable.
I think people should watch Hwang Jini, Closer to Heaven, Empress Ki etc. before judging HJW’s acting. She might not be the best actress out there, but she’s definitely one of the best in Korea. Her acting style is usually subtle.
she’s decent but not subtle
I wonder how did HJW got those acting awards if she’s just a decent actress ?
In Korea, the drama/film’s popularity outweighs the performance of the actor. A decent performance in a huge hit will give you a big edge whereas an outstanding performance in a mediocre drama won’t give you anything.
In my opinion her acting is subtle. This is very evident in her film “Closer to Heaven” and oh don’t let me start talking about her “mute” eye acting in Damo.
I think for the high school image, if HJW has bangs, she will look younger and actually take out the glasses as well.
Regardless, I am so looking forward to the drama!! To me, HJW is one of the best actress in Korea, anything with her in, I will watch.
I think the production knows that its impossible to make someone on their late 30s to act as teenagers, hence the glass and hairstyle on ha ji won that gives this 80’s or early 90’s vibe. And boy during those time everybody look older from their age perhaps because of the retro style
But Lee Jin Wook also played a highschool in I Need Romance 2012 with Jung Yumi and while it wasn’t believable either, it was definitely cute! Hope it’s also cute for this drama. Can’t wait ’til this airs, seriously!!!
If the drama or the films popularity outweighs the performance in Korea,then how come Empress Ki that was very popular and a has good rating did nothing for HJW? (MBC award aside )And also HJW had been nominated twice in her role in Empress Ki and K2H (not very popular and not a good rating drama ) at the International Seoul Award. Last year winner was a Korean actress whose drama was not popular and does not have a good rating either. Of course that is your opinion.
you need different level of thinking to understand awards ceremony in Korean Entertainment-it’s not OMG OMG she’s so talented category only. Ha Ji Won is decent in most of her performances but still shine in some.
What do you mean Empress Ki did nothing to Ha Ji Won, you are a fan or what, even I who are not a fan at all on her acting knew about her awards-simple as clicking Allkop.
That’s why I cited MBC award.She did not even got the nomination for best actress at the Baeksang award.I am a fan of HJW and In my opinion she did more than a decent acting in Empress Ki.I just want to prove that having a drama that was popular and with very good rating as someone said is all that is needed to win an award.
oh my, this telling me your zero knowledge on Ha Ji Won or Korean Entertainment, She won Baeksang award at MBC Drama award for Empress Ki. Just Google her wiki profile dear, very easy.
Looking forward to this drama. HJW is one of the best actress. My 7yrs old & 14 yrs old daughters are her fan!!