This might be the case of a celebrity version of the Amazon Fire Phone, i.e. no one wants it, or it might be sourced and priced to sell just enough to make it worth the while. C-news is reporting that popular Hallyu actor Lee Jong Seok will be collaborating with a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer to release his own branded limited edition cellphone going on sale next month on Chinese website JD.com (Jindong). The phone will come with pre-set screen savers with his images, custom shell, exclusive accessories including ear buds, and Lee Jong Seok’s personal phone number programmed in. Okay, I totally made the last thing up, of course owners of Lee Jong Seok’s custom cellphone can’t call him but certainly can get enough of him via the phone to feel extra connected.
I’m rather perplexed with the recent APAN Star Awards and how W: Two Worlds got recognized solely for Han Hyo Joo when she was the weakest acting link among the leads. She was fine but basically had three modes – fan girling, freaked out, and trying to fix things. Lee Jong Seok’s acting was a step below what he did in Pinocchio and Dr. Stranger, but he did delivered the pathos enough to sell the character even when the story went to nonsense land. What disappointed me the most, though, is that he didn’t have much chemistry with Han Hyo Joo, a flaw that grew more stark as the drama progressed and by the end I could care less. It’s crazy a drama with this much skinship between the leads could be so emotionally flaccid.
Solely? I think Han Hyo Joo’s dad, Kim Ui Seong is also recognized as the best supporting actor.
Of course i mean her dad in the drama not real life lol
I dropped W, but I think Kim Ui Seong deserved to be recognized the most for it.
To be honest, I think Lee Jong Suk’s acting abilities are rather overrated as well. He’s not bad, but I don’t think he has that much range and once you’ve seen him in a few dramas, you start to notice he has the same expressions for every role. I still like him, but the praise he sometimes gets for acting baffles me a bit.
Ditto.
Yes. Exactly. And this comes from someone who watch all his dramas. And yes, i agree that this is not his best performance
Somehow the chemistry in the drama does fell flat. The time when there is real spark is.. the time when lee jong suk forget and there were all kinds of tension all around between his characters and hhj and then meh. Funny how it seems like behind the scene chemistry is more than the real one
Something is wrong somewhere.
Probably because no proper build up?
I don’t agree that the chemistry was flat.
It was one of the most heartfelt OTP bonding I ever seen
I agree with koala, his acting was a step below what he did in Pinocchio & Doctor Stranger specially DS which he was GREAT but he was good in W too, but after his amnesia the character & chemistry development went somewhere which I somehow feel even the writer wasn’t sure what she wanted.
In an interview I read LJS has said that many emotional parts were omitted so it made everything difficult to develop smoothly, we never saw what Kang Chul felt after his amnesia but for showing his great acting skills ep5 was enough, where he met his creator and everyone agreed that scene was a perfect acting battle in which no one lost.
Why do I feel exactly the opposite?! 😀 I feel he is underrated in terms of acting! His sad & emotional scenes are great & I get a different vibe from him each time but I think watching his works in order that I watched made it like this for me, I think I watched him in pinocchio then School2013 then
DS & hot young blood, after that it was IHYV, it was unbelievable how much I felt his diversity.
As for W it was very good for me except of its last 30 minute.
Ah, these smart phones!!!
Sorry I meant versatility not diversity!
overrated? sure that’s your opinion. but, he’s hardly recognized for his efforts if compared to his contemporaries. it’s too bad you’re not getting the same vibe as those who do recognize his abilities. you say “same expressions”? highly disagree with that. Doctor Stranger alone showed the variety of expressions he can come up with. In Pinocchio, he was able to clearly show that pain and grief when he learned about his dad’s remains being found. He had a nonchalant way during School 2013, but was able to show a teenager’s angst. I guess I can keep going why people praise him, but if you’re already so decided that you don’t like him as an actor, it’s futile.
it irks me a bit (and it’s not just you) when people claim they’re surprised/baffled that others find a certain actor effective. people have different eyes, standards, and views. obviously what works for others, won’t work for you.
“He has same expression for every role” a joke
disagree with everything you said about, Koala. I thought the chemistry was among the best I’ve seen in recent years, the acting from both were perfect and the story was awesome. it is currently the most popular korean drama in Tencent accumulated almost 200 million views up to epi 4 and was given 9.2 rating, not bad for a drama which was not simultaneously broadcasted and was not pre-made.
I read it is the most expensive none pre-produced drama which is sold to China, it means it has broken the Pinocchio record I think.
Pinocchio was before the Chinese policy came out… I don’t think you can compared
@Gathy
TBH I don’t know how I can’t compare them when the news outlet said it is the most expensive one?? So they compared it with what when they said the word “most”??!
Plus I think when they could buy the credit, that policy isn’t important anymore, the new procedure affect on whether they can buy & stream it or not, not the price of what they have bought I guess.
I agree with Anon and Gracilla
(I disagree with the others)
LJS and HHJ chemistry were fantastic
Even among other actors in W, the rapport was awesome
All the actors were very good in their roles
LJS was really good in W however it wasn’t his best performance.
IMO after that amnesia the leads’ character developments were meh , let alone the chemistry which was exploding before he forgets everything, if I were LJS or HHJ I prefer not to work with this writer next time because character development is important than a good story where you don’t sympathize with characters.
*more important”
The writer is good but the editing is the problem. I read the original script, so many lovey dovey scene after chul’s amnesia.
I also disagree with Koala about the chemistry thing as why would it acquire the highest rate on public engagement index if there was no chemistry between the leads. Contrary to what you said, I would also rate the chemistry as PERFECT and AWESOME as one reader rated it. I would like to suggest you to be more objective in doing your ratings of dramas considering your position as a writer. You even forgot to mention the other actor in the drama who got one of the top awards in the recent APAN who was another AWESOME actor.
I agree with Gracilla
Yeah, I think chemistry was one of the best.
I don’t remember knet praised their chemistry or loved their pairing either.
KRW-PSH or even KWB-Suzy pairing was more loved and praised.
And you can have good rating drama with the leads lacking of chemistry when the drama is plot driven like this.
May be they have praised it though, a few weeks ago there was a list which LJS ranked first for having the best chemistry with his male & female co-stars ( not sure but I think maybe they said something even about the kids too) I don’t wanna say these rankings are the most credible ones but at least it shows they believe his chemistry with his co-stars, including HHJ, were praised by viewers, personally I agree his chemistry with HHJ in the second part of drama wasn’t his best one, I like him with Lee Bo Young & then Park Bo Young the best.
BTW the list wad published by tvN in tje case you are curious to know who were the other ones 🙂
There was really nothing wrong with LJS acting or his chemistry with HHJ which was blazing hot even in photo shoots. It was the writing that went bat shit crazy and made the characters difficult to relate with.
I do agree that in the latter end of the drama HHJ’s acting was quite weak, which I attributed to her being away from drama land for six years. Drama acting and movie acting are very, very different. A performance that is workable for a movie with so much time for edits and possibilities of retakes won’t quite work in drama land with their limited time and a live shoot system. So she was very off by the latter end, but, even the writer apologized and said she didn’t give HHJ much to work with, that the emotions she gave HHJ’s character were difficult to portray.
I don’t think HHJ should have won an award for this drama, though. The other actresses in that category outshone her for various reasons.
And is there a scene stealer award for the actor that played So Bong? Cause HE deserved a huge award. A big one.
BTW I think the second photo is from his Tea CF not the cellphone one 😀
Dear Koala he has many photo shoots, even more than one per month, it will be awesome if you sometimes use those pictures for your articles too. Thank you 🙂
Maybe, just maybe HHJ was awarded the prize because the show was on MBC. It makes sense to me. Let’s face it, APAN awards isn’t recognised as ‘brilliant acting’ awards so who cares who won at the end. Otherwise DOTS would have had a clean sweep of the top awards.
DotS won 6 awards I guess, isn’t it too much? IMHO At this rate if it would have won more, it made everything more funny than what it is now.
I don’t really agree, they didn’t give the Daesang to Ji Sung last year for kill me hill me which was on MBC while he deserved it & everyone were complaining about it & the history of the winners doesn’t show this assumption. Maybe there are some other reasons or the judges really believed her acting was superior.
However, judging by popularity alone DOTS should have had a clean sweep. No one has beaten their viewership in SK.
No comment on that stupid phone?
LMAO
I agree with koala.theres no chemistry on screen.
but theres chemistry off screen
I think he has the best chemistry with his BFF Kim Woo Bin compared to the leading ladies. To me, he’s an above average actor. I’m in the camp of not feeling their chemistry, it could have been better. He had better chemistry with Park Shin Hye in Pinocchio.
Agree with a lot of the comments on here. Lee Jung Suk never appealed to me as an amazing actor. But, he can emote certain feelings. So…I guess he’s okay in my book. As for Han Hyo Joo, I liked her in earlier works such as Brilliant Legacy and Spring Waltz, but I felt like she was flat in this drama. Maybe it’s due to the fact that she’s been away from dramaland for so long and has lost that spark. But, I really wish I could have seen more of her.
W had so much potential, but it quickly dwindled and got so messy! Made me so frustrated. I also agree with some of the comments on here that Lee Jong Suk and Han Hyo Joo’s chemistry wasn’t the best. I felt like they had better chemistry off screen.
Wow, I wonder what could have made ppl render such extreme opinions about W and LJS. As one of my favorite actors, LJS certainly is among the greatest acting talents in the acting department although I do think his performance in W isn’t as impressive as in DS or Pinocchio. Nevertheless, among all his dramas I’ve watched (I think I watched them all), I appreciate W the most next to IHYV thanks to very intriguing plot and refreshing concepts. What made W confusing isn’t the weakness in the screenplay itself or directing or acting, but lack of time to execute the innovative ideas smoothly. In other words, I think W is too ambitious a play for mere 16 episodes and would have been less disoriented to some viewers if given more episodes to flesh out the writer’s ideas. Even I personally think W was wrapped up with less than satisfactory perfection, there are many international fans are totally into this drama and consider it worth nominations for Korean Drama Awards. I think W has created enough buzz both in and outside Korean and is only adding glory to the resumes of the main leads, ppl like it or not, agree or not. Talking about Korean Drama Awards, the actor who played the cartoonist in W should deserve at least a nomination in best actor category.
in and outside *Korea