There is only so much an actor or actress can do to keep one-upping themselves. At some point they butt up against an iconic performance or a once in a lifetime role. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Kim Soo Hyun followed up You From Another Star with Producer, going from too cool super powered alien professor to bumbling variety show junior producer in a way that validated his diverse acting chops and avoided any comparisons. Sadly his YFAS costar Jeon Ji Hyun did not fare as well in her follow up role in the just concluded Legend of the Blue Sea. Going from superstar to mermaid continued the fantastical type role and produced no innovation in acting on her part. She actually came off lackluster, at times going through the motions and other times striking mediocre notes. I still love her and if she coasts on Chun Song Yi for the rest of her life it wouldn’t bother me, this experience is probably a reminder for her to stay picky on drama roles the way she went over a decade before doing YFAS. At least she was unreal levels of pretty in Legend, as she is here in the latest fashion pictorial.
Hopefully she gets cast in a KES production next.
Pretty hard to top an iconic role such as Chun Song Yi. I guess that she’ll be like Son Ye Jin and just hang out in Chungmuro for a while.
She is pretty, but her teeth distracted me the whole time.
Yeah! In mlfts I get distracted to, but atleast her teeth are natural and not veneered like most of the actresses nowadays.. look at kim tae hee , her teeth are more distracting ahhahaha…
She is certainly no longer suitable for the ingenue role.
Her drama was utterly boring and nonsensical, but that was definitely not JJH’s fault. It only proved that a good writer can lose her touch sometimes.
The emancipated beggar was my favourite character in that drama, and I can’t believe that I kept waiting for the mermaid to give that beggar woman some pearls… LOL
I dunno but I don’t find her pretty at all….just a normal pretty face to me….even when in her teens….
Yeah, I find her beauty tends to be way overhyped.
I used to think the same about Kim Tae Hee, but recently I discovered that I find her so much prettier in motion than in stills. Like her recent honeymoon pics at the airport with Rain. She looked nice in the pics, but the video was WOW. Maybe it’s the glow of newly wedded bliss? 😀
I thought I was the only one. Yeah, she’s pretty but not crazy beautiful. As far as her movie, I like her in Daisy of course Jung Woo Sung was in it. 🙂
She is stylist and elegant… but I don’t find her the most beautiful woman ever either… Sometimes in the drama she looks “older” and didn’t fit the innocent role.
But her body is really great for her age.
Xin Nian Kuai Le Koala!
I think she’s alright but quite over-rated. Her acting imo is not versatile. IMHO she is limited to certain roles. I also don’t find her extremely beautiful. Just pretty and I do like her height and her gorgeous hair!
Honestly for a veteran actress highly praised in her country, i never saw anything extaordinary in her acting. But i suppose nobody can criticize her !
I actually really like her. It’s not her fault the storyline left something to be desired. Lol everyone loved her until she picked one lacklustered project…sad.
The thing is she is playing the same roles and that’s the role she is best at from my sassy girl to my love from the star. Those 2 role brought her all the fame she has now
She was still considered just a CF star a few years before her previous drama.
……how are her roles in YFAS or My Sassy Girl in any way the “same” or even similar to her roles in her other hits like Assassination, The Berlin File or The Thieves?
I love how people look at two dramas out of a twenty year career and decide all the roles JJH played are “the same”. Even better when they do it by ignoring fairly recent hit projects.
@AG I’m talking about about those roles that made her fame. Without MLFTS, Assassination wouldn’t have happen. And her other roles are minority compared to all the actor’s roles.
Agree with you koala!! She should stay picky on her roles.. I’ve read before that she accepted this mermaid role even if the script isn’nt completely done…I think the biggest flaw of this drama is the writer Park Ji eun, I noticed that jjh have limited lines and her character is poorly written tsk!! STay away from Park ji eun, I love Mlfts but you’ve had enough of her ahhahaha!!
She is not stupid. she is a smart woman. From the start she is given the first script, she knows it won’t her gain much in terms of her acting experience. Rather than she is just looking for popularity or aomething else other than acting. There is nothing you can do with her character. But even she is not even showing slightest effort to make her character watchable. It’s painful to watch at times watching her so bland.
Hahahaha… I loved jjh but you are right, she doesn’t have the effort to act at times, except when she’s underwater, thats really hardwork..maybe she also wants to be relevant and thats ok, but most of the time she looks tired..she should have rested more esp after giving birth, she does strenuous work in this drama because of the underwater scenes..the one thing I like in this drama is that I will see her weekly.. (and the kissing scenes hahaha)
You are right, It might be due to she has just giving birth. Her concentration is abit to something else.
Agreed, Jun Ji Hyun has been in the industry for almost 20 years, she knows what she’s doing. She still got more than a dozen new CF offers just for starring in a drama again, regardless of buzz or low buzz. Just disappointed that she would choose LOBS as her comeback drama knowing it is similar to her last role. Maybe in this stage of her life and career, more CFs and staying relevant is more important than taking on new challenges. Yes, I am aware she tries different roles in movies, but movies and dramas have different audiences.
I don’t always agree with you but you are on point 100% here. JJH played safe to pick the same writer and similar roles… The result is there isn’t anything new or unexpected. Even LMH shined more than her at time because his role had more interesting elements compared with his previous roles.
That somehow remind me of Lee Jong Suk and Park Hye Run with the later definitely a better writer than PJE.
Happy Chinese New Year, koala!
I think JJH made the mistake of thinking the writer was going to come up with something good, I’m surprised Park Ji Eun went for such a YFAS retread, even Producer was more interesting and fresh despite its flaws.
I still love LOTBS, I’m going to rewatch it again & again..JJH&LMH always & forever!
I really dislike some comments saying LOTBS was underperformed when in fact it ranked number 1 on its timeslot during its entire run. It also had a lot of buzz not just in Korea but throughout Asia. I think she accepted this project because she trusted writer Park Ji-eun so much. Actors can only do so much but dramas will always rely to writernim and PDnim because they are the ones who create the core and the flow of the story. She is still a fantastic actress despite of a little development in her character in the drama. I`m want her to go back to Chungmuro and do another action film. After all, she is considered as KOREA`S BOX OFFICE QUEEN.
Is it just me of this actress is a fan of messy outfit? She should just stick with photos from her shoulders (bare, of course) up to her head, lol. For someone who has flat chest, the simple the better. No matter how many high class outfit they tried to hang on her body in Legends, most of them made her look like a messy clown rather than a classy lady.
And her acting there? Again, she abused her overacting. Trying to be again sassy, weird, funny, and kick-ass mermaid like she did with her role in Man from Star. Unfortunately, the trick didn’t work this time. This drama confirms that she is still just a CF actress, when she just deliberately acted out her fashion/ cosmetics CFs. Somehow, she was just like a mobile clothing rack where the drama sponsors tried to hand all their trendy luxury items to promote the sale like the effect achieved from Star, haha. Sometimes, i wished that that the writer could create a situation of acting audition where this boring mermaid could go to have a chance to to be a super star like CSY, then JJH could shine again with that new status, LMAO. Too bad, it didnt happen, so she had to keep acting CFs with that puffy conman.
I used to feel shocked to hear she agreed to co-star with LMH, thinking she was smart enough not to. Now, LMH proved he was smarter with his choice.
Ouch! 🙂
Her being sassy was just for 2-4 ep only,the rest her role became a supporting role. The acting can be due to director or editing,they are the one who approved or thinks that the best lol..Its just that her role lacks development and not relatable unlike LMH’s role,his character became the
story of the drama, the drama should be titled Legend of Ho Joon Jae ?, I actually loved LMH and his character seems like the writer focused on him more.
For the clothes or any luxury items they are wearing,its not their fault it’s the cordi or the sponsorships and her character should not know fashion.
im sad the only achievement in her character is reuniting HJJ with his mother. Her being a mermaid is a waste,but Kudos to her because even if this is more of a male lead drama or her character is more one sided throughout,you will still notice her in every scene she appear (saying im still here)
I never liked her overall appearance in Lotbs. She looks so old, dry and dirty, plus her wardrobe was a Huge mess ? I was shocked when I found out that those were actually from expensive brandS O_O