The 2018 54th Annual Baeksang Awards nominees are out and honestly each year I care a smidge less because I watch less of all the offerings and also the older one gets the less emotionally invested in these show affairs. On the television side which I at least watched more than the K-movies, the Best Drama nominees were led by cable networks tvN with two nominations with Mother and Secret Forest and jTBC got Misty recognized. The final two nods went to KBS dramas Fight My Way and My Golden Life, and honestly all 5 Best Drama nominees could have been cable dramas as notable ones which got left off include Prison Playbook, Women of Dignity, Save Me, and Avengers Social Club. The Best Actor and Actress nominees are all expected and solid choices, but further down the list into supporting and new acting categories I started to shake my head and roll my eyes. Check out the full drama and main movie nominees below.
Television Nominees:
Best Drama
Mother (tvN)
Secret Forest (tvN)
Misty (jTBC)
Fight My Way (KBS)
My Golden Life (KBS)
Best Actor
Jo Seung Woo – Secret Forest (tvN)
Kim Sang Joong – Rebel: The Thief Who Stole the People (MBC)
Jang Hyuk – Money Flower (MBC)
Park Seo Joon – Fight My Way (KBS2)
Chun Ho Jin – My Golden Life (KBS2)
Best Actress
Kim Nam Joo – Misty (jTBC)
Lee Bo Young – Mother (tvN)
Kim Sun Ah – Women of Dignity (jTBC)
Kim Hee Sun – Women of Dignity (jTBC)
Shin Hye Sun – My Golden Life
Best Supporting Actor
Park Ho San – Prison Playbook (tvN)
Bong Tae Gyu – Return (SBS)
Ahn Jae Hong – Fight My Way (KBS2)
Yoo Jae Myung – Secret Forest (tvN)
Jung Sang Hoon – Women of Dignity (jTBC)
Best Supporting Actress
Na Young Hee – My Golden Life (KBS2)
Ra Mi Ran – Avengers Social Club (tvN)
Song Ha Yoon – Fight My Way (KBS2)
Ye Ji Won – Shall We Kiss First (SBS)
Jeon Hae Jin – Misty (jTBC)
Best New Actor
Kim Jung Hyun – School 2017
Park Hae Soo – Prison Playbook
Yang Se Jong – Temperature of Love
Woo Do Hwan – Save Me
Lee Kyu Hyung – Secret Forest
Best New Actress
Dasom – Unni is Alive
Kim Se Jong – School 2017
Seo Eun Soo – My Golden Life
Won Jin Ah – Just Between Lovers
Heo Yul – Mother
Some movie nominees:
Best Film
1987: When the Day Comes
The Fortress
Anarchist from Colony
Along with the Gods: Two Worlds
A Taxi Driver
Best Actor
Kim Yun Seok – 1987: When the Day Comes
Ma Dong Seok – The Outlaws
Sol Kyung Gu – The Merciless
Song Kang Ho – A Taxi Driver
Jung Woo Sung – Steel Rain
Best Actress
Kim Ok Bin – The Villainess
Kim Tae Ri – Little Forest
Na Moon Hee – I Can Speak
Son Ye Jin – Be With You
Choi Hee Seo – Anarchist from Colony
I don’t understand how Fight for My Way got nominated for Best Drama but Prison Playbook didn’t.
And Kim Nam-gil deserves a nomination for Best Actor at least.
Same! and Park seo joon did a good job in FFMW but I think Kim Nam Gil should have been nominated instead of him
Love Park Seo Joon but agree Kim Nam Gil deserves the nomination more.
I think each channel is limited to certain number of entries per category. I am guessing two entries per category per channel. Don’t you know each cost money, do you? So I think for best actor TvN must have chosen lead actors of Prison Playbook and Secret Forest as entries for the Best Actor category.
Same! FMW wasn’t nearly as good as Prison Playbook
It’s not for Best Drama though but Best Actor. But I know what you mean. Whilst PSJ did well in FFMW but there was nothing special in his performance to deserve the Best Actor. But well Gong Yoo won for Goblin which I also think his performance was great but there was also nothing special to deserve Best Actor. So who knows.
Agree. FMW was entertaining but I wouldn’t have imagined it to be Baeksang-worthy..,
How in the world Prison Playbook doesn’t get nominated? I don’t know what’s the criteria is? Misty is so lackluster in terms of acting of the leads, so I don’t get Kim Nam Joo being Nominated as best acctress? The second female lead act much better than her
I thought KNJ did really good job in Misty. I’m just curious..who’s the second female lead that you refer to? Is it the other anchor or Kevin’s wife?
I disagree. KNJ was great in Misty. I don’t understand your criteria here. Then again, you think IU is a great actress who outperformed Kang Ha Neul
I like IU a lot and think she’s a good actress when the show isn’t crap but….better than Kang Haneul?! Are you serious lol.
I don’t say Kim Nam Joo is bad in Misty but she definitely overdid in her portrayal. I just find her tough woman portrayal rather forced and too much. I only watched Misty because of Ji Jin Hee.
We can never all agree on everything. Although there are the minority who doesn’t like Kim Nam Joo’s acting, there are the majority who find her acting a very good portrayal of her role. Just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We have different acting standards. All of my friends and family members including me loved her acting to bits. It’s the first time I saw someone who didn’t like her portrayal. I guess some people cannot be impressed the way we all did.
I don’t think I’ve said Kim Nam Joo and Ji Jin He are bad. It’s just their acting are lackluster. They are not pouring their soul into character. And here I start to think it might be due to the script are lacking. But even the second femaled lead Jeon Hye Jin (as Han Eun Joo) put much better performance. It’s just make watching experience less enjoyable.
You are really the first person complain about their acting Ive seen on the internet.
Oh hello. I also complained over Kim Nam Joo’s acting in “Misty” . She is nowhere near as good as how people raved about her. She overacted with that plastic face which made the whole watching experience horrifying.
Song Ha Yoon is really really bad in Fight My Way, how the heck did she get nominated? Is KBS pulling strings or what? FMW gets nominated in every category except Best Actress. SHY will never win over Ra Mi Ran!! I am so glad Shin Hye Sun got nominated for Best Actress, but she most likely won’t win over those veteran actresses who are all so good… For Best New Actor, I wonder if Woo Do Hwan will win, he was good in Save Me…
SHY won’t win over RMR but this might be an unpopular opinion but she was better in FMW than Kim Ji Won. SHS is already honored by even getting nominated with these great actresses. That’s enough already for her fans
Yes, it’s an honour for SHS and I am happy for her to be nominated. But SHY sucks really badly, how can she even be mentioned?
I am overall satisfied with this year’s baeksang’s drama nominations.By the way, I must say this year’s best drama actress nominations is much more stronger than last year and its also much much stronger than the male actors too.Also good job for adding supporting actor category.Now if they can scrap the popularity awards, fashion awards category, and “asian awards” or whatever they call it, and put more relevant awards like best cinematography, best cast ensemble, best OST, best costume( for sageuk dramas) even best villain awards would be great.
But if it were up to me to choose from the nominations.I would vote for:
Best Drama-Mother
Best Actor-Jang Hyuk or Cho Seung Woo
Best Actress-Lee Bo Young or Kim Nam Joo
Best Supporting Actor-Park Ho San
Best Supporting Actress- Ra Mi Ran
Best New Actor- Woo Do Hwan
Best New Actress- Won Jin Ah
Those who should have been nominated but have been sidelined:
Lee Dong Gun( seven day queen)-supporting actor
Kim Nam Gil-best actor(live up to your name)
Jang Nara-best actress
Seo Ye Ji- new actress(save me)
If they had best child actor category:I would vote for Heo Yool, child actor in Mother..
I’ve always been confused about New Actress/Actor criteria…
On one hand, you have people like Sejeong, Heo Yool and Won Jinah who are starring in their first drama. Then you have nominees like Dasom who had 2 lead roles prior to their nominated work and Seo Eunsoo with a few supporting roles before My Golden Life.
I’m not sure if Seo Yeji will qualify since she debuted in 2013 and this is also not her first lead role.
I think the limit is three dramas/movies. So if you have only done three dramas, you are still considered rookie. If you have done five dramas and only two or three movies, you are still considered rookie for movies department.
They will count new actress as when you receive the first public attention. Kim Yoo Jung got nominated with Moon Sun in 2012 and she debut 2003 😀 Most of actors start from extras, to supporting role then there is a break out role – thats when they got nominated best new actor.
Ah Best Director&Scriptwriter, I would vote for those awards to go to the duo behind Secret Forest.
As for movies, I can see “Along with the gods:Two Worlds”, “A Taxi Driver” and Anarchist from Colony sweeping the awards.
Best Actress, It could go to Kim Tae Ri or Son Ye Jin.But I want Kim Ok Bin to win.Her character was badass.Best Actor could go to Song Kang Ho or Man Dong Seok.
maybe they need an hallyu star to be atleast on the nominee lol,just guessing.
the popularity awards is through voting which u need to pay to vote,they will not scrap that one,they need to earn money,
Yeah EXO’s fans will spend large amount of money to ensure D.O wins. Same goes for SNSD and Yoona’s China fans.
Ah! so this is how Yoona looks like an acting prodigy to her fans???.Its popularity awards like these that are keeping her mediocre.How would she have motivation to improve if they keep handing her these kinds of flimsy award like cakes?Its lile she just has to do the bare minimum in her acting and she will be awarded a token trophy at some awards ceremony..Girl has been acting for a decade now but she is still in the same place she started.tsk tsk
Secret Forest for Best Drama and Best Script and Best Director! I love this drama so much.
The pretentious, slow-motion emptiness of Misty made the list but not Woman of Dignity? Well boo.
Kim Nam Joo should win Best Actress. Stellar performance all throughout Misty. She made such a complex flawed character a very intriguing one.Very commendable presence on screen.
Won Jin Ah should win Best New Actress. She’s so good at JBL. I think she still has so much on her plate that she can show us.
Secret Forest should win Best Drama. Brilliant. Nuff said.
Korean drama awards are usually confusing in their awards criteria.But here, im guessing its a combination of acting experience, ratings + impact or how memorable the role was, thw level of acting skill required and whether it was primary or secondary role.
For example, Dasom or Seo Eun Soo may have acted in some lead roles before but is it enough to be put in the same category as Ra Mi Ran for supporting actress?or it could just be new actor because they are appearing at the baeksang for the first time.Also its not uncommon..the actors and actress nominated at the top could be nominated for best supporting actress/actress two years later despite winning top awards.
Why is KIM NAM GIL not in the list? Sorry no disrespect to Park Seo Joon but between him and KNG, its evident who gave out stronger performance. Oh crap, last year Gong Yoo won over Han Suk Kyu and so I should have expected that this is a crappy awards.
maybe they need an hallyu star to be atleast on the nominee lol,just guessing.
Kim Nam Gil not nominated for TV Best Actor????? Unbelievable. I thought Rebel was covered in last year’s Baeksang? I am so mad that KNG being overlooked again ??? That performance of his in LUTYN is beyond fantastic.
KNG maybe pissed off some committee members. A lot of the times, these awards are just politics. Some good actors don’t get awarded when they deserve it. Though Baeksang is way more prestigious than TV station awards.
For best supporting actor (from prison playbook), I would rather Lee Kyu Hyung (han yang) got nominated than Park Ho San though..
I gotta say that the best actress nominee list is very strong this year. Kim Nam Joo seems most likely to take it home. From actresses I’m betting on Kim Ok Bin or Na Moon Hee. Kim Taeri is a rookie monster and achied a lot since Agassi but she’s got tough competition too.
*achieved a lot
Kim Nam Joo’s overdid the portrayal of her character in Misty. She is not that diverse actress imo. Na Moon Hee was great as usual and Kim Ok Bin was remarkable but I don’t get why Kim Tae Ri and Son Ye Jin are even nominated. KTR was lucky to get a Park Chan Wook movie as her first ptoject but I see her still lacking as compared to other same age movie actresses.
im guessing too, its kim namju,jtbcplus is presenting so its most likely her will take home,didnt watch misty but everyday naver is full of kim namju here kim namju der,
Kim Nam Joo took South Korea by storm with her comeback drama.She was always on the news every now and then. From her style-clothing to her makeup look, people are copying her.Even Sandara Park parodied her character Go Hye Ran. It’s most likely that she’ll win the best actress since it took six years before she acted again and she came out with a bang! Brilliant acting indeed.
Kim Nam Joo draws every ounce of your attention when she’s on screen. She portrayed a very flawed and successful character so well that the complexity she showed leaves you wanting for more. Watched all dramas where the Best Actresses are besides My Golden Life and out of the four actresses I’ve seen act, Kim Nam Joo’s portrayal left a great impression in me the most. The drama Misty became very addicting because of her.
The absence of Kim Nam Gil and Seo Ye Ji in this nomination list made me question the credibility of this awards. But then, almost all awards in SK are questionable when come to meriting the rightful winners.
KNG should have been on the list. He is a great actor but last year Ji Sung or Uhm Ki Joon were also not nominated.
Uhm Ki Joon is seriously unlucky when it comes to awards.Even mere TV end of year drama awards.They are always bypassing him.Remember even Ji Sung had to say UHJ deserve the daesang more than him and he is dedicating his win to him.His acting is usually on par with the leads and sometimes he even perform better.But no awards?
@rubyred
And he did many good roles throughout his career. He deserves to get the lead roles in the dramas. Sidus better promote him well but then Sidus is not what it used to be in the past. I can’t forget how Sidus mismanaged Jang Hyuk’s career several time. Sidus used to have many most popular stars but lost them one by one.
Yes @ OMG totally with you on that one. KNG and SYJ overlooked yet they were beyond exceptional in their respective roles last year. However sincere ‘Congratulations’ to those nominated. Umm yep I’m grateful that Woo Do Hwan got a nomination though for best new actor.@pretty autumn thank you for your comment about ‘politics’ in the play; I needed to read that for some reassurance and to understand why half the dramas and actors that I liked were not given the nod! @ruby red about the popularity awards never knew how that really worked so is that just based solely on fan votes? Oh I get it now.
This might be one of the reasons why Mr Sunshine’s broadcast sate was postponed. TvN is banking on Kim Tae Ri on this one to indirectly promote Mr Sunshine. If she wins Best Actor over Kim Ok Bin or the other actresses, I won’t be surprised.
I doubt so. This is JTBC. They won’t let Kim Taeri win to promote a tvN drama lol. They even move Life from Fri-Sat slot to Mon-Tues to avoid Mr Sunshine. If she wins, its by her own merit.
I am not saying they will buy the award. The nomination itself is already a promo much less if she wins.
But btw, how JBTC come into the picture?
Because the award is hosted on JTBC. Thats why someone above said Kim Namjoo will most likely win.
if like that, that sad! she doing great job in 1987.
I really like Park Seo Joon but if his last dramas weren’t not bad, they weren’t great either like She Was Pretty, Hwarang or Fight My Way. I liked his movie Midnight Runner, it was funny. But I’m curious how he still gets to be so successful.
I’m suprised by the comments about Misty and Kim Nam Joo. She was the best thing of this drama !
Same here. His drama roles feel very bland to me, and he is constantly overshadowed by his 2nd male lead or female lead lol. I guess its because the actors his age group have all gone to the military.
Same! Kim Nam Joo is soooo good. I don’t know if these people watched the whole (or if ever, almost finished) show because she was stellar there! Knetizens even said that Misty is her representative drama and she would’ve regretted it her whole life if she didn’t take the role. They said nobody, as in nobody could ever portray her role as Go Hye Ran just the way she did!
Oh stop trying to draw your conclusion just because others not sharing your taste. I watched Misty to the end where the last 15mins was pure crap but only watched it for Ji Jin Hee. I felt agitated by Kim Nam Joo. Most of the time I wondered how the watching experience would be if Go Hye Ran was portrayed by other better actress. She overacted. Period.
So excited to see if Secret Forest wins the Best Drama. If Mother wins, it’s also a good contender to be honest. It’s also nominated in Cannes so it says so much.
Kim Nam Joo for Best Actress. The last time I saw a woman portraying a strong character superbly will all her imperfections is Song Yoon Ah in K2. Now I wonder what she’ll wear for the awarding ceremony.
I loved Along With the Gods. I hope it wins for the Best Film. Never expected it to be that Good when I first saw the title. I thought they would just show plenty of fantasy elements without clear story in it but I was so wrong. I greatly enjoyed it.
it will be bizarre if 1987 or a taxi driver not win in best movie.
Not sure about the acting awards but “A Taxi Driver” shold win best film category..
Yes, A Taxi Driver was EXCELLENT.
I didn’t watch any of the dramas that got nominated except Just Between Lovers, so I hope Won Jin Ah will get that best new actress.
She was so, so good. I hope she wins that category, too!
Imo both Park Seo-joon and Shin Hye-sun didn’t deserve their nominations. And the system of shortlisting dramas for consideration is flawed in itself. In any other country, you won’t see nominations by drama but based on the individual performances instead. This is why I can’t give a shit about such awards.
I agree PSJ does not deserve the nomination because some better veteran actors have been left out as mentioned by other commentors here. But what’s wrong with SHS? She did well in My Golden Life. If she is not nominated, which actress will you nominate in her place? Any better actresses being left out here? SHS will not win, but I believe she deserves the nomination… just saying… All awards have their flaws, even the Oscars, I don’t think you can name one award that no one will ever complain, everyone has bias…
Out of the Best Drama category I only finished watching Secret Forest and Misty. MGL was very old fashioned and I couldn’t sit through 52 episodes of it. Mother is already an award winning drama but it originated from Japan. Therefore, between SF and Misty, I prefer SF winning Best drama award.
Best actor award could be either of the veterans winning but I hope it goes to Jo Seung Woo (because I’m biased)
Best actress award will most probably be Kim Nam Joo but range wise I think Kim Sun Ah is broader.
The worst award nominations are for Best New Actor award (drama category). What is the point of putting experienced theatre actors again newbies like Woo Do Hwan? It should have been named something else like best breakthrough performance.
How in the world is Seo Ye Ji not nominated for Save Me?
My sentiments exactly; how did she miss out on a nomination but I’m being consoled with Woo Doo Hwan nominated for Best New Actor from Save Me and Kim Jung Hyun from School 2017 who was co lead in the movie ‘Memories of First Love with SYJ. However I’m not choosing any prospective winners cos I’m always wrong on the night.
Best movie: song kang ho
Best actress in movie: na moon hee
Best supporting actress in drama: ra mi ran
Best new actress in drama: won jin ah.
Best new actress in movie: choi hee seo
I mean best actor: song kang ho
Yes!! Ra Mi Ran is always my favorite 🙂 I like Won Jin Ah too whom I forgot to mention in my earlier comments, I hope she will win best new actress.
What?? No Because This Life Is Our First? And I’m quite sad since no commenters mentioned this gem as well.
Personally, I agree with Ms. Koala that cable has churned out the best dramas in the last year (2017 until recent months). Most of the dramas that I enjoyed and left deep impression during that period were cable.
My own version of Best Drama would be: Secret Forest, Mother, Because This Life Is Our First, Age of Youth 2, Save Me. Honorable mention would go to Circle and Avengers Social Club. Haven’t watched Prison Playbook, Woman of Dignity and Misty, but I hear they are good, too.
Ooof. Tough competition for best actress category!! I have watched all these ladies except Kim Nam Joo in their respective roles in the dramas. Shin Hye Sung literally carried Golden Life. In Women of Dignity, Kim Hee Sun was the strong and smart golden woman while Kim Sun Ah was the perfect dark angel. Both were excellent and complemented each other seamlessly, but Kim Sun Ah was more compelling, since there was a lot of subtle nuances she had to capture and portray. Lee Bo Young in Mother was simply amazing. I haven’t watched Misty, but I do know Kim Nam Joo to be an actress on par with all the ladies nominated. So I would be happy for any of these ladies to win the grand prize!
I am thrilled with Mother and A Taxi Driver. Both were so, so, so excellent. The little girl in Mother is the best child actress I’ve ever seen, and heck, yes to Lee Bo Young. If you haven’t seen it yet, do make time for it. That Cannes nomination is VERY well deserved.
I wish Lee Hye Young was also nominated for her role in Mother. That penultimate episode was just brilliant! (& tears-inducing)
I will vote for Kim Hee Sun in her “Women Of Diginity”given me a good expression of her as a beautiful and strong wise woman.