I was half hoping she would turn it down, and the other half hoping she would accept and either product a train wreck performance or provide naysayers wrong. Either way it’s entertaining, right? Idol-actress Seolhyun was spotted as Incheon airport this week jetting off for the Gucci fashion looking pretty as a flower. Her look was uber modern but when she comes back she’ll be trading it in for sageuk garb as she’s now confirmed 100% as the leading lady in jTBC sageuk drama My Country. Her male leads will be nice guy image Yang Se Jong and bad boy image Woo Do Hwan producing a juxtaposing contrast, with her as the woman they both love during a turbulent historical period. Directing is the PD of Wonderful Days and Nice Guy and the screenwriter did The Master of Revenge and the first 10 episodes Inspiring Generation (don’t ask about that hot mess writer change). My Country will be Seolhyun’s first drama in four years since Orange Marmalade but netizens apparently thought she was awful in a supporting role in sageuk movie The Great Battle late last year.
I thought she was okay in the Great Battle. I mean she rode a horse in full battle gear and used a crossbow or was it a sword? Anyhow what in particular was she bad at in that movie? Was it because of her bedroom scene when she got sprung by Jo In Sung with Uhm Tae Goo. There wasn’t any scene where she could act bad so Im at loss as to what the K netz saw as bad acting by her. If anything Jung Eun Chae and her miniscule role as the psychic was hardly anything to write home about except she did look amazing. As for this My country drama it’s ‘another I’m definitely not watching because of her’. Can’t bring myself to watch a major train wreck in the process of going off a cliff. Love Woo Do Hwan but I know Seolhyun will be a block of wood acting out and I can’t be convinced otherwise.
One particular criticism I remember is that her pronunciation/speech was very poor, and I can believe this – when she speaks, it often looks like she’s trying not to move her lower jaw.
I’m also taking a hard pass on this because of her. She has the acting talent of a block of cardboard and the charisma of a wet dishrag, and from what I know, not even any previous hit dramas or movies? I like Woo Do Hwan but not enough to sit through another shitty idol-actress performance just for him.
She was good in The Great Battle and she has definitely the sageuk look. She always has a good chemistry with her costars who tend to be older like KNG and UTG. Now, she didn’t have a lead role since a long time, so it’s hard to judge. But after reading the comments about Astro’s Cha Eun Woo on this website, I think it would be very unfair to not let her have a chance.
Yeah but Sayaris she massacred Orange Marmalade that’s why it’s taken 4 years to get a lead role in a drama. Also male idols turned actors always get a lot more leniency then their female counterparts. It is unfair but it’s always been that way just like it’s unfair that other hardworking more talented actresses are overlooked in favour of less talented idol actresses like as in this case. IMO Seolhyun might have the sageuk look but she certainly doesn’t have the acting talent to rock it. It’s a clunker lucky WDH and YSJ are co leads.
Massacred it’s exagerated. The writing was not good in the first place and yeah she’s was not good. But she gained experience by taking minor roles in movies, it’s far better than Suzy always having lead role and being bad. I mean casting are rarely fair, even bad actress like Jin Se Yun always has lead role when she ruins all her dramas. But I was talking about the specific case of Cha Eun Woo and the comments.
Idol actors will always win favour whether they’re good or bad. I’m not familiar with Cha Eun Woo so I can’t comment on him. However I’m saying Seolhyun at this point in time is not a good fit for My Country and it shouldn’t be used as her stomping ground to try and improve on her acting. Maybe she might just surprise and wow us with her stellar performance but I doubt it very much. What her, Suzy and JSY have in common is that they tend to play to the camera like they’re in a CF ad and not to the character.
@Sayaris – why are you so hung up on CEW? Rule #1 in K-ent – You can never compare a male idol to a female idol. CEW’s character in Gangnam Beauty is stiff and he nailed it. LOL. Seolhyun will never be offered a character that CEW will be in, so why bring CEW up in your discussion? Never compare an apple to an orange. Don’t mix up the genders.
@candycan – Because things don’t change if we don’t speak about it. And because there was an article about him casted for a sageuk not long ago, so the same situation. And as you like to say, we are free to write about what we want here, aren’t we?
yes of coz we are free to speak and write. But things probably won’t change coz I don’t think the Koreans will listen. Male idols always get more opportunities. L has improved a lot over the years, so maybe CEW will improve too? 🙂
Omg.. From Moon Chae Won, Park Si Yeon and Won Jin Ah to Seolhyun. Poor Kim Jin Won. I hope he is okay.
hopeless T.T Even Kay of skycastle can do better to this idol..Cha eun woo, hyeri, joy, seolhyun, suho, suzy, krystal etc…oh dear….they should’ve stick on filming CFs..Getting the lead roles easily when other talented actors were dying to get it through auditions..sigh..
Strongly disagree about Krystal. I am not her fan but she is really good at acting, in my opinion. How is her acting bad?
@cockroach – you have named 2 boys and 5 girls. While I agree with you on Suho (his acting in Rich Man is awful), CEW’s portrayal as “Face Genius” in Gangnam Beauty totally fits the character. Have you read that webtoon? Who would you cast instead of CEW? I don’t think many talented actors are qualified for that role based on age (21), height and visuals. tbh that role did not require much acting skill (bored and stiff). I would like to see Jang Ki Yong in it but he was filming CAHM around the same time. Krystal is not that bad, she is getting better especially in actions or bitchy roles, just don’t get her into rom-com (e.g My Lovely Girl). LOL.
The thing with idols who can’t act is that they should accept dramas in their range. Which is rom coms. Rom coms are the way to go if you can’t act. As long as you have good chemistry with your costars, you’d be passable.
I could give you a list of dramas where the acting was terrible but because of the chemistry, people forget about the bad acting. I would name these dramas but I don’t want to start a fanwar, but you know… YOU KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT. ?
Oh no! Oh dear!! What to expect in a country that prizes looks over acting talent?. To be fair Orange Marmalade script sucked so we can’t blame it all on Seolhyun’s passable acting. But I was hoping for a more versatile and experienced actress to work with Woo Do Hwan this time around. I mean he got stuck with Joy in Tempted. I figure he’s paid his due with that drama and deserves better. Now he’s stuck with another idol actress with limited range. There are some kickass idol actresses who are really good and can carry their weight against talented male leads, I’m just not sure that Seolhyun is in that category.
I agree, there are good idol-actresses out there, she…..is just not one of them lol. That Jung Chae Yeon girl from Drinking Solo was an idol too, if someone like her was the lead it won’t be such a problem.
But seriously it’s not like this Seolhyun is someone with a hit drama or popular for her acting, why not just give the lead to an actress instead? Moon Ga Young was one of the best parts of that terrible Tempted drama and still being passed over for idols who can’t act and keep flopping.
Is she any worse than Suzy, the golden standard for idol actress?
for what I know, people comparing her more with hyeri, and hyeri is worse than suzy
Jang hyuk also confirm in this drama, so its 3 male lead, maybe seolhyun will have limited screen time, limited dialoque,
They need money thats why they casted seolhyun, buuut she actually take many movies after orange marmalade, she have more experience now, maybe she will do better. I’m more curious with yang se jong, another 90 line
Good news everyone Jang Hyuk has been confirmed for My Country so that’s a bonus for those of us who follow him. Why do I feel that the 3 male leads are going to be save this drama alone.