This will be a polarizing post I’m sure but it’s nagging at me for why I adore watching MBC Wed-Thurs manhwa fantasy youth romance drama Extraordinary You but always finish an episode wishing it was better. It’s clear after 10 episodes that I have a problem with female lead Kim Hye Yoon. The good is that she’s a natural beauty and doesn’t look a dime-a-plastic-surgery dozen like many of the other young actresses around her. She’s also a decent actress, not extraordinary like the four Kims – Kim Hyang Gi, Kim So Hyun, Kim Yoo Jung, and Kim Sae Ron – but she’s a actress that has skills rather than a star trying to act.
The bad is HER VOICE, OMG it’s nails on chalkboard bad and honestly not her fault if she was born with it but when she’s doing voiceovers and aegyo in recent episodes I’ve had to mute her and read subtitles. She also cannot generate any romantic/sexual chemistry with her male leads, the best she gets is with Lee Jae Wook but mostly because he’s burning with repressed emotion but even then she’s like a white wall. With male lead Ro Woon it’s like watching two dolls playact romance, a kid playing with toy Barbie and toy Ken, and it’s not Ro Woon‘s side because he may not be a good actor yet but he’s got natural onscreen chemistry but cannot overcome Kim Hye Yoon’s chasteness.
Kim Hye Yoon is of course touted as the next big actress thing, winning the Baesang Best New Actress award last year for her role in Sky Castle. But if her ability is to do serious darker dramas then she hasn’t demonstrated an ability to do dramas that rely solely on onscreen chemistry to sell a fantastical or silly premise, like side characters in a manhwa trying to gain independence. She’s got the most screen time but is the weakest link for me in EY because she’s such an important character whereas many of the other supporting actors and actresses are objectively not as good at acting as she is but I find them easier to watch onscreen. Sigh, this is so frustrating for me, her voice thing cannot change but she needs to go date in real life and figure out how to generate actual tension and chemistry with her male leads.
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About KHY I wont change my mind, She is a type of actress who can shine more as supporting role. So She is not bad, Its just She cant make me stay to watch her until the end. Eventho the plot is interisting.
The drama just get 2-4% in rating btw.
Some people are only meant to be supporting actors. She is definitely one of them.
And you are definitely meant to receive a lot of hate for making such an irresponsible and wholly untrue statement. I watch Extraordinary You too, in fact I adore it...and the major reason is Kim Hye Yoon.
It’s not an untrue statement or is it irresponsible, it’s called an opinion. They can say what they want. Geez calm down @sanjana98. Good for u if u like ey because of her.
Go Ara has to be #1 on worst "actress" in kdrama, yet she's always put as a lead?
She said on Running Man she wasn't getting any drama offers. At that time I felt bad for her but now I completely understand why she doesn't get any offers. Her acting is bad and directors are obviously aware of it.They don't think a Baeksang which can be bought is a good enough reason to cast a bad actress for their dramas. She should stick to supporting roles.
Bad acting doesn’t stop people getting roles, look at some of the female idols. I don’t understand why certain people keeping getting cast in stuff but what do I know lol
I must say that she is not a leading lady or female lead material. I know every person is beautiful in their own way however her beauty is not fit for main lead comparing to Kim Yoo jung or kim so hyun. She does not have that star appeal you know what I mean. And I agree, she should stick for supporting roles.
Her beauty is not fit for main roles? I only hear this garbage rhetoric from drama fans.
I don’t think looks should be a requirement if they deserve to be a main lead or not, it should depend on their acting skills.
She won't be getting any drama offers after this horrible performance.
@queen
Okay that’s not true, she will still get offers. She isn’t the best actress but she’s not bad bad.
That doesn’t stop people like Suzy from getting offers.
Suzy is popular. Even if her acting is bad, producers cast her because of her hype and potential CF earnings she bring.
Kim Hyeyoon is not popular and this drama proves her acting is very limited. She is better off sticking to antagonist roles.
@Eye - do you know the budget of EY as compared to VB? Suzy was casted in VB to bring in the cash, she is a wallpaper to say the least. I think KHY fits her role ok in EY and she will continue to receive offers, offers that Suzy won't be able to handle because of her limited range. BTW, this is for everyone to think - as some of you are bashing KHY's acting, do you think Suzy can play DO at the same level as KHY??
@canycane you talking like KHY nailed the role. Suzy wont make it same with KHY. No one will give her offers, her drama rating just 2-4%, thats a biggest flop. She got an easy ride from the popularity of sky castle, She better get back as supporting role and become scene stealer fisrt.
@Polo - I said KHY is ok in EY, I never meant "nailed it". EY is NOT a flop, this drama has created lots of buzz internationally. I am not for or against KHY taking any roles in the future, whether it is supportive or lead. I am not even her fan. I think KHY is ok as a budding actress, she has great potential. A REAL actress should not mind what kind of role to play as long as the role is challenging and important in the story development. Cameo is also good. Better than those mediocres always being a wallpaper or a nagging or a crying machine. You are not a casting director so who are you to say "no one will give her offers". Ridiculous!!
@Jewel The most ridiculous comment ever. The directors, staff, cast, writer and even knetz are praising her. She got a full time scholarship from Konkuk University. Ever thought maybe she wanted to focus on University first?
that’s your opinion, if she was so bad at acting she wouldn’t get any awards, but she works hard and it shows in her work so STOP HATING FOR NO REASON! @Jewel
you are really so obnoxious. she’s like a baby bird who’s ready to take off and you’re stopping her before her potential can be shown. what? go back to supporting roles? are you seriously trying to undermine her talents right now? just by ONE single drama? sure, this may be your opinion. but it surely wasn’t a great one. the casts, directors, ntzens and many more have praised her for her good portrayal of eun dan oh. yes, she is not the best actress out there. but she is able to let people bring out all sorts of emotions. she allowed us to feel the sorrow of being stuck in a world where your life is in the hands of somebody else. she did that tremendously well. it’s alright if you don’t think highly of her. but seriously, trying to drag someone down into the pit when they’ve already crawled back up is sickening. stop trying to hinder hye yoon from experiencing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Her acting is bad and she reminds me of that one classmate that I had in highschool who was popular for being a drama queen like the way dan og act is so same with her and the tone of her voice is also same... really idk sth abou her acting in EY is off. I had so many cringe moments but I watched it because I was done with all the other dramas and I was bored. The story line was fasicnating though ... sorry to say but I had those moment where I thought what if kim sohyun took this role.. she is naturally cute without trying
Ouch! That's harsh! I don't find her voice aggravating, it does take on another tone when she's doing the fast talking or the cutsey thing but it doesn't grate on my ears like that. I guess it's entirely subjective, but sorry to hear that it's ruining your watching experience that much. I also don't find her acting bad, in my opinion she's totally serviceable but her acting is nowhere near as stellar as her acting Sky Castle but the characters are so widely different that you can't compare them in a fair way. Sure she doesn't have sizzling chemistry with her male leads but for a high school story I wasn't exactly expecting that either so I'm fine with it.
I agree with you. Her voice and "chasteness" should not be a problem..afterall she is still young. We all mellow with age. Just wait and see.
I think she nailed her character. Dan Oh in shadow was supposed to be bubbly and energetic (including high pitch voice, exaggerating hand gestures and all) in contrast to the Dan Oh in stage who is cute and classy (which she was able to depict in the episode 29 with baek kyung). For her chemistry with her leads or co-stars its a 10/10 for me, their chemistry is overflowing. She was able to show a great chemistry with Haru, Baek Kyung and Do Hwa. I don't completely agree with your review but I respect your opinion. I might be bias because I'm a fan of her.
I agree with you completely
I agree. I thought her voice was ok, I dont see anything wrong with it at all. Her acting is pretty cute as well.
Oh no I had high hopes wanting to watch EY for LJW but if this actress voices grates ah yeah I’ll put this on the One to watch list sometime in the near future and focus on Tales if Nokdu instead. Read nothing but good things about that drama especially the ML. Oh VIP with Jang Nara I’ll block out an hour to start that once I’m done with VB and Pegasus.
You're not going to watch a drama you were looking forward to because some people said her voice is annoying? OKAY :)
I agree with you ms. Koala. I couldn't watch after the 3rd chapter mainly because of the main female lead. She does act nor look like a teenager; she's more like a 30 year old adjumma. I went to a chinese historical drama... now is good. I think the chinese are doing a great job these days with their historical dramas...even if it is very long 60 chapters of great is better than 16 chapters of meh!!!!
Dan oh is a really meaty role, and if one of the others Kim’s were to tackle this role, I would had been more happy.
It’s not because Kim Hye Yoon is why Dan Oh is such a fascinating character but because it was written so and a finer actress would had made her shine even more so. She cant balance comedy and drama without me thinking that she is not acting. She’s trying but certain scenes that wants the audience to care and sympathize with her journey, I’m not drawn in.
A Spunky character shouldn’t translate to over the top, whiny, high pitch acting unless the entire drama is planning to be a super silly parody from beginning to end.
Her interpretation of spunky is so off I can't stand to watch her. I prefer the webtoon character to the drama version. KHY can't do either. She is not a good actress but she also lacks charisma.
I'm sorry but this is entirely subjective... It's your perspective and I understand that, but I personally think she is doing a finer job than other child actress turned to be romantic leads in k dramas did.
I literally cry over her chemistry with Rowoon, I totally feel it and most of the audience does too. So... In general, she must have be playing her part.
This is the rare exception where I don’t ship the main female actress with any of the male leads in real life.
If one of the ships happen to date in real life, I’ll think it’s cute but I wouldn’t support them with a parade, fireworks, streamers, and the works Hahaha
I never entertain the idea of someone else playing this role until koala suggested it. It’s a fun show and Khy does not take the fun away from it, however, maybe in the hands that of a different actress, it would be probably be much better. Her cute, aegyo acting could be toned down a little bit.
I have more issues with the way certain characters are being handled in the show rather than the actors serviceable performances.
I have to disagree with you on this Koala (everyone have the right to their own opinion). I find that KHY shines in this drama and it also show her versatility in her acting skills.
When she is happy and cute, i smile with her and she she is crying, my heartbreaks.
DO is never an easy character to act but she is able to display the 2 different characters very clearly (stage and shadow).
In one of the BTS, KHY did mentioned that she have to do research on how to be aegyo and it could be a need fr the script.
Dont just quickly dismissed her as an actress because I see a lot of potential in her.
I fall in love with KHY from EY and look forward to more of her future projects.
(I follow yr website for years but this is the only drama that motivates me to write comments)
This....and she is one drama old...the other four Kim's have had their fare share of good and bad roles to get to the point and still continue to occassionally misfire with dramas after like tens of years in the industry. Kim Yoo Jung's last drama that clean with something drama, Kim So Hyun's radio drama etc. and People seem to forget that easily. On stage and in shadow...she plays two very different personalities well so I don't agree with the criticism. She is doing her role justice and thankfully she is well received in her home ground.
I don't know much about KHY because infact, i did record and watch in first few minutes.. But I can't watch the rest of it.
For both KIMs although people seem to forget about their recent dramas, but there is no single point that saying they are lacking in portraying their character which is why, mostly Knetz blaming the plot, weak role or the script itself..
While here, based on the comments, she got the meatier role among all but yet can't express it well as per scripted..
So, I believe in next few years, she can improve tremendously since she's now under the same agency that train both Kims before...
I diasgree...Yoo Jung and So hyun were both underwhelming in the projects I have mentioned....So Hyun is great in Sageuks but her modern roles tend to be either entirely hit aka Love Alarm, Page Turner or terribly miss aka Radio Romance, Lets Fight Ghost. If you judge Hye Yoon based on here only that would be innaccurate because Nate, Naver are praising her to the skies while twitter, soompi is pretty much loving her....If I were you would judge based on my own opinion after watching.
Let's Fight Ghost was not a miss. It was extremely popular and till this continues to be one of the most popular dramas in its genre. 90% of Kim So Hyun's dramas are popular.
Never meant by ratings...people were harsh on her back then for her acting which was a bit all over the place but certainly not that bad...she has since proved her critics wrong. I think especially with Love Alarm and Nokdu you can see her growth.
Kim Hyangi is also just one drama old. That is not an excuse for bad acting. She is also a child actress like the other 4 and should be much better than this. Don't criticise other actresses just because your bias is not good enough. The other 4 have a solid track record and under whelming characters are not their fault. This is not a case of underwhelming character but underwhelming acting. Everything about her acting is annoying and quite bad.
@Gem I don't why you felt the need to drag KSH into this but did you just say KSH was criticised for LFG? Haha! Are you crazy? People were praising her for her excellent acting and for making Taecyeon finally act like a good actor. Nobody not one person criticized her acting. Even the director was floored by how good her acting was.
Kim Hyangi is from films, she is excellent but has long list of films...who has done one drama...I remember korean comments well from Oh My Ghost timeline...@lily relax...nobody is being dragged...comparison's started due to Original post
@Gem First of all it's Let's Fight Ghost. Secondly I do too and they were only praising KSH. People were crazy about the chemistry between them despite the age gap. You picked the wrong KSH drama to try and critic her. LFG is one of herost popular and best works in terms of both ratings and acting. Its iconic till this day.
@lily hey if you find it Iconic...cool...I don't care either way...to each their own....but I stand by what I've said
I don't have to find it iconic. It is iconic that's why it's getting remakes. Your opinion is false and biased.
I agree with @gem where let’s be positive, Kim hye Yoon is still young and can improve in the future but I have to disagree with the let’s fight ghost fact. It was a hit with knetizens, the big criticism at the time was before it aired, most people were upset at the age differences and thought the pairing wouldn’t work out but was proved wrong later on.
To this date, the majority can agree that Kim so Hyun underwhelming role is in ruler but even most knetizens blames the writer for underutilizing her and literally it became cheese in the trap part 2, where she was barely in the show for certain episodes even though she was billed main female lead. Also clean with passion, the knetizens also enjoyed yoo Jung performance but it was the poor writing that lead to the downfall of the show.
@Gem - have you watched LFG at all? Even for one episode? You won’t say the same if you have. Let’s bet!
@lily be chill, dear ? Gem mentioned KSH bec ockoala started it in the post. She did not drag anyone in her comments
@khyfan
I agree everyone let’s just be thankful we have a good show to watch in extraordinary you and let’s all just drink boba and relax ^^
I also don’t think @gem is trying to drag anyone either. It’s the thing about writing online instead of talking in person. It’s easy for misunderstanding.
We are all friend here : )
@lily I actually don't expect you to agree with me but calling my opinion biased for stating facts is a bias in itself. And I did watch the show...It was good, never got the flak...I enjoyed it.
Thank you for this comment, StefC!
I think your comment here is all wrong. I have watched EY in Netflix and I must say it really caught me offguard. the narration and the acting was good i finished the series in one sitting. Get your comments all together. Bashers
@StefC omg, we're the same! Ive followed this site for years, watched both kdramas and international tv shows for years, and this is the only time I'm actually commenting and defending an actress. I SEE A LOT OF POTENTIAL IN HER and i just hope than when she reads this post, she'll use it as a learning experience and not be overly sad by it. I'm a fan of the 4 kims too and is also amazed by their abilities. But sometimes, I find that they offer the same interpretation to their characters, same nuance and I dont blame them for that. They grew up in the industry, working with the same old actors, producers, etc.
Kim Hye Yoon on the other hand, is fresh and has a different take on her character in Sky and here in EY. (To be continued)
Stef C and KHY Fan are the same person. Good at greeeing with yourself.
@KHY fan, its nice to know that I am not alone :).
From the BTS videos, she has good working attitude.
I like her in runningman episode, she tries to do her best (but it came out being funny instead).
I have to admit that KHY will most probably have to work much harder as she doesnt have the Korean beauty stardard (to me, she is a natural beauty) neither is she from from Idol group.
I hope that she will get more opportunities in the future.
Lastly @Ali, no we are not the same person.
@stefc
Although I think she could do better in this show, I agree she has potential to improve ^^ For example a lot of people didn’t like IU acting in the beginning but now they love her to bits with her wonderful improvement in my mister and hotel Luna. I love her now too.
I also watch the running man clip, one of the hosts is so mean with his discouraging comments.
That description by Ms. Koala about the female lead's voice made me laugh. Harsh but I have no say since I just watched about 10 minutes of the first episode before deciding it's not for me. Although it would have been nice if the role was given to Kim Hyang Gi. I finished Moments of eighteen because of her.
This drama was so cracky for me up until like ep 6-7. I didn’t really particularly notice anything about the actress that put me off, but it’s in the later episodes where the drama has been dragging a bit and I’m not as enthused about it as before. Her crying scenes are awful. feels so forced. I need to go back and watch the previous episodes, but I don’t think anything about the actress bothered me. It’s only recently. But yea, it’s lost it’s steam for me. I’ll still watch and finish it...hopefully they’ll end well. I wish they would answer more about their world
Her crying scenes lack complete emotional depth. I can't connect with the character at all when she starts crying. Her voice is the other thing that actually hurts my ears.