MBN Sageuk Bossam: Stealing Fate Keeps Stealing My Heart as Ratings Gets Past 7% Midway Through Airing
Somewhere between the abysmal wreck that was Fashion King and today, Yuri learned to act. And not just learned, but damn near excelled at. She is as regal, composed, nuanced, and natural as I can ask of any young actress playing the role of the widowed princess in MBN drama Bossom: Stealing Fate. She stands out even among every single other amazing actor and actress in the drama, totally unreal and wonderful to see. She holds her own against Jung Il Woo, Shin Hyun Soo, Kim Tae Woo, Shin Dong Mi, and Song Seon Mi, and I point this out because her character is the heart and soul of this drama. We want her to find happiness, and of course it will be with redeemed Ba Woo and his precocious son Cha Dol. And we hurt that her first love Dae Yeob turned into her brother-in-law and could never turn against his family even now. This drama feels both small (we spend time with the daily stuff) and big (politics, undercurrent of rebellion, wrongfully accused traitor family) but interweaved so flawlessly. The ratings are sky high for an MBN drama, with the highest so far surpassing 7% and well deserved. It’s midway through airing so if you’re a fan and have the patience for a slow burn traditional sageuk this one shouldn’t be missed.
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Holy shiz lol, Yuri might just be the best actress in SNSD or girl idol turned actress in general. It’s amazing how these girls always strive for improvement and take their craft seriously. If you watch fashion king and then you watch this drama, you will be shocked by how much she had improved lmao
Yeah there’s nine years between FK and this but I can think of plenty of idol actors of those times who haven’t shown even half the improvement she has, usually because they seem to dismiss all criticism of their acting as ‘hate’.
Good on Yuri, and I say that sincerely. She’s got an idol fandom, she could have got acting jobs based on her fame and nothing else, but it reflects well on her that she was able to actually work on her own skills and improve to the point of delivering an actually good performance in a demanding genre (sageuk tone isn’t easy to get right).
It also has to do with maturity. The older you grow the more you experience and those experiences become part of the better acting plus the hard work Yuri or other actresses like her put in. She isn’t just good for an idol actress she is good period. Being an idol actress or actor is an unfair bias because actors like Park Shin Hye exist who have never been terrible but also haven’t shown a vast growth like Yuri or IU did. Even if you look back at Jo In Sung in The Classic or Something in Bali versus Winter Where The Wind Blows the acting is still worlds apart. Even already good actors show growth in their acting so it isn’t something only ‘bad’ actors can achieve. Yuri found a niche role for herself but her performance itself is worth accolades and the best compliment would be that nobody else could have played it with same nuance as her.
Honestly I just judge each performance on its own merits, I’d watched Fashion King years ago but nothing from her between then and now, Yuri in Bossam is a legitimately good performance, not just “improved” or “good for an idol actor”.
Personally, I think the “growth” and “improvement” stick is often used by fans of particularly bad idol actors to bash other actors and actresses who started off good – if Idol Actor A goes from a D grade of acting to a C over time, inevitably they’ll start bashing whichever popular actor/actress of the time is considered A/B level (or who goes from B to B+ level) in terms of acting skill because “her improvement is not like my fav” even if the non-idol is objectively still a better actor. And it’s usually directed against k-actresses, hell you see it happening in this very blog just a few posts ago. I feel the same way about all those mediocre actors about whom people go “you’ll love him if you just see him in this and that variety show”, like no, I shouldn’t have to do homework in order to watch a drama!
The agree that she might be the best idol-actress that came out of the 2nd gen kpop groups. And her screen presence is good too in this drama. Might look forward to her next project just to see if she’s a fluke or not lol
I liked it but the push and pull is too repetitive… It’s not the best sageuk and now there is more politics/secrets than society subjects like bossam. But it’s a nice story.
I started it last week and I’ve never been a particular fan of Jung Il Woo but Yuri’s first scene pulled me right in, haha (her ‘naughty drawing’ scandalising the other widow was so well done).
As for her acting… she’s really good here! Full marks to her for not being complacent just because she’s famous, she actually worked on her abilities and (unlike some other famous idols of her time) isn’t just relying on a pretty face and an accommodating writer. She deserves a lot of credit for the success of the drama, and I hope she’ll get more opportunities moving forward, she’s earned them. Honestly a lot of idol-turned-actors could take a leaf out of her book.
Yay i love this drama. The scoring, cinematography and as well the cast are all good.
I caught up to episode 6 and I’m really disappointed they are not utilizing the strong cast well. The writing is so poor. Jung II Woo character, all the way to episode 6 was so frustrating. I don’t understand many of his bumbling decisions. His lack of control of navigating his emotions properly imperils the lives of those around him. I was correct and sorely disappointed that they didn’t address the human-trafficking incident in episode 3 after that one slap. The princess forgave him almost automatically. It was beyond disbelief and nonsensical. Because of that scene alone, it was a dealbreaker and I cannot in good conscience ship these two together.
Most of the relationships in this drama are not developed properly. It is still obfuscating that she would grow an attachment to this father/son duo, I’m still uncertain if they’re actually related. He may not win horrendous father of the year but he’s a nominee for sure. The actor playing the little son throws me out of the drama whenever he appears, his acting like he’s in a modern drama. I personally don’t think he’s a cute, precocious character but very obnoxious and he cries all the time. He’s such a confusing character as well. In some scenes he would rather choose to be with the princess and runaway from his father and in another scene in a different episode he chose his father. How they allowed the kid inside the palace without a token didn’t make sense at all, the excuse was so flimsy.
The princess tries to be magnanimous by using the money to help strangers receive free medical help but neglects their original intention to help her brother in law who was severely hurt protecting her, like I want to flip a table haha The drama tries to have her be a moral compass when she tries to lecture BaWu on how to be a good father but in the same episode or at least on the same day, she almost tried to take her life. Like come on hahaha
Every fighting scene, I just laugh, it’s comical how poor the choreography of the fighting scenes are. And somehow BaWu is able to overtake many of the professionally trained soldiers or ninjas by just sheer strength is baffling haha
The politics dominates more and more of the drama’s time in each episode. So unwanted and it’s so dreadfully boring, we see this all the time.
There is so many scenes and decisions that are not consistent at all. So many that it will turned into a super long essay haha A good cast overall deserves better than this. I needed a place to vent haha
I always liked her acting and/or look more in comparison to the other snsd girls. Not hating on the other snsd girls, but just my own preference. Fashion King was a wreck, but I always liked her performance in that mini drama Go Ho Starry Night that she did with Kim Young Kwang.
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Yuri is so phenomenal in this, she has 100 pc of my attention every time she is on screen. I don’t even see the idol in her, but an actual regal princess from her tone, her expressions, how she carries herself, everything! I’m especially surprised bcs I remember seeing her in innocent defendant & was pretty meh about her acting. But here, just wow. The improvement is truly spectacular.
As a huge fan of this genre and K-history, I am loving this little gem.
It has been a long time since I’ve seen one that reminds me of “The Princess’ Man.”
Yuri is doing an Amazing job! I am impressed that this is her first sageuk.
Crossing fingers and toes that it will continue to do well.
The show does give off a strong TPM vibe given how tightly intertwined the romance is into the political backdrop of the story. Hence, I don’t think the politics will ever take a backseat because it is what’s driving the story forward. Which I don’t have any problems with.
Yuri is magnetic. Haven’t seen her in anything but she doing a magnificent job here.
I want to echo the opinions of most people’s here. I couldn’t care less for Yuri in Fashion King years ago but she truly blows it out of the park here. I’m loving everything about her portrayal of the princess. IU and she remains two of my favourite idol-turn-actresses who have turned it all around and proven my first impressions wrong in the nicest way possible. Much respect to them!