K-netizens Start to Criticize Shin Hyun Bin’s Acting in Hospital Playlist 2 as Coming to the Surface with Increased Screentime

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• She's actually one of my favorites on Hospital Playlist. I think there's room for growth, but there's something about her I just like. I thought her breakdown scene was fine, but maybe I wasn't pay close enough attention.

  • I actually thought her cry, which veered more on raw and guttural, seems to align with the character. Her character has always been one to be awkward in new situations and expression. But yeah, it was not a cry of the typical female characters.

    • Me too. When I first watched that scene, I was actually taken aback by her crying facial expression. Purely because it was not the usual kdrama female "pretty" crying. But I do think it was SHB's or even PDnim's intention to portray the breakdown in a raw and visceral way. Perhaps it could have still be improved as with any acting scenes. I thought she did pretty well in the scenes she had with her brother and also in the staircase well.

    • Actually i dont care much about pretyy crying. I've seen plenty actresses did the ugly crying, bawling their eyes out, and I can still feel their sadness and despair. But for SHB, her crying scene somehow felt.. forced. Plus the editing for the scene was a bit jarring and it certainly didnt help audience feel connected to her. And i cant help but notice that her scene (the one where she explains the abuse that happened in her family) used multiple angles. Like, different camera angles after every lines (and pause). I can't immerse myself to understand her situation and it makes it a bit hard to connect with her character. Again, maybe it's just me.

• I thought she did fine in all her scenes. Not a very natural actress but I have no problem watching her. The only thing I would complain is she and YYS do not have much onscreen chemistry. I just find their couple scenes somewhat awkward.

  • Find them very cute. No over-acting. Really wish to see more of them.

• I think I've mentioned it before, she's received consistent criticisms weekly (not an exaggeration) from the netizens for her acting. I've not watched HP2 because I've seen the cuts and it looked boring so I can't say for sure. If I were to offer my opinion I thought she's pretty bad in the limited scenes I saw. What I'm curious about is the timing of this post. People complained about her weekly and this is the only post which received traffic, there are over 800 comments the last I checked. Either she was terrible in that scene or someone's trying to swap her out.

  Also, I don't think as an 86-er there's any point pushing her. The 80+ liners are going strong, and there's someone of the exact same visual style in Shin Hye-sun in her age range. Even Kang Hanna is a better option if they lack actresses in this age group.

  • Swap her out of what? Hospital playlist? Her upcoming dramas?

    I think she looks like Yoona (the SNSD girl). Is that who you have in mind?

    What I want to know how is how she is filming so many dramas concurrently. Is she going to clone herself or have astral projection abilities?

  • I agree. Both Kang Hanna and Shin Hye Sun are much better actresses in that age range. Aside from the below average acting, I also find her beauty pretty average. It's interesting that some commenters say she is not a cookie-cutter type of beauty and compare her with Yoona when both are considered Korean standard, conventional beauty. Both kind of plain in my opinion.

• I noticed that too, she had a hard time crying. Could it because she didnt have a proper training since she's not a theater/ acting major? Anyway, i hope she overcomes it because i really like her.

  • Don't get your hopes up with Korea's theater/acting training. Son Na-eun was also an acting major... And she is more bland than water.

• I guess all those commentators who expressed misgivings about her acting when her Chaebol casting was announced weren't wrong.

  Personally, I find her pretty bland whether it be acting or presence, and IDK if that's worse than being outright terrible.

  • Where's @Royal We?

    Girl - what if Suzy will turn out to be the better (or not worse) casting choice? ?

    • At this point. I cast my vote for Suzy. Suzy cries prettily at least. This one can't squeeze out even a tear and didn't even make the effort to use eye drops.

    • @Ophelia - I stopped watching HP2 (no time) but I liked her in HP1 (both acting and with US chemistry) so in this case....I'll actually take the chance on the devil I know to have been at least watchable (SHB).

      In any case people here always make a huge deal out of the stumbles or career missteps of not-idol-famous actresses, so I'm not sure

    • (Sorry, comment got cut off)

      Honestly, I still think we'd do better hoping for SHB to find her (inconsistent) acting mojo for The Chaebol's Youngest Son than hoping for someone else to magic it up after a decade of so far nonexistence.

      (Fingers crossed she does find it and TCYS isn't one of those dramas I sit through thinking it's a waste of a role)

  • Gurlllllll, i have been saying this from start. No suzy fan here but ppl were hailing her as if she is some major development from Suzy ?? She is pretty bad actress and an average looker. And what's worse than bad acting ? Bland screen presence, at least suzy has screen presence. Watch her being eaten alive by Song Joong ki.

    • @anima - Well at the time of casting, SJK was coming off a really great pairing with his last FL, and going from JYB to Suzy was a big downgrade acting-wise. HP2 hadn't aired yet so there was none of this negative backlash against SHB.

      Everyone's comments are now making me scared for Chaebol. I was anticipating it to be the kdrama HBO Succession. Given the main leads are SJK and Lee Sung Min, maybe SHB won't be central? Maybe the screenwriter is observing the backlash and will cut down her scenes? Maybe I should just stick to watching Succession ?

    • tbh the chaebol heir drama seems like he is doing it for some personal reasons ? He took so long to confirm it and the makers just wouldn't be off his back despite him choosing vincenzo to do 1st before chaebol heir. Not sure why he would want to explore the same genre after coming off from something as refreshing as vincenzo. And there's always the danger of comparison if it has similar elements. IMO he should now focus more on movies and explore genres he hasn't tried. Something like designated survivor/even like namgoong min role from Stove league. Oh well we can only wait and watch

• I was a big fan of HP season 1 and a big fan of Wintergarden couple. But HP2 seemed off even for me. The chemistry I found in WIntergarden in season 1 is gone and I was loving Gueoyl s character but again in season 2 I could not watch scenes with Gyeo-ul.
  I don’t know if it’s the actress acting inability or is the director that I should question .
  I do miss in this season the moments of the 5 friends together and the patient stories from season
  1 .
  I was expecting to see a different approach of Gyeo-ul in the latest episode ( don’t want to spoil it ) but again is it the actress or the directions she is given ?
  YYS is my boy and he has chemistry with everyone but in this season I can not feel any connection with Jeongwon and Gyeoyl .

  • Count me in. I was crazy about them in S1 but barely feel the excitement to their scenes in S2. It's a shame cause their love story is actually really beautiful.

    She's not bad like REALLY bad. But i have to agree she still needs to improve. Her acting is too by the book type. Like she tries to bring the tremble, moves certain muscle to create micro expression, but the raw emotion is not there. As a fan i wish she'll use this criticism to be better in her next projects.

    By the way, this is my sentiment to any wailing in drama. Does pain need to be expressed in wailing? Because most people around me cry without creating any noise even when they're in the deepest pain. Well i guess drama is not drama without a drama.

    • @Beez - Pain doesn't need to be expressed in wailing. I think wailing is actually a "cheap" shortcut to acting out pain. One of the most powerful crying scenes I've seen in a kdrama was in Be Melo, when the documentarian (Jeon Yeo Bin) broke down. Now THAT was guttural and raw crying.

      SHB's crying was sooo awkward to watch. She was emoting like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube.

• It's hard to make the difference between her character, the PD's choices and her acting... But at the end, her character is boring. The way she talks, her reactions, etc.

• Any upcoming drama, but that's more of a conspiracy theory from me. It's probably just bad acting and nothing more.

  • @peanut gallery Lol how did this comment end up here.

• She had a crying scene & delivered well on HP1 ep 11-12 during confession time... Actor followed only what PD will instruct if HP2 ep 10 is lacking PD will cut it already but it was accepted so she delivered what the scene called for. Winter Garden couple had perfect chemistry & hoping they will have a follow up team up already as the main lead after HP series completed.

• This is making me nervous about Chaebol's youngest son. But she seems to be working on many projects at the same time, perhaps it affects her ability to fully immersed in one role?

  • Most actors that are breaking out work on multiple projects at the same time. Her role in HP2 still isn't that big or complex the character itself is a little dull not her fault. Her drama Person Like You wrapped up filming recently but her role is big and important but not central same with the Chaebol drama. Monstrous is where she will have a bigger more central role so it'll be easier to evaluate her then.

  • Her acting is kinda inconsistent. Sometimes she is very bland sometimes not bad and sometimes pretty good. I'm way more impressed with Kwak Sun Young's acting (Ik Sun) but there is definitely a room for improvement for Shin Hyun Bin.