Moon Chae Won Signs with YNK Entertainment Joining Kim Hyun Joo and Shin Hye Sun After Leaving Longtime Agency Namoo Actors

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• Her best role was definitely, without a doubt, The Princess’ Man. It’s also her best rated drama (as a lead) and most critically acclaimed. Since then, she has mostly chosen roles that are more focused on her male co stars rather than herself. I hope she can pick better dramas in general but also pick roles that are challenging to her.

  • I think I've read an interview that it has been especially challenging for her to find a character that she likes to play. And in all fairness to her, though most of her roles were second fiddle to a male lead, she's never done the same character twice.

    I love The Princess's Man. It is my favorite KDrama so I do have a soft spot for her. I hope she lands a role and a project that she can truly shine.

  • I am sorry to say but, Moon Chea Won deosn't know to acting, she is cold like a fish and lack of Charisma

    • Yeah yeah *yawn*

      Sounds like hater than anything LOL

    • mcw is a talented actress.there are actress that very popular but mediocore acting.fucos your own favorite atleast chaewon is unproblematic

    • What a joke Dali Gofman! I don't know why you think like that but you surely haven't seen The Princess'Man. Watch that drama and you will know why she is one of the best Korean actresses.

• I will always have a soft spot for Moon Chae Won. The Princess' Man was one of my first K-dramas and I still think it's one of the best sageuks I have ever watched.

  YNK seem like a good agency so I'm looking forward to see what roles they can get for her. It was disappointing she didn't get more recognition for Flower of Evil. She deserved some award nominations. Out of this year's Baeksang nominees I personally would have given Moon Chae Won a nomination over Seo Yea ji as I think MCW's performance was much better.

  • Lol,of all 5 nominators why you choose SeoYeaJi? There's a reason why SeoYeaJi was on nomination list . Go ask the judges why they chose her instead of MoonChaeWon. IMO both are beautiful and talended and deserve to be nominated. Hype and praise your fave actress without dragging others and don't say something that might offend others too. You wouldn't like either if someone talk about your fave like that.

• baeksang nomination give buzz more important in choosing nomination, then it start with who has the best acting among nomination. or else, Moon Chae Won will included. unfortunately, Lee Joong Ki giving more buzz in flower of evil than her.

  • How did Uhm Ji Won get nominated over her then? Birthcare Center had average ratings. Moon Chae Won is more popular than her if we are speaking overall. The whole show got nominations in big and small categories. She should've been nominated, her then agency should've campaigned for her.

    • Her performance overshadowed by LJK since he was the center of the drama. Someone mentioned above that she never does the same role twice and while I don't fully agree with that I do think she should have picked roles like TPM over and over again until her star power was fully established even at the cost of being typecast. JJH and SHK have their fame and star power because they have always played the same character for over 20 years. Sometimes being typecast can be an advantage. HJW also managed to build her career by playing the same strong female lead character over and over and over again. Not everyone can be like KHS even GHJ has stuck to romcoms because she knows its what the public loves her in. It helps to first build a strong image before trying to break it.

    • @anonyu

      Problem with her, she doesn't have that kind of ambition to become a power house at the expense of her own swlf satisfaction with her choice of works. She herself said that she picked roles that she herself liked and found interested. She can't pick roles that are trendy with the public while she herself doesn't like them. I don't know how to put this well, but acting for her is like her love for arts and she's happy enough with that.

      It's also totally fine. Not everyone is going after big mainsteam popularity. But I do agree that she should pick roles like The Princess' Man. Enough with too many male centric dramas.

    • @anonyu

      @Anonyu

      I suppose MCW’s choice of roles is more in line with former agency (before she moved to Namoo) seniors like SYJ who rarely played the same role twice and didn’t really care if the project is a crowd pleaser or not. The only difference is that MCW’s more mainstream projects are more focused on the male leads. Being typecast can help with starpower but look at the criticisms SHK and JJH are getting now. There is very little maturity in their acting. Their starpower made them buzzworthy but it also stifled their creative growth. The audience that made them superstars in their 20s are not the same as the ones now who have more expectations from experienced veterans. Not all actors are after the buzz and the high-profile public image.

    • @kiddogo

      Very well said and I'm completely agree with you.

      I personally don't see any good in being typecasted. Yes, it might be ok to get all that mainstream popularity but for how long? It would limit their choice of works and the offers that they will get. Especially for female actresses with shorter time span than the actors and it would be a problem after they passed certain age (like 40).

      For example, Taiwanese actress, Chen Qiao En who was well known to be a queen of idol dramas. She has been having really hard time getting offers these past few years. She said all the offers were all idol dramas and she's no longer fit for that genre.

    • @kiddogo But SYJ did have the same roles in Classic and Summer Scent which made her famous. Her identity of the National First Love was cultivated from there because she did the same sweet, fragile, kind first love characters. @anonyu makes a good point about having an image to break because making a mainstream impact is useful in branching out. JJH and SHK willing chose not to break out of their image maybe because they don't have many ambitions as actresses but SYJ first built her image and then broke it which is why today she is known a versatile actress. MCW doesn't even have the versatile actress image despite the claim of never doing the same roles. SYJ never chased mainstream success either she did her own thing because she knew she had the talent for it but she is also very ambitious and driven. She works hard and she works nonstop even after all these years she works consistently and rarely takes breaks. MCW isn't as good an actress as SYJ so she should have taken the JJH route at the very least.

  • @Yoirks @anonyu

    Agree on your points! I personally don't see anything wrong in stabilising their footing, hence SYJ as a good example and JJH to a lesser extent. But SYJ got the timing right as well. She became established as a good actress for those innocent-type FL, with selling credibility (ratings and box office). But one thing she did do right was the timing of her "branching out" to other more challenging and k-standard controversial roles. I think JJH in films tried this as well, with her My Sassy Girl-type roles, and then did those action-centered ones a few years down the road. But her broadcast drama choices are not really diverse. SHK has always been considered a weak actress, but was passable in some of her roles.

    But back to MCW, it is a bit sad that she and most sought-after (before) actresses in her age range like Moon Geun Young, Yoon Eun Hye or even Shin Se Kyung, were not able to establish themselves to a certain level that should at least give them drama offers.

    • @Yoirks It's ok that you're a fan of SYJ but how can you said that MCW isn't as good actress as her? Popularity isn't equal to talent. I think SYJ is a very good actress but for me MCW is better. And you're saying that MCW doesn't have the versatile image? The Princess Man, Nice Guy and Good Doctor prove you wrong.

    • MCW is not even on the same platform as SYJ. Nobody can compare to the Queen of Chungmuroo least of all some B list actress who never made it.

    • @Yoirks @Justwhat Hi. What do you mean MCW isn't even on the same platform as SYJ? Look, I won't say anything bad about SYJ because I like her too but you call MCW a B list actress??‍♀️ Many k-drama watchers think that MCW is one of the best Korean actresses.That no one can compare to SYJ? Please! There are many good actresses in Korea and in the world. Don't be closed-minded. Well, as art is subjective, each to their own.

    • Stop arguing over childish issues

      @Bella
      It's her opinion. Let's just respect that

      @Justwhat
      There is no need to be rude and insulting. No body owned the world. Today, you might be so high and above all others and I'm just a beggar on the screet. But tomorrow, our position might reverse. This is the reality we live in. So better for us to be humble.

    • Sorry, but I can't stand people going into an article about MCW and compare her to other actreses. I'll try to ignore them.

• So many actresses did not renew their contracts with Namoo this year. Good for them.

  • What's wrong with Namoo? Not advertising their cilents as much? Even Ji Sung left this Summer as well. A lot of their big names who were with them for over a decade left. Not a good sign. They use to be one of the top agencies, now there much lower on the ranking.

    • Namoo not advertising? Are you kidding me? Song Kang is literally EVERYWHERE even Park Eun Bin is landing more work and magazine shoots now than she has her whole career. Namoo is doing just fine the actors who want to leave are leaving simple.

    • @muomuo

      Song Kang and Park Eun Bin, how many are they? 2. And now, how many actors and actresses under namoo again? 30? 35? You sure they promote them and advertise them like the other two? :)

    • @muomuo

      That's the problem. They only focus with the 2 actors you mentioned. As a fan of someone who just left that agency, they tend to do that and it's not good with the rest of the other top actors they have and the fans who are waiting as well.

    • Agree with @Beatrice. The fact that so many of their long time actors and actresses jumped ship this year says a lot. Namoo are good at promoting but they clearly play favourites to a ridiculous degree. They have been bending over backwards to promote Song Kang to mediocre results whilst many of their talented roster are barely given crumbs.

    • PMY and LJK are senior actors in Namoo and they both get tons of promos and exposure. I don't know why people are blaming the agency when there is nothing wrong with it. They even have dedicated IG and YT channels to promote their artists regularly which is more than what most top agencies have.

• I'm not into melodramas, but I loved Nice Guy and Moon Chae-won's gutsy Seo Eun-gi. She had such a prickly shell and intense glaring eyes, but was lost and vulnerable. I think the break she took from dramas to do movies sort of moved her off-track for a few years.

  I hope she will do a sageuk again. She looks fantastic in a hanbok. Tale of the Fairy was pretty bad, but she was luminous in it.

• she's one of my favourite actress. know and start to like her from nice guy, then stan her from her drama princess man. wish her just the best. she deserves another good projects ❤️

• I love her snubbish aura, really kind of cute. A good actress, indeed. ❤

• If SYJ is an A+ actress, MCW is an A- actress which is still very good Her number of awards is still notable, and her versatility is sure above average better than even SHK (in my opinion) MCW just loves what she does. So in short MCW isn't a "B list actress"

  • People comparing the two, when these two are besties in real life. Son Ye Jin back in 2011 for her B-day party invited Moon Chae Won to the fan event. SYJ said MCW is super kind, and that they both support one another.