There an article by a K-ent reporter this weekend that is garnering feedback because she is surveying the current landscape of “acting idols” and lamenting that it’s one step forward two steps back still. She writes that Junho of 2PM has taken 10 years of being an idol and acting in over 10 movies/dramas in total mostly in supporting roles until recent years and has earned through hard work his performance prowess in The Red Sleeve Cuff and all the acclaim that came with it. Even the female acting idols of that gen are doing well with Han Sun Hwa and Jung Eun Ji in Drink Now, Work Later where neither are even associated much with their idol starts in discussions about their acting ability. But conversely currently aired/airing dramas Snowdrop has Jisoo of Blackpink as the female lead and Kim Yo Han as a relatively recently debuted idol was given the male lead in School 2021 right off the bat. She writes that Kim Yo Han’s acting has been criticized as “colorless and odorless smoke” because he can’t properly express his emotions on his face so viewers can’t feel anything from his character. For Jisoo, since the drama started and she’s referred to as the “Smoke Idol” because of her bad enunciation as if she was a smoker with a low mumbly voice. The specific issue is that her acting includes awkward expressions and gestures made worse because she can’t correct basic nasal vocalizations in her dialogue reading including not properly pronouncing her own name Eun Young Ro. The reporter said the problem is that both are the leads so their roles are so importantly to the drama story, it would have been less distracting if both started with supporting roles to build up their experience and ability.
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I noticed Junho started out as a supporting cast only recently but Junho has always been good, every drama Junho was in he was always standing out even with Nam Goong Min in Chief Kim so it's unfair to compare both Jisoo and Kim Yo Han to Junho, Junho is super talented but I do understand what the article is trying to say, I think it benefits the actors too if they start out as a supporting cast because they are not at the centre of attention and they can take more time to work on their acting.
Another example would be EXO's D.O. He started out in supporting roles which got him noticed with higjt praised until finally landing his first leading role in 100 days. He's obviously a talented actor but started from the bottom. There's also Lee John. I honestly do not like seeing idols being cast in leading roles tight off the bat, especially when they're lacking. It takes away from the drama quality and is disrespectful to established actors
I completely agree and frankly felt insulted that Kim Hye-yoon was passed over for the Black & Pink girl. But Jung Eun-ji is not an effective counter-example to the problem of hastily giving idols lead roles. She herself was an idol starlet with no previous acting experience when she did Reply 1997; she was an outlier who happened to benefit from skills and good management.
Everyone else outbeat Ji Soo in acting department.honestly Jung Hae In's acting in Snowdrop seems mediocre, almost overacted at times. The natural chemistry that I saw him with SYJ in Pretty Noona is not transferred to snowdrop. It seems his acting partly depends on the female lead. Seasoned actress like SYJ or HJM brought the best in him.
Maybe he's overacting as a way to compensate for her bad acting? I mean I neither like nor dislike him and have only seen him in Prison Playbook but I enjoyed him there. This makes me think of a Thai drama I saw where the FL was a seasoned actress while the ML was a singer who wanted to start acting and lord he was atrocious in the drama. But the worse part was the dramatic overacting by the FL.
Meh for me he's the only one of the two actually trying to give a decent performance. Unfortunately for him, he's doing it opposite a female lead that has all the charm of a cardboard cutout so any emotion he displays seems out of place. This is all worsened by the ridiculous campy tone of some of the scenes. It feels as if there are two shows running at the same time, with the political drama being a try hard comedy and jisoo and haein's relationship being an attempt at angsty romeo and juliet. But romeo is the only one emoting. Poor guy
KHY hasn't proven she is lead material yet and frankly her insecurities over her acting are visible to the audience. She never fully commits to her roles and overacts to compensate for it. She's better when she's a supporting character but even in Snowdrop she is annoying and has zero complexity in her acting and screams way to much. 90% of her acting involves delivering dialogue at the top of her voice which is frankly annoying after a point. She needs to build on her acting before she can match any of her peers because even KSJ despite being an idol is a much better actress than KHY.
I watched her in Extraordinary You - as expected, international viewers were all over the male leads but that show was actually carried by Kim Hye Yoon (literally - I think she spoke most of the dialogue in the first half).
It's funny how people in the comments will find any excuse to undermine a rising young non-idol actress - flaws and flops are magnified, successes ignored or credited to the male lead until there's no male lead to credit them to (see also: Han Sohee).
I partially disagree. KHY is a great actress that sometimes I mystifies me where she gets all that energy to act. In any scene, even without saying anything, the emotions she’s trying to convey is felt. She awkwardly stands out sometimes because she’s performs all out in scenes while the others act mediocre. No wonder she shined in sky castle because her acting peers there are all master actors. I agree though on maybe she can try less screaming/low pitch voice acting in her next roles… just like how she acted in girl riding a bulldozer, with restraint acting, she could actually show more depth in her character.
Jung Eunji had no acting experience before Reply but that role showed that she did have a talent for it, she got a ton of hype for her satoori but I was more impressed on finding out she was only 18 but still able to pull off playing the same character as an 18 year old and a (youthful) early 30s adult.
I don't think the Reply series is a good drama series to use as a way to gauge the acting abilities of its lead actresses/actors
Maybe it's due to the magic of the PD and that's why that acting was good because the projects the leads did afterwards pretty much showed that Reply was the anomaly, not the actors/actresses.
For me at least, that's how I felt when I tuned into Trot Lovers (Jung Eun Ji); You're All Surrounded, Hwarang, Black (Go Ara); Roommate is a Gumiho (Lee Hye Ri). They were mediocre and passable in their post-Reply acting dramas but nothing to write home about.
Trot Lovers was not a good drama - totally wasted both Lee Se Young and Jung Eunji (other than the latter's voice - that girl can SING, and she pulled off all those trot numbers live, the acting didn't have much to work with though).
I have been impressed by her in Sassy Go Go and Work Later Drink Now though. She plays those earthy girl next door characters well but also in a way that doesn't feel like she's just playing her Reply character all over again.
Casting high-profile idols from big agencies is unfortunately a common thing. Cycle that no matter how much we complain keeps on happening. Idols get to practice their acting through leading roles, and sometimes they improve but most of the time they just get smart and have high-profile co-stars or very "easy" to act characters in high-profile projects. I could think of Suzy and Yoona as female idols who really started immediately as leads, and practiced their acting through these lead roles. Some would have their 1st project of 2nd leads, and immediately have their 2nd as leads - Taecyeon (still bad and passable on limited characters) and IU (she was really good in My Mister but don't know if that is improvement since then is maintain).
jisoo is passable for her first lead role, but suzy and taecyeon are still bad even with all those lead roles.
Not passable by lead actor standard. She is called the "lazy actor" by korean viewers.just sayin.
If Ji Soo is greedy to take the main lead without having sufficent experience, then she must receive criticisms that come with being the lead role. Why should viewers give her a break, simply because she is an idol? Main leads should not be an experiment nor training ground for newly developed actors. She would have been judged less had she taken the supporting role.
Sadly idols are given these lead roles to use their fan base and company money to spread and shed light on these dramas.
There are good acting that come from idols, but it's hit or miss, especially on their first foray. Suzy's, even Taec's characters in Dream High fit them at the time. Yoona not so much, but has exponentially improved since. I do agree that it someone belittles true talent, but then they're probably compensated (somehow?) to star with these new idols.
Just my $0.02
Sadly idols are given these lead roles to use their fan base and company money to spread and shed light on these dramas.
There are good acting that come from idols, but it's hit or miss, especially on their first foray. Suzy's, even Taec's characters in Dream High fit them at the time. Yoona not so much, but has exponentially improved since. I do agree that it somehow belittles true talent, but then they're probably compensated (somehow?) to star with these new idols.
Just my $0.02
Unfortunately, I watched Kim Yo-han in his previous drama attempt (also as a lead) and he was exactly the same. When I saw he got casted for School 2021, I knew that drama would be a trainwreck no matter how good the supporting characters are - his negative screen presence is enough to ruin a show by itself. There are some idols, usually male, who lack the ability to show any emotion, to the point where I wish they were overacting so they at least would show anything other than robotic nonsense. Maybe that kind of feature is good for their job as idols since it's such a visual industry but once they have to show emotion they sink badly.
Jisoo, well. She's bad in a bad drama, and I don't know korean so I couldn't know if her pronunciation was bad or not but I can judge her acting in general which is, yeah, terrible. I'm not sure why her agency put her in the spotlight like this, I guess the Disney money must've been too good to pass and her fans will love it anyway so there's no loss in it. I wonder if she had a say in the deal.
I do agree with your take on Kim Yohan's screen presence (none!). The episodes that I've seen, not much is required of him but his greatest challenge is "developing" that screen presence. He really comes across as very bland.
For Jisoo, personally I think she has the potential as compared to other idol actress like Suzy or even senior actors like SHK (sorry for dragging), Jisoo seems to be willing to ruin her pretty face to express emotions, but of course transitions b/w emotions and expression itself is still lacking but seem workable. But her biggest hurdle is really her VOICE. She has a very nasal (congested at that) voice and it really hinders her enunciation. They really should have started her with supporting roles.
What baffles me more is that Kim Yohan actually received one of the best actor awards at the KBS Drama Awards. Like srsly KBS gotta do better in terms of setting their criteria on best new actors.
*Rowoon and Yohan winning is more of an insult to Na InWoo...
KBS DRAMA AWARDS BEST NEW ACTOR
WINNER Kim Yo-han – School 2021
WINNER Na In-woo – River Where The Moon Rises
WINNER Rowoon – The King's Affection
Choo Young-woo – Police University, School 2021
Hong Kyung – Drama Special: A Moment of Romance
Nam Yoon-soo – The King's Affection
Park Ji-hoon – At a Distance, Spring Is Green
I have never seen a Suzy drama but she had tons of lead roles so I thought koreans are okay with her and it’s only international drama watchers who are critical. However, I happened to watch Ashfall few weeks ago because it was airing on cable tv and I was surprised at how bad she was. Her bad acting stood out and was glaring beside the other actors. So now I understand.
Her acting is still mediocre but it’s not really bad still watchable and it helps that korea is in love with her visual so the eye candy covers her acting
Yeah korea seems to be very in love with her beauty. Her lack can go safely unnoticed until she acts with a good actor then it can be really jarring. As a first time viewer, I noticed it right away in the movie.
If suzy's acting was mediocre but she was given a pass because of her visual, why is Ji Soo not given the same grace/pass considering of her well known visual?
Hi Gigu, maybe you’re too young to know but Suzy was actually bombarded with lots of acting criticism in her initial lead roles. The criticisms still continue up to this day but not that much as before as the audience has also been acknowledging her slight improvements
Junho did two dramas tvN Memory and Manager Kim before he lands his first lead role in Just Between Lovers with Won Jin Ah which actually pretty quick like other idols turns actors, it just he has always been good at acting ever since
I don’t think being an idol is the problem but the skill of the actor. There are many rookie actors who also went straight to main lead role who don’t have the required acting chap.
In regards to Snowdrop, I was curious why they cast Jisoo on main lead role and being it’s her first acting project. Even if she wasn’t an idol but a raw rookie actor, I would still ask the same.
By the way, I recently watched The Red Sleeve, wow! Lee Jun-ho performance in the drama was amazing. He is a phenomenal actor.
Re. Lee Jun-ho, if you checked his filmography, he actually debuted as a movie actor, in the movie Cold Eyes after passing the audition. Before he expanded into drama, he was already a lead actor in movie in a box office hit movie Twenty.
After Twenty, he did the drama Memory on Supporting role. With Manager Kim, Junho actually was the 2nd main lead which is equivalent to Jisoo role in Snowdrop.
By the way, I recently watched The Red Sleeve, wow! Lee Jun-ho performance in the drama was amazing. He is a phenomenal actor.
-Ps- it’s weird my two comments were mixed up.
Beside that, Junho was in acting club in High School and has a Bachelor’s degree major in acting and Masters degree in Film/Cinematography.
Prejudice on idols is unreasonable. There actors who didn’t have training in acting, eg from engineering or fashion or other non-acting related fields, who went straight in a lead role. People should look at talent.
@MistyEyes No idea about Junho's acting background! No wonder, he already had a foundation/interest in acting before 2PM. I feel like more people should know that in regards to him, b/c I bet some naysayers still think he's just an idol star.
IA! Plus there's a reek of classism at display too. Kim Nam Gil who is a very talented actor, didn't go to college. Of course, acting school and their training brings out a lot for an actor. But there are several examples of actors who just had the right spark, timing, and talent to last. Longevity is another factor to look at too. Namgoong Min for a while didn't get notice until his late 30s for Remember.
Taking a risk is worth a shot to bolt one's career, and the choices one makes as well in their work should also be considered. Even Natalie Portman said during Star Wars time, she was looked at as a bad actress until she got Closer. But look at her now, she's well regarded as an actress.
@Anon I think the naysayers on Junho are mostly international people who knows nothing about him. But based on interviews from actors, pds and people within the industry that he worked with, they don’t think him as an idol to begin with but an actor. And I read that even when he was still in the military, he’s been receiving scripts and offers. I remember reading an article on Soompi that he was in talks to star in historical drama early this year but he was just discharged from the military, wasn’t he? Right now, he is definitely the Korean darling. If you browse videos about him in youtube, comments are mostly coming from Korean fans. I agree with them as personally I am also absolutely impressed with his performance in The Red Sleeve.
IMO re prejudices, I also think the industry inner circle have prejudices, not just on idols but, to those non acting trained turned actor in general, e.g. those with Engineering background, trained models as they say are stiff when acting and inflexible and other non-acting major or trained.
I can name few actors who’ve been with Engineering background or some who came from non-acting background who’s been stuck on supporting roles for many years or stuck doing family dramas or less challenging roles.
What's more impressive about Junho is that he went out to audition three times!!! for Cold Eyes. JYPE rejected his ask of acting, so he seeked it out himself by auditioning. That impressed me b/c he wasn't handed roles right off the bat, he actually worked hard to be given a chance in the acting world.
@Anon
Wow that is impressive. But I was curious why did JYP try to stop him from venturing into acting. He is a natural talent and he blew me away in The Red Sleeve. It would have been a waste if he actually didn’t go into acting.
I have spare time today so I looked around to found out Why JYP tried to stop him.
Here’s what I found. If I were JYP, I would panic too. Why? Because 2pm and Junho were the biggest money makers of JYP until their military enlistment in 2017 and 2019 respectively. So for Junho, he was the biggest money maker of JYP for a solo talent up to 2019.
(I know and have read comments about Junho as a singer but I want to see it for myself.) Here’s the list;
-check JYP guesting on Radio Star mentioning about 2pm as the biggest money maker
-check Junho 2017 guesting on Happy Together mentioning about it too
Check articles about Junho sold out first solo 12-concert Kimi Ko Noe Tour in Japan in 2013. Each venue has a capacity of 30,000 tickets. So compute 30,000 x ticket price x 12, then add merchandise sales, plus dvd sales of the concert, album sales, etc. Get the math on how many dramas he will do just to earn equivalent to one concert.
As a solo artist, he toured Korea and Japan yearly from 2013-2019.
Then with 2pm, he toured with the group from 2008-2017. They did world tour if I am not mistaken.
So JYP had all the reason to panic and get scared that he may neglect his job as a singer.
For Lee Junho as an actor: I also found out, aside from having natural talent, luck is also on his side. He must have saved a country in his past life. Why? His debut movie Cold Eyes was a box office hit and he was part of the promo team.
-check Running Man variety show for his promo guesting with Han Hyo Joo for Cold Eyes
-check youtube “Junho Cold Eyes”, YT algorithm will take you to related videos
-The biggest one is; check youtube “Junho Toronto Film Festival” for Cold Eyes
Correction: 30,000 tickets for 12 sold out shows - Lee Junho first solo concert in Japan in 2013
@MistyEyes - my guess re: JYP refusing at first to let him act, is that these idol groups tend to have 'designated' acting members dictated by the agency, usually the person who's the most popular or the 'visual'. This is regardless of whether they can act or not.
If this was the case - he was neither 'visual' nor 'most popular' and they weren't handing him lead roles like candy the way they did with Taecyeon, then he really did earn his opportunities on his own strength.
@Mistyeyes Of course being a part of a big agency did give him a nice cushion to fall back on had acting not worked out. But he was in drama club in high school, then studied acting in college. Had he not auditioned at JYPE (He was going to get axed b/c his skills weren't there, but he worked hard to stay). Yeah, Suzy left to go to Soop so JYPE must've known the $$ that Junho would bring. He wasn't the visual/most popular member, but when he took up acting it brought him more attention.
Thanks for the details. I can't believe they wouldn't let him act, but good on him for being proactive and starting from the bottom. He did mention that he wants to challenge himself, and his choices speak for it.
@RoyalWe Lol, he must have saved a country b/c even his films/dramas for the most part have been received well. He said he has final say/choice over his acting picks, which means he knows what works for him. He's not as active compared to 2pm's heyday, and Covid so he might have this year to take on a couple projects.TRS shown that he's a natural born actor, & as long as he manages his choices/personal life well, it'll be exciting seeing his career progress further!
Watched him in wok of love and he’s great there!
Well every gg and bg have designated visual and they usually get first pick and prioritized most of the time exclusivy for acting projects. SNSD is a perfect example for this. I am not surprised that every female actress/idol actress in SM left eventually: Sooyoung, Seohyun, Go Ahra, Lee Yeon Hee, Krystal. Its clear from the resources expended by SM (regular main lead drama roles and film roles) that SM will move heaven and earth to make her a star actress (it also didnt help that JYP got ahead with Suzy). If there is a good project, it will go to Yoona first. The rest were probably not willing to wait to get table scraps. It also doesnt help it took 10 years of mega efforts to make Yoona a star (Exit). ??? Esp Seohyun since from what I read, SM rejected “Intro to Architecture”, the film that made Suzy the nations first love.
Every bg and gg has a designated actor (the best acting projects, most screentime in drama MV’s, more promos like magazine shoots and top variety show appearances);
SNSD: Yoona
2PM: Taecyeon then Wooyoung to an extent. But Chansung and Junho were the respected actors.
SF9: Rowoon. But Chani is the experienced former child actor who only gets minor supporting roles or web dramas.
EXO: Suho. But DO impressed so much with his support role that he quickly surpassed him.
I don’t think being an idol is the problem but the skill of the actor. There are many rookie actors who also went straight to main lead role who don’t have the required acting chap.
In regards to Snowdrop, I was curious why they cast Jisoo on main lead role and being it’s her first acting project. Even if she wasn’t an idol but a raw rookie actor, I would still ask the same.