Okay, I totally had a deja vu moment when I heard this drama synopsis and wondered if I was back in January 2021 when Hometown Cha Cha Cha was cast. K-ent is reporting that Im Shi Wan and Seolhyun have been tapped as the leads for the countryside romance drama Summer Strike, which legit sounds like Hometown Cha Cha Cha down to the T. The female lead has a office job in Seoul when she suddenly packs up and heads to the countryside and settles in a small town. The male lead was a math genius but his life derailed and now he does contract work for a library and helps around town. If the drama is accessorized with Hermes then it’ll complete the Hometown replica haha! The drama is actually adapted from a webtoon and will come from the PD of Coffee Prince and Cheese in the Trap. If they accept filming will start in the spring for a summer 2022 airing because duh Summer in the title heh.
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Why the male lead always a genius? The plot sounds boring and both leads do not possess strong charisma on-screen.
who?Siwan? do not possess strong charisma on screen? where are you? Mars?
Soorry, if it’s rude but I think Seolhyun is too mediocre actress. She doesn’t have enough acting skills to be main female lead. Maybe it seems to me so. Anyway, PDs should cast someone talented like rising stars who have skills and charisma on screen. For example, Park Ju Hyun from Extracurricular or Choi Sung Eun from Beyond Evil. They are really talented. But PDs nowadays rely on the fans of female idols like Jisoo who can watch anything if their idol is in even though she lacks skills.
Totally agree! I think this should apply to male idols too. Shi wan was a former idol, but he did smaller roles before proving he was capable of taking on a ML role.
Better search for Im Siwan’s filmography and awards.
Just riding on your comment but has anyone noticed how idols are dominating the entertainment sector more and more. Variety, dramas, movies, fashion they dominate more and more there are more and more idols on magazine covers than pure actors. Another interesting trend is the rise of internet celebrities or survival show celebrities like Noze, Aiki, Frezia and so on. Actors in general are getting fewer and fewer promotions but they still have their seniority status so they have their prestige. Production houses, directors, writers on the other hand are moving towards idol actors irrespective of the size of their fandom. First and second gen idols have set their roots and third gen idols are quickly taking over the 20s line up of actors. The 4th gen is still fledgling but in another 5-6 years every other actor will be an idol actor. As it is rookie actors in the 20s haven’t being able to make a mark except for a handful like PBG, LDH and SK but LJW and KYD are far from being bankable actors. On the other hand idol actors like CEW, Rowoon and DO are thriving especially DO who excels in both movies and TV. Lets not forget Krystal, Hyeri, Seolhyun, IU basically dominate the 20s actress list. Only HSH is the relevant non idol actress but even she is still on the rise not fully established. Jisoo managed to snag a lead role in her first drama tomorrow it’ll be one of the BTS members and all the RV members are also slowly going into acting full time. The fashion industry is completely dominated by idols and actors are only the disposable backup minor models while the idols are the face of house and more.
@Jubeo Its true idols have become more visible in different fields but a part of the reason is that idols are mass produced like goods in a factory while actors aren’t. For every 100 new idols produced there will only be 1 rookie actor. Having said that its true the competition between idol and rookie actors is getting more fierce and this is especially visible for the actors in their 20s. Suzy, Hyeri and Sohee might be the same age but Suzy started her acting career 10 years ago and Hyeri about 6-7 years ago while Sohee only started acting in main roles 2-3 years ago so her growth is impressive but the other 2 are senior actresses to her in comparison. Actually the 91-93 line has either already left the 20s or will soon leave so the current competition for 20s is among the 94-97 line of actors because the 98-01 line is still ambigious and much too young. The problem is there are no big stand out actresses in this line but there are many impressive male leads like Kang, Eunwoo, Dohyun, Rowoon, Youngdae, Jaewook who have high buzz factor and are both popular and trendy with a large number of socmed followers. Of these only Dohyun has real talent, Kang is the ‘it’ boy and Eunwoo overpowers everyone in popularity so they would classify as the top 3 of the 20s actors for now. But still none of them is as impressive or memorable as Minho, Jongsuk, Woobin etc were just 7-8 years back which is why since nobody particularly stands out why not go with the ones with minor celebs over no-name rookies. The choice is logical and fair in many ways.
It is so sad how Korea isn’t nurturing it’s acting talent. I don’t agree about those late 20s female idols you listed (except for IU) dominate the actress list but it is true that there are fewer late 20s actresses around because so few were given leading roles and were passed over for all these useless idols to try to learn how to act on the job.
And the Kdrama industry wonder their ratings are so bad or why people are switching to streaming? There was an article recently about how Netflix prefers to cast talented young actors in lead rather than these talentless idols and that’s why their dramas have had such good results.
@Sunny – yeah the early 10s kdrama refusal to give lead roles to younger actresses (then early 20s) unless they were idols or known child actors, led to the late 80s/early 90s-born actresses being stuck in supporting roles and small projects for years unless they got lucky enough to be in a sleeper hit that finally got them considered for lead roles.
Shin Hye Sun, Chun Woo Hee, Kim Ji Won, Park Eun Bin, Lee Se Young, Jeon Yeo Bin, Esom…all spent 5 years or more in supporting roles. The only ones who made it to prestige project leads right away were actresses who made it in Chungmuro first eg Kim Go Eun, Kim Taeri, Lee Yoo Young etc.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Lee Junho in Red Sleeve.
But still bitter about nobody is talking about how good lee seyoung is.
Junho should be glad he was paired with a really amazing true actress.
Because of her, the pairing has explosive chemistry.
If his onscreen partner was either an idol or forgettable actress , he wouldn’t get recognition as much as he has now.
Sigh K dramaland should cast leads who match in acting intensity.
maybe bec it’s already a given that she’s good so people are not making a big deal out of it. I remember how good she was in kairos, really aced that role. That’s always usually the case — actress gets sidelined because male’s fans are more noisy lol
@halloo that’s not even remotely true. Suzy got all the love for architecture 101 LJH didn’t get anything. IU got all the love for HDL, KSH got all the love for WAYS2015 and even PSH got more love than JGS for YAB back in 2009. Actress fans are as crazy as actor fans. Being a good actor isn’t the hype being insanely gorgeous that people can’t take their eyes off you is the hype. That and the “je ne c’est pas” quality which all the other people have and LSY doesn’t. She’s never been popular even as a child actress she didn’t leave a deep impression.
His best drama for me is still Just Between Lovers and was paired with a rookie actress at that time. They had great chemistry that made the slow pacing bearable.
Chemistry needs two and you insinuating that Junho should be GLAD as if it also doesn’t work the same way around.
But agree that casting needs more consideration and more auditions.
@Weyu – Suzy and IU are idols, they get idol fans who hype them irrespective of how they’ve actually done (well at least IU is decent at acting anyway).
Actresses otoh have to be beyond flawless or hard carrying a show to get the same level of love as what their male leads would get. And also what are you saying about YAB, both leads got crazy popular off that drama why do you think Jang Geun Seok spent so many years afterwards playing different versions of that same character? Park Shin Hye got more popular than him off her subsequent dramas because those – unlike his post-YAB ones – did well or were well received. Kim So Hyun was far and away the biggest star in WAYS2015 and more skilled than either of her male leads (she was playing a double role ffs) but it’s highly unusual for child actresses to have a fanbase like her and Kim Yoojung at such a young age, they built that through activities like music show MCing and cfs which weren’t available to a previous generation of child actors.
And it’s not just Lee Se Young who gets left out of the success narrative of her own drama, I see similar tendencies here with Shin Min Ah, Kim Hye Yoon, Kim Ji Won, Park Min Young and Park Eun Bin, people really talk about non-idol actresses like they’re some decorations in their own drama and the male lead does all the work.
She’s alright in My Country and that drama she did with Nam Goong Min, both heavier genres so a romance drama won’t be too hard for her
Kdramas have completely run out of ideas, another romance webtoon adaptation? That too with this boring cast.
I haven’t seen the webtoon yet, so I don’t know how much of a challenge the character might interest Yim Si-wan. If Siwan agrees, Seolhyun can learn a lot more from Siwan.
you’re correct.
Seolhyun is so pretty. Will watch it just for that if they accept it
Why oh why does Seolhyun get lead roles? She is the worst idol actress around and doesn’t even deliver ratings. Who cares if she is pretty? There are lots of pretty actresses who can also act and deserve these parts over this flower vase.
AGREEEE never understood why she keeps on being cast as lead! I miss the wonderfully-acted kdramas before: nice guy, because this life is my first, oh my ghostess! Waaah and can i just say that idols kinda look alike sometimes i cant distinguish who from who anymore. And the way they bombard the news! Omg so many groups, they almost look, sound, the same! More acting/actor news pls!
Are you watching our beloved summer? Perfect example of how talented actors (not just flower vases) can really make a difference. It may not have high ratings in korea but it’s in the top 10 non-english tv show in netflix this week. Every episode is a gem.
Not Seoulhyun… She’s very pretty but so bland. Can SK producers stop giving main lead roles to idols who can’t act? I’m so sick of it.
Seolhyun is the worst of the popular idol actresses whereas Siwan is one of the best of the popular idol actors. What a mismatch. Sungjae and Chaeyeon are a much more interesting pairing.
Why Seolhyun?!
I hope Im Siwan works with another actress..
I liked Seolhyun in My Country and Awaken. She didn’t confirm for this drama and I don’t think they will before her drama with Lee Kwang-So, The Murderer’s Shopping List will be released.
I really love dramas outside of Seoul! Like Racket Boys, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, When the Weather is Fine, Top Star Yoo-Baek, etc. It’s so nice to see the countryside and the stories are more introspective.
Out of topic but I saw many people mention IU so I remembered getting surprised to know that a significant number of koreans don’t like her acting. I read a post before listing actors they avoid watching in dramas but otherwise they love outside of acting (not necessarily idols). She topped that list. Just surprising for me. I guess she’s really good at choosing projects and receives massive love from the gp that her works do well.
I don’t think Koreans exactly “love” Iu as an actress. She is very popular so her projects do well (although HDL was technically the only high-rated drama she has as a lead so far), but she isn’t some highly respected actress. That doesn’t matter though, she’ll get hype and roles anyway which talented actresses in their 20s won’t.
IU’s been around for a while but on international sites I didn’t see her getting love for her acting until My Mister though she was considered fine in The Producers. I actually thought she got too much grief in Moon Lovers. The PD had a fetish for those loooooong closeups and did her no favors as she can’t quite emote well enough.
My main issue with IU is she doesn’t bring the sizzle in romance centric dramas. Both her co-stars in ML did the heavy lifting in that regard.
Regardless she doesn’t seem to be able to do any wrong in Korea when it comes to her music so she’s living her best life.
Honestly I think IU is actually fine on the romance/chemistry front, she had good chemistry with all her onscreen love interests in Lee Soon Shin, Producers, Moon Lovers…she had absolutely scorching chemistry with Kang Haneul and that’s not the kind of thing an actor can create on his own even if he’s as talented as KHN so obviously IU was bringing something to the table there. And My Ajusshi wasn’t a romance drama anyway.
If this no-chemistry assessment is based on Hotel del Luna then I honestly think it’s more a problem with Yeo Jin Gu than IU, I’ve noticed that male actors who were former child stars/been acting since before puberty, seem to have a problem playing convincing romantic leads at first once they graduate to adult lead roles.
To be fair, I don’t think the lack of chemistry in HDL can be solely attributed to IU. Her chemistry with her male leads may not be of, say, PMY level, but I think all her pairings had some form of chemistry. Nothing spectacular but not terrible either. Hotel De Luna’s terrible chemistry was more on Yeo Jin Goo, he has mediocre to awful chemistry with his female leads in every romance drama he acts in.
@RoyalWe I agree. I think she had good chemistry with Wooyoung, Kim Soo Hyun, and Jo Jung Suk. In both Dream High and Producers, her pairing was not the main couple yet it drew more attention than Suzy-Soo Hyun and GHJ – Soo Hyun/Cha Tae Hyun in my opinion.
For both ML and HDL, I felt like IU had better chemistry with the second leads Lee Do Hyun and Kang Ha Neul over the mains, which took me out of the romance aspect of the plot. Korea really should do screen tests to avoid this.
@Len – absolutely agreed on IU having better chemistry with the 2ML in both Moon Lovers and HDL. At least in Moon Lovers she and Lee Jun Ki had chemistry in their own way even if it wasn’t the borderline steamy kind she had with KHN (nothing physically happens between them but I almost felt voyeuristic @some of their scenes it felt that intimate), I guess the more emotional vibe Lee Jun Ki had, helped with that.
But in HDL I realised I was looking forward to IU’s next outfit more than her next moment with YJG, which…isn’t ideal in a romance drama. He was good with Lee Se Young in The Crowned Clown but like I said, he has the same problem as Yoo Seung Ho – his romantic chemistry with female leads is mostly absent. At least YSH did have good chemistry with Chae Soo Bin in I’m Not A Robot though.
Oh and agreed on Producers, it’s easy to forget, looking back, that she was the 2FL – a position that rarely gets such important storylines or sympathetic treatment, but she really stole that show.
Even with a skilled writer like Park Ji Eun helping her it’s not easy to do that when your costars are Gong Hyo Jin, Kim Soo Hyun and Cha Tae Hyun!
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