This month in August 2023 K-actress Park Bo Young has a new movie out with Concrete Utopia, where she plays Park Seo Joon‘s wife as they deal with the aftermath of a major disaster in Seoul. With the promotion she has a new fashion pictorial for W Korea that I’m not sure if it was intentionally done in muted color tones with a drab grey backdrop. It could look like concrete jungle with the sun blocked out. It’s a nicely prepped concept and W Korea is known for being edgier.
PBY is cute and sweet but edgy doesn’t work for her. Despite being a great actress it feels like she’s peaked and stagnated already because of her physical appearance. SWDBS only worked because the concept was fresh but the writing was beyond terrible and PHS carried the whole drama. Looking at PBY makes one realize why actresses like JJS are more popular and versatile. Being tall, skinny and having an angular face makes a huge difference in the Korean industry. HSH too despite her gorgeous looks can do both cute, bubbly plain jane and badass girl crush plus everything else in between.
Can I ask who JJS is? Sorry, I’m bad with names 😅
Anyways, I agree with you. PBY’s extremely baby-faced looks can be a double-edged sword, for sure
Based on the descriptions, I think OP is talking about Jeon Jong Seo.
Disagree with this take completely. If that was the case, IU wouldn’t have a career either as she has the exact vibe PBY has.
PBY’s career is stagnant because she’s a pretty terrible script picker. Her dramas are badly written, often the same genre and have no actual depth. On top of that, she refuses to pick more challenging roles where she’d be the titular lead. She’d benefit from leading a sageuk, or pulling a SHJ and picking a female centric drama. It’s not an issue of looks or vibe, it’s also not a talent problem – instead she needs to challenge herself and not be another PMY.
Agree with you @Butterfly. If PBY’s cute and sweet looks are a career hindrance, then alot of Korean (and Chinese too) actresses are in trouble. Off top of my head, Kim Sohyun and Zhao Lusi give off the same feel. IU perpetually looks like a kid.
Hmm..for me PBY never looks mature always cute like a baby but IU has the soft edgy and jaded vibes and not just cute vibes. She’s also more versatile than PBY but I do agree about the script thing but its also a character thing. Mostly I don’t think PBY will ever be believable as a dark character but IU can do any role and sell it. Her small frame still managed to make those extravagant outfits in HDL look cool and fun but PBY just looks boring in high fashion like a child playing dress up. I don’t find her versatile as an actress and she isn’t very interesting to watch after a while.
Agree. Her choice of scripts is the reason her career has stagnated, not her looks. Because other actresses with similar cute vibes that were mentioned here have gotten bigger through the years despite the limitation of their young appearance. Her next Netflix project has her playing the central role, so maybe this could be a turning point.
@Dans
You’re just proving my point tho. IU is seen as someone who is able to do different types of roles because she chooses them. If she just did Dream High or Lee Soon Shin type roles for the past decade, no one’s gonna claim she can be anything more. She challenged herself and changed everyone’s opinion on her. That’s what PBY hasn’t done.
If you don’t find her versatile, that’s because she’s picked the same characters and roles again and again. She’s even picked the same genre – not just rom com, but rom-com fantasy. It’s literally wash, rinse, repeat. I’m not really trying to change anyone’s mind on her, but the reality is, she doesn’t lack talent and versatility whatsoever. What she lacks is a good eye for character and scripts. What she also lacks is the need to take on challenges.
@Butterfly This seems to be more a PBY problem than a script problem only. Even if her new drama ends up being good script wise doesn’t change the fact that she looks and acts exactly the same as all her other roles. I don’t see much variety in terms of her looks, roles or acting. No matter what she does she just gives puppy vibes and never deranged serial killer or sexy diva vibes.
She need a different look- a mature and sexier haircut, maybe short with no bangs . She have that same hairstyle since forever. She look so boring.
Just recently watched On Your Wedding Day, and oh my, she’s so pretty without bangs! I agree that she needs different styling. That hairstyle she’s always sporting makes her look like any other korean actress
Aw I remember loving her as Do Bong-soon so much in Strong Girl. I almost forgot her. Is she not popular now? Well, this thread reminds me to check out her dramas again.