So this is in the news but also has been denied swiftly so take it for what it’s worth. K-ent reported today that award winning top young actress Park Eun Bin is in talks for her next drama Hyper Knife and the more interesting thing is that her salary will be a whopping 300 million won per episode. That’s about $225K USD and is also a new record for K-actresses as the former top was 200 million won per episode going to the likes of Jeon Ji Hyun, Song Hye Kyo, et. al. Her agency has confirmed she is considering the drama but says the salary reports are false. The production team chimed in that talks are ongoing and hasn’t even gotten to the salary stage yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if that number was floated IMO but while I am happy for her if she gets the highest actress salary ever for a K-drama it’s just bad to keep inflation going so high.
There was another article saying the salary of certains actors was too much for some channels. I think it becomes complicated for public channels, they can’t compete with streming platforms like Netflix or Disney+.
But I’m happy that PEB is being recognized for her talent!
I just know I’m watching whatever she acts in. She has my trust when it comes to picking solid dramas.
Yes sir!
I’m not exactly a fan of her, but I’m very happy to see someone who’s actually talented and doesn’t rely on looks or popularity rise to A-listdom. I feel the same with Shin Hye Sun
If she can demand any more it would be now after 1 huge hit and another okay drama. We all know that valuation will go down when you are irrelevant, so she’ll have to be selective now w/ her projects.
She acts, she delivers, and she sings.
Worth every penny probably.
She acts, she delivers and she even sings.
And she doesn’t bank on conventional eye candy looks to get her delivery through
Worth every penny they pay out.
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This is a challenging project from the sound of things so it’s good for her to take on (irrespective of eventual quality) and also a project that should pay more considering the potential complexity.
I don’t really care for talks about how much someone makes. KSH also gets articles like these often. In the end, a production pays for what they think it’s work. Who cares as long as the final quality is good. I don’t care how much anyone makes other than if they are in my field of work.
Although actors and actresses make too much as it is (supply and demand, I know), if this is true, she’s one of those who earned her right to charge so much. She’s always been a good actress and I’m happy she’s finally getting the recognition she deserves.
Is that a lot of money? Nope! From business perspectives not from ordinary folks’ perspectives, the production must have calculated how much they can potentially profit by casting her as the FL. How many eps does the drama have? Taking 16 eps for example, that $225K USD offer sums up to $3.6 million USD. Many Western celebrities made way more than that for one public activity. And this salary is in the low-mid range of salary for NBA stars. So, why it’s not legit for a top-notch Korean actress to make less than western celebrities given how Kdrama is profitable nowadays. The production must have done their estimate to consider it’s worth an investment to pay her that much.
Salaries paid to celebrities have never been any news jolting ppl in the West. Ppl know how business works. It’s just part of economics that gets the free market work.
you cannot just think from a Western business perspective tho. $3.6 million USD might be peanuts for Hollywood/ NBA level, with their huge TV market and industry – but it probably makes a huge chunk of a Korean TV production budget. another article was talking about this exactly – local studios/ TV/ streaming services cannot compete with Netflix/ Disney/ Amazon money – it’s quite apparent from the fact that many dramas nowadays in KBS, SBS, MBC not sponsored by Netflix or Disney+ are fronted by younger, less experienced actors who probably charge a fraction of the cost
Yes, I looked at this from western perspectives. I have no idea how drama production works in SK but just considered how popular and profitable nowadays K dramas are in the international market. In other words, I considered K drama internationalized already and therefore legit to compare actors’ salaries with what their western counterparts earn in general.
yes your perspective works for a K-drama that is bankrolled by Netflix and Disney+ – not so much for dramas that are produced first domestically, then sold to international broadcasters. The following article actually talks about that disparity and how it is causing problems back home in Korea https://www.allkpop.com/article/2024/01/k-drama-industry-facing-a-crisis-as-actors-are-starting-to-demand-up-to-1-billion-krw-748000-usd-per-episode
This is interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing. If international streaming platforms threaten local productions of K dramas, yes, that may be something concerning. It’s better to have a very diverse entertainment market than monopoly. If good actors are only attracted to big budget projects financed by Netflix or Disney+ etc., K drama may gradually gravitate towards producing products that cater for international fans only, which isn’t necessarily good. Take the US for example, a lot of critically acclaimed films were indie, not coming out of secular Hollywood. Also, C-ent is prolly a bad example of low drama quality due to exorbitant pay actors demand, which might have left production teams with nearly empty pockets to cover good scripts, directing, and whatnot.
Also, I observed some Netflix-sponsored K dramas aren’t up my alley, not as appealing as some old Kdrama classics that I watched a few years ago regardless of genres. For example, Sweet Home, which I tried to watch but found too gross to my liking. Sweet Home is just like a very typical Western horror movie and the charm of K-thriller is completely missing in the series.
I’ll watch any of her dramas. Her acting speaks loud for her credibility and she has good eyes for interesting projects.
A project with her it’s a label of quality for me . If she can gain that, good for her . Nobody knows how many time a career is lasting . The older generation ( Song Hye Kyo, Gong Hyo Jin,..) have the chance to lead dramas since decades but it’s different for the new ones . One day it’s all about X and the other day it’s Y . Go girl, you worked hard since childhood . You own it .
She’s such a talented actress and always challenges herself with interesting roles. I’ve read higher (rumored) numbers floating around for the male actors, so I don’t mind if the actresses are finally closing the gap.
If any current actress deserves that salary, it’s her! Like others have stated she is famous because of her talent rather than her “visuals”. She has worked hard since childhood, is a genuinely talented actress, always takes on interesting roles and is coming off hit after hit after hit drama and has no controversies.