So this was so long ago I forgot about it but it’s back in the news again. K-actor Lee Jong Seok was supposed to do Netflix romance drama See You Again with Kim Ji Won in 2018, and now an entertainment reporter is revealing that Lee Jong Seok dropped out of the drama the day before script reading was scheduled. The whole drama ended up being cancelled after. Lee Jong Seok’s side is saying he didn’t drop out and that drama was merely one of many he was still considering, but that’s hard to square away with an entire script reading with the full cast being scheduled if the male lead did not confirm with the production already. This news report goes on to point out that Lee Jong Seok has not done any streaming drama since then despite Netflix, Disney+, and many other streaming platforms getting so big in the intervening years. It’s unclear if the implication is that he’s been blackballed by Netflix and others or that he’s simply still old school and prefers dramas produced for terrestrial airing.
This topic created quite the ruckus on Korean community sites the past few days along with the way more interesting JDY-YJS drama. Its been a fun few days lol.
Anyway tbvh, never heard of the drama in question until it was dug up again. I follow neither actors so thats likely the reason. But whatever the case may have been in the past, its a fact that LJS has not done a drama since Mouth years ago. Not just on OTT, but even on cable or regular tv. He has nothing on the pipeline either – both on the TV and Film side. He was rumoured for 1 second which is a Disney+ exclusive but that rumor came and went months ago.
What JDY-YJS drama? What happened? YJS must be Yoo Jae Suk but who is JDY? There are so many Korean celebrities with those intials. Off to Google I go 🤔
Jeon do yeon, quite acclaimed. People said she was rude to yjs when she become his huest to promote her movie, and also shaded some actors. I haven’t watch the video to judge tho
@Sunny – Jeon Doyeon and Yoo Jaesuk, yes. tbh, its better to just watch the vid and read about it and make your own judgement. Personally, I agree with @Daisy. She is too much of a veteran to not know when she is being “authentic” and when it veers into “rude” territory. But I understand those who praise her for being honest. She has always come across as somewhat cold, so if I expected an A-list chungmuro actress to do this, it would have been her.
@Angrybirds I’ve read the discussions about it on another site, and apparently, older generation of top stars like JDY tend to have this superiority complex, thinking comedians like YJS and idols are beneath them. One commenter gave the example of a TVXQ and SNSD performance on some awards show during the height of their popularity, and the actors and actresses in the audience had this blank or downright disgusted expressions in their faces. I watched the videos of those performances, and yes, there’s this tension in the air lol. It’s no wonder JDY thought it’s okay to say something like that, she’s from that generation of top actors and she probably thought she was going to get away with it as everyone sees top actors as this gods and goddesses who can’t ever be criticized
Thanks for explaining @Yuhyi
Jeon Do Yeon is a highly acclaimed actress. Was not expecting her to get into a controversy with Yoo Jae Suk of all people! I need to watch the controversial interview to see if it’s as uncomfortable as people say. As an introvert I somewhat sympathise with her as not everyone is good at these variety interviews but YJS is usually really nice and good at bringing people out of their shell in his interviews so it is surprising. I have had a look at the article and comments now and apparently the way she spoke about the interview and YJS afterwards came across very rudely in Korean which made things worse.
I don’t think it will affect her personally because Chungmuro actors tend to get a pass due to their prestige. Plus her fame is based purely on talent as she is considered one of the best Korean actresses alive and not her “visuals” or variety persona or whatever. I guess her agency will avoid these types of solo interviews in future now or maybe only as cast interviews.
The JDY drama was so unnecessary and practically self destructive with her movie just releasing. You’d think for someone as veteran as her, she’d have the tact and the sense to I dunno… just let it go and fake it? Do it for the good of her image, her movie, her costars. Like it’s what she and everyone in the industry has been doing for decades lol. She must’ve been really triggered. It’s a very interesting controversy I have to say. I’ve been far more amused by it than LJS and his bad attitude which has been mentioned in the industry since his debut.
Yikes what an unfortunate situation. If he is being blackballed, I hope they give him a second chance since he brings in big ratings in his work. Netflix and Disney are competitors, so I see no reason Disney would turn him down for a Netflix beef unless he pissed off a HUGE investor.
Maybe fame got to his head. I remember there was a rumor he was dating one girl under his agency, and she was known as “His girl behind the scenes.” The whole article gave me the vibe that maybe fame got to him. However, he couldn’t be that bad with other names being named in articles by staff as celebrities with the worst attitude. But who knows?
Either way I hope to see him in a good drama soon. Amazon Prime should scoop him up for a little booster.
Actually LJS hasn’t had a “big ratings” drama since IHYV well over a decade ago. He does have some decent hits in the mid 2010 era (with over 15%) but it’s been a while.
I don’t believe the other rumours about how fame got to his head etc. It could be true but for now I’d give him the benefit of doubt as they’re all just baseless rumours. Anyways, I do think he should try Coupang Play too if he’s really blacklisted in major OTT. Im sure even terrestrial channels would happily have him but more to the point, potentially he’s just not into acting itself anymore…
@Caro – yeah LJS hasn’t had a ‘smash hit’ drama since IHYV but not a single actual flop despite the high number of dramas, which makes him basically unique in his age group and especially post-2020 when dramas with sub-5 percent ratings are normal.
(his dramas consistently got ratings into the teens/double digits and topped their time slots, Romance is a Bonus Book did well (>5%) for being on cable and Big Mouth got 13 percent ratings in 2022)
If he’s blacklisted from Netflix I get it, but who did he piss off to be blacklisted from Disney+ or other streamers too? That’s a very high level grudge.
Yep, LJS is hardly the top of the crop his fans think him to be. He’s always been rather mediocre on both his acting skills and his drama successes.
As for the controversy on his attitude, it’s been going around for years now. It’ll be interesting if he’s truly blacklisted because that’s likely the reason why he hasn’t been working on anything. These days, streaming is king and based on the rumours, he expects to be paid a LOT which CP or Terrestrial cannot afford for someone who’s not guaranteed to bring in the audience. As much guarantee as an actor can bring in anyway.
@Royal We – you’re right if you compare him with actors like YSY, YSJ, Joo Won, etc. He’s always on the decent side of ratings similar to LSG. But then if we talk KSH, SJK or even LMH, he’s definitely far off and hasn’t had anything mega since his breakout. I’d consider W a hit, but not Big Mouth. But anyway, the lack of huge hits hasn’t ever worked against him imo other than potentially being a factor in why none of other OTT platforms are willing to take the risk either. Obviously a small part to the bigger reason of him being unprofessional and having commitment issues. I never believe those rumours personally but it’s been persistent for a long time and that’s got to make some difference in how the industry perceives him.
And to top it all up I feel like if Netflix, the biggest streaming site in the world, blacklisted him for a well known reason, as a Disney exec, I’d feel it might not be in my best interest to cast him. High risk without the high potential of reward. Honestly I feel he isn’t that committed to his acting career. And if that’s the case, he’s had a pretty good run, I’d say!
@Caro – Kim Soo Hyun is in a league of his own, no one else even comes close and for the purpose of these comparisons but he is pickier with his dramas, he’s done six dramas since 2012 to LJS’ nine. And even LMH has not been free of flops, remember The King? Faith? Personal Taste? And he’s also currently got a drama that’s completed filming but can’t get a time slot or network/streamer despite starring him. (I didn’t consider SJK of the same age group as him because I assumed he was older but apparently they were only 4 years apart so I concede that…. and even he had Arthdal Chronicles)
@Royal We – okay sure, lets pull KSH out. He’s the KTR of the actors. Just keeping it to LMH – the point I was making isnt that LMH has had no flops, but that he’s had a lot of mega hits unlike LJS. There is BOF, Heirs, LOTBS. Those are 3 huge dramas whereas LJS only really has IHYV despite doing more. To counter myself, you’re correct if you say LJS is more consistent. LMH has had true flops whereas LJS doesn’t quite. And also I’m not comparing acting abilities here to be clear as LJS is a way better actor than LMH, let’s be honest. But on the success scale, I regard him much lower.
To me, LJS is more similar to LSG in success. LSG has in fact way more successful dramas in Brilliant Legacy, Gumiho and GFB, but he’s not had a huge one for a long time despite being in some well received ones. They’re both similar in success to me, and also somewhat forgotten due to how long they’ve been gone now.
@Caro I believe his only drama that crossed 15% was IHYV, most hover around 10%.
@Royal We
Ask the stars didn’t complete filming – LMH was in some AMR studio a month ago.
And Garage Lab, company which does teasers, posters etc for dramas, has Ask the stars in their list, with tvN as a client
@Olesya1, I think you mean ADR? If so, that’s not “filming” – it’s voice overs aka dubbing due to low voice quality during filming. Ask the Stars officially wrapped up shoot early last year and there is no official airing announced so it’s likely still being negotiated as all other official tvN dramas have always been announced in advance.
@RoyalWe & Caro, LMH is an interesting topic. I agree with you both overall but I think luck plays an huge part too. Despite picking some terrible scripts and managing to flop under KES, LMH is still somewhat relevant. I’ve always seen him as the flip coin opposite to JCW. Ask the Stars tho, after Eternal Monarch flopping and Pachinko being practically unknown in SK, feels like a crucial drama for him to stay relevant.
@Olesya1
Ask The Stars wrapped up filming in April, 2023 and has been on post production for over a year now whilst still looking for a firm investor. Where are you seeing that they are back to filming?
@Daisy
@Batterfly
Oh, sorry, I wasn’t correct. By “didn’t complete filming” I didn’t mean that they’re still filming on set, I mean that they’re still doing some work for a drama like dubbing and CGI work.
I don’t know how long that info about drama looking for a sponsor circulating online, but info about Ask the stars as tvN drama circulated since april-may 2024.
Company Garage Lab often puts out a document with a list of the dramas they are working on and the channels they are making dramas for, and Ask the stars was on this list as a tvN drama. I posted links to this information under Lee Min Ho’s article.
Maybe he is taking a break. Or sabbatical. Or dating very seriously. Who knows? Not everyone has similar ambitions.
But Big Mouth came out in 2022 on D+ so since 2018 isn’t entirely accurate
Big mouth was produced and aired on MBC. The article is talking about a netflix and disney+ produced drama.
Romance is a Bonus Book is also on Netflix but was produced by and aired on tvN. The topic is not about airing rights but on OTT produced exclusives like The Glory, Sweet Home, Moving, etc.
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Netflix and Disney do have blacklists for actors they won’t work with. Not sure how he landed on both lists due to one drama.
In the original article, an industry insider said he often haggles and bargain until the very end before finally signing the contract. If true, this could be a big turn off for production companies.
@peanut gallery: so interesting. I wonder who else is on the blacklist.
@Misty: If true, no wonder the foreign OTTs can’t be bothered with that when they have so many other options. Could you provide a link to the article please? I would like to read it
I do enjoy commenting on this blog but I wish 🐨 would provide links to the source material more often.
@Sunny Do you notice that there are some actors who never have any OTT originals or haven’t had any since the early years. Those are all blacklisted. If you notice there about 10-12 actors who are constantly in Disney/Netflix originals. Those are the royalty. It’s terrible what these global OTTs have done to the market and it’s not like they always produce good products. Most of what they produce is absolutely rubbish.
@Prim
I wonder who do you think is considered royalty? I really want to see what kind of drama they has at the bay
@Sunny, here’s the original article:
https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/003/0012708038
@Sunny I have a bad feeling Kim So Hyun is also blacklisted. For what reason, who knows? I stated my reason why I think so in another comment but my comment doesn’t appear yet
@Midnightsky Even I have the same feeling. It’s very weird that after Love alarm, she never got another neflix drama but I have heard that good boy is gonna be on netflix. It’s original release date was on October but now it’s november. Dk if it’s just a rumour or the truth.
Good Boy will air on 16th Nov according to most PPL blogs. There is a high chance for Netflix but unless there is a clear announcement from them don’t trust anything.
GB likely will be on D+, i remember there a list of D+ drama and GB is among it 🙁 it disappointed and make me ovt with the fact maybe Netflix blacklist KSH.
When the first time Netflix make original k-drama, she is one (and youngest) of those who got chance to meeting with their CEO. But look at today, she never work with them again. Even her other drama after LA, non of them air in Netflix.
@Misty: thank you for the article!
@Prim: I always thought it was by choice that they hadn’t worked on nay OTT projects. I never considered it would be due to a blacklist. My nosy self would love to know who was on it and what they did! 🤣
I agree the prevalence of OTT has definitely had very harmful impact on drama production including the unfair pay structures and low quality of much of the output…but to play devil’s advocate I think there are some positives such as creating more platforms for projects that could not get picked up by the traditional terrestrial channels and providing more opportunities to actors.
@Midnightsky: I remember you mentioned this on the other KSH post a few weeks ago. That is so baffling to me. KSH is so unproblematic and Love Alarm was one of NF Korea’s early hits. Maybe something behind the scenes with her agency? It is odd how Song Kang is Netflix royalty and they practically hand him roles despite his limited talent but they have paid KSH absolute dust since LA.
@Prim – ugh don’t even get me started with how much of the streamers’ output in any language – not just Korean – is utter rubbish.
Netflix originals might pay well but the kdramas, English dramas etc are often mediocre at best or unwatchable. Maybe once in a while they get a Squid Game or Stranger Things but now I always wait for reactions before starting any of their newer original dramas (sometimes they actually make good dramas like Moving or Call It Love but that’s not common), I have more trust in the Korean network shows that Netflix picks up for international streaming.
Moving is on Disney+ and Hulu, not Netflix.
I have never been a fan of his acting or his visuals(to the point I actively avoided his dramas) but he was very popular and has had quite a few hits so I wondered why he hasn’t acted in so long especially as his last drama ‘Big Mouth’ got double figure ratings. Interesting this is coming out now. I had no idea he did that to the drama with Kim Ji Won. There is no way he was only considering if they were set to do the full cast script reading the next day. That must have cost the production crew a lot of money. I wonder if he had to reimburse them too?
Kind of funny that after that Kim Ji Won joined the same agency as him in 2022 although LJS has since left. Speaking of agencies I have always wondered what exactly happened with his agency A-Man Project that led to him closing it down. It seems like it was kind of messy.
He sold it to his ex agency
Same! Not a fan of his visuals. I loved him in W with Han Hyo Joo but the rest of his dramas that I watched were just okay. Big Mouth had good ratings but not a fan of the writing. Attempting to be mysterious with back and forth conflict, but falls flat with a terrible ending.
I’m wondering why did article came out of the blue though? The timing with the breakup rumors with IU is strange.
There is a slew of young and upcoming actors. I’m sure OTT like Netflix and D+ have a lot of people to choose for their dramas. I’m sure actors have a hard time landing roles/ offers with a bigger pool but not as much demand to cater to it.
He’s cute, but his very obviously done nose is distracting lol. It looks very dated as that type of pinched-looking nose is very common to see in early 2010s kdramas
For anyone who followed big mouth, did he act off there apparently alot of yoona fans were pissed with him.
@Azure: It’s so random it came out of the blue. Although I saw another poster say he turned down the recent ‘One Second’ drama so may be that’s why they are suddenly talking about his career. But that drama was a Disney+ drama so it kind of contradicts the premise of this article as clearly an OTT did want to work with him! I wonder if the blacklist might just be Netflix?
@daisy: YES! That super plastic, too small pinched nose job is so off putting and very 2000s. Kim Dong Wook and Jung Kyung-Jo also have similar dated nose jobs but they are 40 and 41. Korean plastic surgery has improved a lot since so I am always surprised LJS got that kind of nose done as he is only 34.
The first still cuts for Park Bogum and Kim Sohyun’s drama are out 🙏
She looks so beautiful and badass (as always) but I wish they gave her side swept bangs instead or something. When I saw the still cuts in my IG feed, I literally thought it was from Serendipity’s Embrace because she has such similar hairstyles in both dramas. Sigh.
Also, speaking of KSH in relation to this post’s topic, I think KSH might be one of the actors and actresses blacklisted by Netflix. Back then, even Page Turner, Radio Romance, and Nightmare High were in my country’s Netflix, now it’s only Tale of Nokdu, Love Alarm, and her other dramas where she’s not the lead (like I Can Hear Your Voice and Moon Embracing the Sun).
My Lovely Liar, and especially Serendipity’s Embrace, look exactly like the kind of dramas Netflix would pick up, but they didn’t. Even Lovely Runner, which was originally on Viu, was recently picked up by Netflix in my country.
KSH also has never been offered another Netflix drama since Love Alarm season 2 ended three years ago. If she wasn’t blacklisted, surely, Netflix would’ve given her more offers, given that she delivered one of the platform’s early KDrama hits? I have no idea what the reason could be, tho. Could it be because Love Alarm season 2 had a lot of negative reviews? But it’s not like it’s KSH’s fault, she just played the character. Who knows what happened behind the scenes, but I’m 99% sure she’s blacklisted. Makes me sad as a fan, but I wish at least Disney Plus would pick up Good Boy. If they do, I’ll definitely get a subscription.
I wonder who the other blacklisted actors and actresses are.
Few days ago there’s also a news that he rejected or turned down Disney+ One Second drama. I thought he is already confirm bcs his casting news about this drama was out in April’24…M
He rejected One second?? Damn I was really excited about that drama. In the original webtoon characters were a little naive, but the plot about firefighters, about their work, psychological problems as ptsd, is very good for a drama.
I hope that the drama won’t be canceled, and they’ll find a good actor for the main role.
He has break up rumours with IU too, maybe he annoyed someone.
This news doesn’t surprise me, his interactions with fan during high kick era says it all, whilst his costar jiwon couldn’t be more sweet.
What did he do?
Not a fan of his visuals but his acting and script selection has been decent.
Curious if there were no legal repercussions of dropping last minute? With Netflix involved, I would assume a legal contract would have been signed before scheduling a formal script reading?
He may just be enjoying life now with all his money. Kinda feels like semi retirement to me. He has hardly had any activities in 2-3 years. In contrast, IU works nonstop.
I’m surprised by these news. As KJW fan I was excited about their casting rumors, but after that silence followed, so many of her fans (me as well) decided that both sides just declined the drama because they didn’t like script or something like that.
I read post about it from staff-worker, and if this is true, I can understand their frustration.
But I don’t like to point fingers without knowing info from other side, maybe something big happened at that time, that made him to decline that drama.
I doubt he was backlisted by OTT (by Disney+ at least), since he got offer to film in a Disney+ drama One second. If he’s backlisted, he wouldn’t get that offer at the first place.
And I doubt it has something to do with KJW, since he praised and recommended her drama MLN last year.
Ugh, I don’t know what to think. If this is a true, wasn’t cancelled because of serious reason, and just a part of his “diva behaviour”, I hope that “scandal” will help him to be more responsible in the future and don’t repeat it again.
If this isn’t true or he had his reasons to do it, I hope this scandal won’t affect him.
And as many others I couldn’t not notice, that these news came at the same time as his break up rumors. Interestingly, if this is a confidence or not.
*coincidence
yeah one bit of news ‘targeting’ him could be random or the truth but this dating back to 2018 and coming on the heels of that? definitely feels like an orchestrated campaign (who knows whether it’s justified or not). Like, if he was so problematic you would have expected to hear this when he first started dating IU since dating news is when everyone’s unrelated ‘scandals’ are rehashed or dug up to hate on some more. And it’s not like his last dramas have been flopping, he kept up a consistent string of successes all the way until Big Mouth.
as a KJW fan I was also bummed that that 2018 casting fell through but it was by the writer of Oh My Venus and I see I left a comment on koala’s 2018 post about LJS/KJW casting where I was not happy about that.
@Royal We
It reminded me of Kim Jung Hyun. His drama with Time happened in 2018, and after that people knew about his weird behaviour. He had two hit dramas after, CLOY as sml and Mr. Queen as ml.
And then dating rumors and scandal about Time in 2021. Turns out his agency didn’t want to let him go, but he was determined to leave them, so they did it.
About LJS, I didn’t hear such news about him in 2018. But I don’t know, that post from staff member sound realistic to me, as someone who wrote it had right to be mad. And his agency didn’t decline it completely, they said that he didn’t sign any documents for a drama.
And journalists on that naver article also sound convincing to me.
So I think it can be half truth half false with LJS. He annoyed someone, and they decided to bringing up his past controversies behaviour.
But maybe I’m too guided and just fell for someone’s trick, lol.
I dont even remember when did I start losing interest in his projects or even lack of them.
I wouldn’t remember him either if Koala had not posted this blog.
I was very fond of him in I Hear Your Voice that was one of the dramas turning me into a Kdrama fan.
Is he still relevant now? It seemed he went on a hiatus too while I took a break. LOL. This is so absurd. He used to be so popular. Perhaps he’s just fed up of celeb life and already has enough money to retire so early. Then that’s understandable and why not?
He definitely disappeared for a long time by Kdramaland standard..
I like him in his younger years of acting as in I Hear your voice or School 2O13 but not after .He was in the drama MOUSE in 2022 which had good ratings but wasn’t popular . As for Netflix,they have their faves some actors are good but others are only casted for the visuals . A lot of Netflix productions aren’t great . Including from other countries .
oh looks like he has really broken up with IU lol. The not so coincidental timing of this news being released right around the time when their breakup rumour is going around.