If Song Kang is the son of Netflix then maybe Go Min Si is becoming the daughter of Netflix on her own sweet time. It’s been a stellar summer for the actress as she has been in back-to-back Netflix K-drama hits, with Sweet Home 3 in July and now thriller The Frog in August. She was always great in SH but that’s an ensemble drama more in the horror and action front but it’s in The Frog where she’s getting the best reviews of her career as well as a breakthrough performance. She plays an actual psychopath killer and relishes every moment onscreen from all accounts, and the drama as well has a story that feels disjointed in the beginning but ties it all together in a satisfying way in the second half so is also doing well on Netflix streaming viewership. She’s had such a varied character career and after seeing her in The Frog I realize she could easily have also swapped roles with Kim Da Mi in The Witch as the two young actresses are just that versatile.
She did a good job with what she was given, though I thought her character wasn’t written with much depth. Actually, the show itself wasn’t very enjoyable to me. It started out intriguing albeit slow, then becomes increasingly illogical and didn’t live up to its potential in the end.
I have 3 more episodes to go, but my trajectory seems to match yours:intriguing to illogical and possibly unsatisfactory.
Go Minsi was great in Youth of May, if you guys haven’t watched, then do (sad show though). I haven’t completed The Frog yet (3 episodes to go), but from what I have seen, her character is without any depth besides being evil (not her fault, the role is written like that) and the only redeeming quality is that she’s hot! But still, I reserve my opinion for after I have watched the remainder of the show.
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I love Go Minsi. I think she’s the most talented actress of her age group. She is gorgeous (in a non-cookie cutter way) with versatile acting chops. Looks wise, she reminds me of a younger Kim Minhee.
She’s extremely talented but I’m noticing more and more how actresses don’t break out until they are almost 30. It’s clear now that the scripts for 20s actresses are really bad not allowing them room to grow and experiment. Increasingly I’m more invested in actresses in their 30s rather than the ones in their 20s. KDM and GMS are both incredibly talented and even though I strongly disliked the paper thin and disjointed writing for The Frog at least it allowed GMS her breakthrough and now I’m excited for KDM in Nine Puzzle.
It’s been an issue since the early 2010s, even in 2014 there were articles coming out about ‘why are there no young 20s actresses breaking out?’ – well, the answer was that the 20s actresses were right there but were mostly stuck in 2nd leads and supporting roles because kdrama producers didn’t want to take a chance on them because they weren’t a) idols or b) already famous child actresses. It’s not like there weren’t actresses who had the talent or the star potential, but they were just being ignored.
You got the odd one like Kim Go Eun who was able to get leads in dramas because she established herself in Chungmuro first (very rare for young women) but there’s no other explanation for why Kim Ji Won, Park Eun Bin, Lee Se Young, Jung So Min, Shin Hye Sun, Chun Woo Hee etc were shunted into second leads for years until they had surprise hit dramas that finally elevated them to leading lady status.
How is this bad exactly, I like that those under 30 ones are diversifying with roles other than than romance. Go minsi took a challenge here, respect to her, atleast she’s not doing the run of the mill romance some 30 something actresses seem to do.
@hachi – Actresses are not a strong business investment opposed to actor in K-ent, so they get much less scripts catered to them. Female-centric stories do not sell well. Attorney EAW was a meghit that apparently struggled with international sale.
It makes sense that actresses start breaking out in their 30s, when they’ve built up more of a track record that lets companies be more willing to invest in them.
@peanut gallery
You’re saying female-centric stories do not sell well, but there are Agency, Doctor Cha, Under queen’s umbrella, Knight flower, The Glory, Attorney Woo – all popular female centric dramas, made for one year. Some of them popular by international audience, other by korean audience.
I don’t know if actresses get less scripts than actors, it can be a deal, but there are Park Bo Young have 3 future dramas, Han Ji Min, Kim Da Mi, Suzy, Kim Go Eun, Park Eun Bin, Jo Bo Ah, Jisoo 2 future dramas each.
I’m agree with @Royal We comment, I think the problem is popular actresses get much more good scripts, while 20s actresses need to act in whatever offered to them before they would be lucky to film in some hit drama and be noticed there.
@peanut gallery
And the same thing with 20s actors. Most of the good scripts goes to already popular actors, while others need to play for a years second lead roles
@lmzouun
When romance genre become a bad thing? I’m so often noticing how people looking down on actresses acting in romance dramas, and looking up on actresses in any thriller drama, even if the plot in thriller drama not so good.
@Oleya1 – I am not saying female-centric stories say well. I’m quoting a series of interviews where industry insiders say female-centric stories do not sell well. EAW’s international rights sold at bottom price despite its success.
@peanut gallery
EAW aired on Netflix, and this is one of the most popular Netflix drama
@peanut gallery
I don’t know why this drama sold at a bottom price, but there are 10 remakes, webtoon, musical show, and talks about second season, so it would be strange that drama making all of this despite doesn’t have strong income.
@Olesya1: @peanutgallery is right that industry insiders say that female centric dramas don’t sell well overseas with a few exceptions or unless they have a hot male co-star. I’ve read a similar article. Dr Cha was another female-centric drama that they struggled to sell overseas despite its success in Korea.
I’m not saying I agree either but this is the prevailing opinion in the drama industry.
@Sunny
Ow, weird
@Royal Wen I can tell you why Kim GO Eun was able to do it, cuz she played a bold adult movie as her debut so producers and directors could see her in a different light than the other actresses who avoid any bold roles which the right mindset cuz they may end up in the same role and may be take advantage of, but why that didn’t happened with Kim Go Eun and was able to convince the producers that she could play other roles, cuz she talented YES or maybe she just not pretty enough to play adult roles.
@Merry: that’s nothing to be proud of. Just shows how misogynistic and exploitative the industry is of young women:that they have to get naked and film explicit scenes directed for the titillation of the male gaze to be taken “seriously”. Male actors don’t have to endure that kind of degrading treatment to succeed as actors.
Puh-lease. Anyone who’s ignorant on how KGE was cast on her first role just shut up. Also, she wouldn’t have succeeded if she wasn’t good in her subsequent films.
@Merry
Song Ji Hyo and Im Ji Yeon filmed in such movies too, can’t say it helped to their careers.
Don’t forget Kim Go Eun’s agency, the strongest agency in Korea. Yes, she’s a good actress, but it doesn’t mean her agency didn’t play a role to maintain her career.
Have been a fan of Go Min Si since watching the excellent ‘Youth of May’. The casting director deserves a bonus because they cast both GMS and Lee Do Hyun in their first leading roles in that drama. The director of The Frog said he cast her because of her performance in YofM too.
She hasn’t filmed that many new works over the last three years because filming the Sweet Home trilogy took up a lot of her time so I am really looking forward to where her career goes now that series has wrapped up.
I thought Lee Do Huyn’s first main role was in 18 Again?
I also loved Youth of May. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it!
@Nena: Well, technically, yes, but the headliner was Kim Ha Neul, followed by the actor who played the husband (apologies. Can’t remember his name) and then Lee Do Hyun. LDH was only third billed so was considered a supporting role on paper although in reality he was as much of a lead as anyone and carried the drama
the difference is that unlike Song Kang, Go Minsi actually has acting talent and quite a bit of it – if she’s Netflix’s kdrama ‘daughter’ it’s well earned.
I thought she had a lot of acting talent from seeing her in Sweet Home and Youth of May, and going back to rewatch her in The Witch because I didn’t know her back then. She doesn’t do female lead roles in idol romantic dramas so it makes sense why there’s not a lot of hype around her, but around actresses her age she is the few that is the full package.
@Royal We Kim Ji Won first lead role was fight for my way and she was 25 at time. ffmy received decent rating and choi aera was widely popular. not sure what do u mean by she was “shunted to second lead for yrs”
I think @Royal We meant that Kim Ji Won got decent acting skills when she was 21 yo, played Rachel Yoo in The Heirs. For 3 years after she didn’t get much offers and was almost forgotten before Kim Eun Sook called her for DOTS. Kim Ji Won said that she cried when KES called her, and KES said that KJW agreed to film without even knowing a script. And after that her career took off.
Comparing with nowadays actors it seems KJW got recognition in a young age. But she filmed as second lead for years, while at the same time audience complained about actresses without decent acting skills playing main leads.