So the Joynews poll of over 200 industry insiders spanned many topics and the one on Top of Best K-drama actor/actress of 2024 is out. Topping the poll with a commanding 56 votes is Lovely Runner breakout Byun Woo Seok, cementing that he’s the real deal even among industry folks and not just viewers. Now I don’t think this vote is for best at acting per se but just the most impressive K-drama star this year. Second place goes to Jang Nara at 36 votes for her hit performance in Good Partner and close right behind in third place is Kim Soo Hyun delivering the biggest rating of the year with Queen of Tears. His QoT costar Kim Ji Won was in fourth spot with 26 votes, then a steep drop to 7 votes apiece for Song Kang Ho and Park Shin Hye tied for 5th.
The list makes absolute sense to me. And I agree with Koala too that this isn’t about the one who acted the best. Actor of the year is the one that made the biggest splash. From a break out perspective, BWS really took off from being unknown to reaching stardom. It’ll be the follow up that decides whether he can stay there, but he definitely got there. JN and KSH are both givens as they are well established and respected by the industry. And they had bonafide huge hits too.
I’m more surprised to not see KHY in the top 5. I thought she broke out too although in a much smaller capacity than her costar. But maybe looking back, her drama offers with Joy and Solomon aren’t exactly high tier. So these choices reflect that. Would love to see who comes out on top of Gallup this year. My bet’s definitely Kim Tae Ri based on timing, but it will be very interesting.
top 3 are expected but mmh airing too early in d year put pmy at a disadvantage in awards and polls like this since mmh is such a big hit on a weekday airing but keeps getting ignored. she could have been top 3 or 4 imo she had a bigger impact than psh even with 2 dramas. it’s recency bias which is too bad for the mmh team. they would be getting more reco if the drama was a summer one
love love kim ji won ! Hong haein is the most famous female character this year. she’s everywhere in tik tok, X , Ig and FB during qot even now after six months qot ended I still come across viral tweet about her. well deserved 🫶
I don’t agree with BWS. I think he’s in the category of couples of actors who shined together BWS-KYH, KSH-KJW, JHI-JSM, instead of giving a solo performance.
For the buzz, he clearly won over everybody. I hope he doesn’t feel too much pressure for his next role.
For me, the actors who shined in their role and elevated it :
– Jo Jung-suk in Captivating the King
– Jung Ryeo-won in The Midnight Romance in Hagwon
– Tae-goo Um in My Sweet Mobster
– Jang Dong-yoon in Like Flowers in Sand