Suzy Officially Declines Cheese in the Trap Leading Lady Offer, Webtoon Fans Let Out a Big Sigh of Relief
I noticed there’s quite a lot of Suzy posts happening recently around there, but then again there is a lot of Suzy happening going on in K-ent so one begets the other I suppose. All I can say is Suzy haters to the left please, or at least refrain from the solo “I hate Suzy” comments and add more substantive critiques, of which there are plenty I’m sure. I’m one of those ambivalent about her popularity and talent, I find her relatively harmless thanks to a natural effervescence and sweet charm, but asked to deliver in dense meaty acting projects and she stinks up the joint. So maybe Suzy only in small and light doses for me?
Suzy was all over the drama casting news cycle last week after being confirmed to have been offered the leading lady role in the upcoming tvN adaptation of popular college romance webtoon Cheese in the Trap, which already has leading man Park Hae Jin signed on. The typical response trajectory happened after Suzy’s offer went out – collective howls of outrage from netizens claiming she’s the worst choice EVER, official response that Suzy is merely considering the offer, and now comes the final bell as K-news is reporting that Suzy has officially declined the role. Well that was fast.
Any time a popular source material gets a drama or movie adaptation, fans of the original work get all hot and bothered by names floated for the lead roles that don’t fit the image of said characters. I’ve been there done that, but in this case I haven’t read the webtoon so have no feelings either way with Suzy being considered, other than generally bracing for her to be just alright on her best acting day. But let us not be myopic and forget the lessons of recent drama casting past, when sometimes netizen howls of outrage gets a supposedly perfect actress casting as a leading lady only to have the performance not work and the drama suck.
I’m of course talking about the K-adaptaion of Nodame Cantabile, called Tomorrow’s Cantabile, when netizens basically bum-rushed Yoona off the production and got their seemingly perfect Nodame in Shim Eun Kyung, only for the end result to totally not gel in any way. I suppose an ideal casting in paper is still a better starting point than a casting that seems way wrong on initial impression, but if Cheese in the Trap ends up with a female lead that doesn’t deliver then who knows if hindsight makes Suzy look like a way better choice. Last week also dropped news that Oh Yeon Seo and Chun Woo Hee were offered the same role but the agencies of both actresses denied those reports. I guess this means back to square one.
I’m glad she didn’t take it. Not because of her actings but because I feel relieve IF the show later not going well, people won’t blame her. Webtoon adaptation (except Misaeng) and most of korean remake not doing so good. Like it or not, in terms of ratings, korean viewers seem more into makjang dramas or old style rom com.
Looking at the ratings all the dramas got this year, Koreans don’t seem to be into anything these days. Even dramas with huge names attached to them barely reach 12% rating. IDK what is going on, but kdramas producers need to step up their game because things are just getting worse and worse each day.
I don’t know the problem either. Weekend dramas could at least has more than 10-15% but weekdays dramas very less compare to weekend dramas. Maybe because of people in their working days use online streaming through mobile/ smart phone, PC etc instead of watching TV. Or competition with cable channel’s dramas? Not sure. Makjang dramas or saeguk which nominated by parents have a bit better ratings though.
@Michaelcorleone – the streaming on phone thing could be one of the answers. Last month I checked some ratings for variety shows and they were all pretty bad, but the online ratings for the same shows, which count the streaming, reached even 40-45% in the ratings, so one of the issues seems to be the ever advancing technology.
Either Koreans are into Star World cable movies, or there’s really not much buzz or interesting young actresses that S.Korean entertainment can feature these days. If you tell me, all they’ve got the best is the likes of Suzy, hell no, now I know why those ratings keep jumping so low.
I see Koala is a fantard of Suzy, she keeps posting her polished-up photoshopped catalogue photos, when if you Google and search the Internet, the truth cant be hidden or sugar-coated, we’ve seen the worst of Suzy’s face. She’s simply fake beauty and engineered well by her master agency to push her upfront, but she will always come off as second rated, no where near those Hallyu stars that made it! I’ll bet Koala’s life on that.lol!
Seriously, such a repeat of the Nodame mess. Let the people making the drama decide and don’t pressure people to join this drama. I can get not wanting Suzy since she can’t really act, but they shouldn’t opposed to other actresses just because they aren’t the “perfect” fit. Sometimes people surprise you. But to me, fans of the webtoon are seriously overrating the depth of this character though. I don’t really see her as someone impossible for most to pull off.
Woot! Then I am back into watching this if they get a decent actress for the job, no idol please.
Anyway thses days ratings don’t reflect how good a particular drama is. So far this year alone there are some good dramas with poor ratings. I think Korean viewers are quite different from those outside the country.
Lol the writer doing this drama ,it’s said to be her first work,I feel bad for the actress who plays hung sul ,people are acting like it’s a life or death situation, go outside and get some fresh air.
Yeah, even if Cheese in the Trap turns out to be an unmitigated piece of crap, and the actress playing Hong-seol a disaster, I can’t see myself looking back and saying, “If only Suzy were here!” or even, “Might as well have settled for Suzy.” Sure, it would be ironic if all this ended up being much ado about nothing, and granted netizens take everything to unpleasant extremes, but at the end of the day, lowering standards so we don’t look stupid when things don’t work out is stupid in itself–it’s like giving up on the industry. Like, I grant Shim Eun-kyung was iffy in Tomorrow’s Cantabile (though she was the least of that drama’s problems, which were legion). But even so, why on earth should anyone settle for a pretty face like Yoona when they can have Shim Eun-kyung, one of the best actresses of her generation? Imo you’re losing before you start, that way.
Exactly. Why go for an inferior or just-passable actress when you have the chance to get a really good one instead, I mean does anyone think Yoona could have acted better than Shim Eun Kyung in Cantabile with the same script and PD? “They get lots of cfs” does not make them a good actor.
MTE! I rather have a talented actress offered the job than one who clearly can’t act.
No loss to the production, this.
But now I feel worried about the writer and pd who thought it was ok to offer a role like Hong Sul to someone at Susie’s acting level. What kind of drama are they making out of CITT, to even think this was a thing they should do? If this is going to be like the messy Cantabile role that was offered to Yoona and then Shim Eun Kyung, even the best actress can’t save more than a little bit of it.
It might be tvN pressuring them. Though if Lee Yoon-jung signs on as PD, making someone like Suzy watchable is not out of the question–she made things work with Yoon Eun-hye in Coffee Prince (don’t kill me, Koala!).
Jin Se Yeon, please
She’s already in something that’s airing at the same time.
I also heard really good reviews about her from her movie .I’d like to see it
The problem with the kdrama Nodame was not the cast (Joo won was still miscast) but the the script and that the creators did not understand the original material.
Yoona would have not been a good Nodame at all, in that casting Shim Eun Kyung was a good fit but the material was bad.
Suzy is not a good actress, I think they should accept small supporting roles and improve before taking on leading lady roles as she’s not simply good enough yet.
Exactly. I have never seen a Kdrama that was able to translate manga’s bizarre humor and zany character design successfully, and Nodame was no different. These are two very incompatible art forms.
Am I the only one who don’t think Oh Yeon Seo and Chun Woo Hee look like hung sul ? Why don’t they just go for goara?
No you’re not. I don’t think Oh Yeon Seo is Sul at all. As for Chun Woo Hee, she’s okay but the perfect casting for Sul to me is Go Ara as well! She looks so much like Sul and her acting has improved a lot from Reply 1994. Plus, she is the right age! Don’t know about chemistry, but looks-wise, she is compatible with Park Hae Jin.
fans of this webtoon need to understand that an adaptation is not a copy…
glad that suzy declined the role but I totally against if the production have to always listen to the netizens or fans to cast the lead
I am not sure if the Korean drama rating is a deciding factor by producers especially when more revenues can be made from drama sales to oversea countries. Maybe that’s why big name idols are casted due to popularity rather than acting skills.
korean drama has been exported to so many countries even before idols swarm this industry
let’s try to sign han groo or go ah sung or kang sora, please
Exactly, where is Han Groo?? I would love for her to be cast in this, she has the acting ability for the love of God.
Hmm, I think Suzy will be the perfect cast if the gender is reversed. She will perfectly pull off a rich sweet girl but slightly manipulative like Jung’s character. I think the reason she is a bad choice is more than physical appearance. She will always gives off ‘princess’ vibe so she’s more suited in character that is rich and a bit spoiled (like in the Big). Hong Sul is the typical candy who works part time job here and there (before meeting the-daddy-long-legs Jung) so it won’t suit her character.
I thing Sung Jae would be perfect playing Sul’s brother and Sulli would be perfect for Jooyoen or whatever girl who bullied Sul in the earlier manhwa.
As a fan of the webtoon series I am glad she didn’t take the part, not because I hate her, but because I think the actress who takes the role of Sul should be more tomboyish and chic. Suzy is kind of too girly for me (talking about her looks) and has the whole first-love kind of image, that she kind of clashes with Sul who is more of a awkward, not-too-pretty kind of girl.
suzty would sux away.she only good for looking pretty in front of the camra. the only one that will bring the char to life is chun woo hee.
hope she will get the lead role.
I have to admit I lost my interest in Suzy a while ago because I consider her acting as mediocre and she is still getting offers for (meaty) roles. She is sweet yes and got a lot of charm but I don’t think she can carry a drama on her own.
Dream High was a thing because it was a idol cast – except for Kim Soo Hyun – and she didn’t have to carry the whole drama on her own. I’m not saying she won’t be able to do so in the future but she needs to do a lot more than just riding on her popularity to get the roles.
For netizens… well netizens will be netizens I guess. lol