You know, when it comes to topics of Korean actors, we have heard comments that goes like,
“he always plays one kind of role”, “she’s always the same damsel in distress”, on
and on.
However, breaking out of a “designated character” may not always be welcomed, even if the actor
in question is madly popular.
So, today, let’s try to tackle several cases where our favorite actors and actresses may
have been victims of “typecasting” - aka, always being chosen to play the same roles.
Kim Woo Bin Ah, the dashing star of ‘School 2013’,
‘The Heirs’, and ‘Uncontrollably Fond’, Kim Woo Bin is finally coming back this April
in the highly anticipated omnibus series ‘Our Blues’.
The actor had previously gone on a very long hiatus to heal from thyroid cancer, so needless
to be said, his fans are super excited.
This time, Woo Bin’s playing a completely different type of character from his previous
roles - a mere regular person by the seaside who leads a simple life.
Looking back to the actor’s previous portrayals, you will notice huge differences: In ‘School
2013’, Woo Bin plays Heung Soo - a rebellious and angry student with a complicated past.
In ‘The Heirs’, he was Young Do - a rebellious and angry bully with a history with the male
lead.
Finally, in ‘Uncontrollably Fond’, he returned as an … rebellious student that
later turned into an angry celebrity, with a history with the female lead…
The actor himself confirmed that he knows of the resemblance in a recent interview with
Esquire, where he said: “The characters I’ve shown you in the past were a bit edgy
or angry, often with status”.
He also expressed that he’s glad to play a warm and bright character for once in Our
Blues, finally getting to shed his past image and letting the series “heal him”.
I have to say, Woo Bin’s facial features - with sharp eyes, square jaw, and eyebrows
that slant upwards, really give off a “bad boy” vibe.
This is perhaps why the actor is constantly invited to play harsh and grumpy roles, to
the point he’s actively trying to escape his old image.
Hopefully, Our Blues will be a huge success, so people may realize that “bad boy” or
not, the actor can be extremely gentle with his eye smiles.
Lee Joon Gi Dubbed “the prince of the historical and
action genre”, Lee Jun Ki is obviously well-known for his tragic vigilante image - to the point
that when the actor confirmed to star in the upcoming revenge series ‘Again My Life’,
there had been quite a popular meme his fans made to describe the situation.
Yes, ‘Again My Life’ is a revenge drama.
And yes, this is, what, Joon Gi’s fifth time playing a vengeful role?
The actor’s character is always tragic, mad, skilled in martial arts - as shown in
previous series, like ‘Flower of Evil’, ‘Iljimae’, ‘Moon Lovers’, ‘Arang
and the Mastrigate’, and like five others.
Throughout Joon Gi’s almost-20-year-career, he has only been a brighter character in the
2005 series ‘My Girl’, and while still tragic, somewhat optimistic in ‘Hero’.
Turns out, this entire “deep dark gloomy hero” image isn’t wholly the actor’s
choice.
In April 2017, Joon Gi had actually shared that he never gets offers to appear in romantic
comedies.
In particular, when asked why he hasn’t starred in any rom coms in the show ‘My
Ear’s Candy’, the actor answered, almost immediately: “It’s not that I haven’t
been in any, it’s that I don’t get any offer for romantic comedies.”
He explained: “I get a lot of hero fantasy projects, Because I’ve done a lot of action
scenes.
I think my image as an actor has become set as an action star in the eyes of many.
It’s frustrating, especially as I get older.”
So, there you have it, Joon Gi was actually type casted into the action hero image all
along.
It’s not that he always plays the same kind of roles, but rather, public opinion, directors
included, limit him to those roles, and this hasn’t changed, 4 years later.
Personally, I would love to see Joon Gi being a charming and funny romcom guy.
The webseries ‘7 First Kiss’ had given me a tiny piece of that, but frankly, it wasn’t
enough.
Ji Chang Wook Now, Ji Chang Wook is actually quite an oddball
in the list, seeing that he had played a wide variety of roles, going from selfish action
figures to simpler romcom guys, from ‘Healer’ and ‘The K2’ to ‘Lovestruck in the City’
and ‘Backstreet Rookie’.
However, you can notice some obvious distinctions between Chang Wook’s action series and his
lighter ones.
Namely, the ratings for the romcoms were way lower, while his action scenes always went
viral.
In fact, whenever Ji Chang Wook announces a new project, we can see comments quickly
stream in, asking if the actor is planning to return to the action genre, saying that
he’s better off doing action, and that he should be picking better…
action scripts.
The actor even announced himself that he found the impact of his action characters appeared
too strong, resulting in him intentionally avoiding the action genre in the future.
He also shared that becoming an action star had been “unintentional” for him, and
that only when a fan approached that the actor realized this had become his image.
So, ever since ‘Fabricated City’ - aka Ji Chang Wook’s final action work, the actor
has headed onto rom com lands.
Sadly, his attempts to reinvent his image had not been welcomed, with series like ‘Melting
Me Softly’ spotting ratings as low as 2%.
Hopefully, Chang Wook’s return with the music drama ‘The Sound of Magic’ will
finally be his big break out of the action genre.
And for fans who are still eagerly expecting cool moves from the actor, then good news:
Ji Chang Wook had just confirmed to star in the crime-action series ‘The Worst Evil’,
and may even be the villain this time around.
Song Hye Kyo Finally, we are getting to the only actress
on today’s list, and it’s none other than the gorgeous Song Hye Kyo, who have starred
in a vast number of famous Kdramas, including ‘Descendants of the Sun’, ‘Encounter’,
and most recently, ‘Now We Are Breaking Up’.
While regarded as one of the queens of melodrama, Song Hye Kyo is often considered unversatile
by many netizens.
They believe that since the actress has a fragile and sorrowful beauty look, she “always
tries to look pretty” and “doesn’t show much expressions”, resulting in “stiff”
and “soulless acting”.
People also pointed out strong resemblance between the many roles of Song Hye Kyo - seeing
that she was a tragic heroine in notable works, such as ‘‘That Winter, The Wind Blows’,
‘All In’, and ‘Autumn in My Heart’ “Years of acting, and not one villain or
mean character,” they said, “never choosing tough roles, or trying out other genres.”
To these netizens, the actress is always stuck in a loop of being tragic and beautiful with
“nothing memorable outside of her pretty cries”.
As a one-trick-pony in the public’s eye, Song Hye Kyo had been heavily criticized when
she was nominated for the Grand Prize at the 2021 SBS Drama Awards, with numerous commenters
asking why the actress is there, criticizing her performance, and mocking that this “isn’t
a popularity contest”.
However, it is not true that Song Hye Kyo always plays the tragic heroine in melodramas,
as a look into her filmography will tell you otherwise.
‘Full House’, the series that pushed Song Hye Kyo to stardom, had been more of a rom-com,
where the actress acted completely shamelessly and quirky instead of being “mere beautiful”
as some netizens had accused.
In ‘Hwang Jin Yi’, the actress had been a strong and empowering courtesan lady, and
this role of hers had got little to do with love.
But her attempts to change had been for naught, as the audience preferred the actress to be
their cute and tragic little lady, while producers contacted her again and again for melo roles.
In the end, Song Hye Kyo conceded, and an interview with news site Chosun in 2005, had
revealed her clear exhaustion.
“I was sick and tired of my roles,” the actress said, “To be frank, I played much
the same roles until I was cast as Su-yeon in 'All In.'
I was really bored, not to mention the audience.
I had a slightly different part in 'Sunshine of Love' in 2004, but I concluded that my
characters on TV will ultimately all be the same."
In a flash of good news though, Song Hye Kyo upcoming project ‘The Glory’, which she
will star alongside the young actor Lee Do Hyun, will be a nice change.
It will be a titling revenge-thriller drama, and maybe Song Hye Kyo will finally be able
to break out of her mold.
So, what are thoughts about these cases?
Do you think only playing one kind of role is a bad thing?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
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See ya!