I am so excited to hear about Lee Dong Wook's new drama, A Bittersweet Life in MBC. The most shocking, (at least for me) is that he is reunited with My Girl co-star, Park Si Yeon! Just when I was blogging about them yesterday!!! I don't know if I'll be happy to know that they are playing a couple again, but then I think its pretty cool that they got to work together again. Although I hope it would be Lee Da Hae.
Biases aside, LDW and PSY look good together too. They look like a perfect couple. Both are drop dead gorgeous!
"In the drama, Oh Yeon Soo and Jung Bo Seok are a married couple whose lives become complicated in mystery and drama with the appearance of the Lee Dong Wook–Park Shi Yeon couple. Lee Dong Wook’s character goes to Japan on a trip and chances to meet Oh Yeon Soo’s housewife character; the two “fall in passionate love.”
While filming in the snowy mountains of Hokkaido in February, he’d experienced temporary paralysis of the limbs and had difficulty breathing. “I saw white lights and thought, ‘I’m going to die like this,’” he added. It was the result of filming for eight hours in subzero temperature — 16 degrees below zero, Celsius — at an elevation of above 3,000 meters, and sent Lee Dong Wook to the hospital."
Just look at these photos of Han Chae Young and Jae Hee, the chemistry is there. The photos are from the Magic Show with HCY and JH. They really look good together on screen and off-screen! I am always comparing JH-HCY to Jae Hee and Han Ga In, and its really different. I also saw a kind of trailer video of Jae Hee's movie with Park Si Yeon entitled Single sitting on both sides of the Fence, and Si Yeon's beauty is just overpowering for Jae Hee's simple yet cute face.
Park Si Yeon looks better with Lee Dong Wook. Just like here in this video. They are presenting an award to Han Ye Seul. But then, I still love Lee Da Hae with Lee Dong Wook! :)
Check out Lee Da Hae and Lee Dong Wook presenting an award together at the MNET Music Festival last 2006! :)
Lee Da Hae is hitting the gym in preparation for her role in the high-budget drama East of Eden (Song Seung Heon, Yeon Jung Hoon, Lee Yeon Hee, Han Ji Hye). At 170 cm tall (about 5 foot 7), weighing a mere 47 kg (105 pounds) and known for her slim figure, she can’t possibly have any weight to lose, so she’s citing “flexibility” as her goal for embarking on her weight training regimen. (O…kay?)
She’s not focusing on aerobic workouts, but apparently is spending two to three hours a day working on strength training to build up muscle tone (earning her the nickname “ab princess”). A worthy effort, I’m sure, but that’s a bit excessive, isn’t it? Almost to Kim Haneul-esque proportions. Her management explained her need to get fit by saying she’s hasn’t taken proper care in the past; she’s even once gone to the emergency room from overwork.
Her role in East of Eden comes six months following her previous drama, the disappointing melodrama Robbers opposite Jang Hyuk. EOE, which is set to air in August, will show her as a “mature and strong” femme fatale. A bit of a departure for her, but as much as I enjoyed her liveliness in My Girl, I think the girl has an unfortunate tendency to ham it up to excess in comedies, and have always thought she was at her best when dialing it down. This might be an interesting turn for her. (Now, if only I found the drama the least bit appealing…)
I’ll admit I don’t really care so much about this news, but the pictures sure are pretty — they’re so bright and lively and candy-colored.
Korea’s “Barbie Doll” (so noted for her tall, leggy and well-endowed proportions) Han Chae Young (Delightful Girl Chun Hyang, Fireworks) is joining the celebrity trend and launching her own clothing brand, to be called RACHEL HAN’S (Rachel is, I believe, her American name from her days living in the States). Not the most creative appellation, but I’m sure nobody’s looking at Hancy to critique her word choices. Her line will be produced in conjunction with online retailer G Market.
After getting married last year, Han Chae Young made her theatrical debut in the stage play Awkward People; after acting in Are You With the One You Love? and Lovers, she’s not currently attached to any projects.
Perfectionist: I love Han Chae Young. Yes she's plastic. But a stunning and beautiful one! Whenever people would comment on how plastic her beauty is, well I think they're just jealous because she looks good.
So she launched her own clothing line too? Joining the bandwagon just like co-star, Jae Hee. I hope for its success!
Jae Hee (Delightful Girl Chun Hyang, Three Dads One Mom) and Yoo Ah In (Strongest Chil Woo, Boys of Tomorrow) have just opened up a fashion business together. Ballsy move, considering the various hits and misses they’ve had — or rather, that Jae Hee has had, since I’m not too familiar with Yoo Ah In.
(I mean, I love the guy, but man does he have styling issues. It’s not just in his dramas — although he’s drawn some major duds in his acting roles too — but in his candid shots I’m just glad to see him looking relatively normal and not like he’s doing his best impression of a gender-confused alien idol star. Remember how his character had that inexplicable fondness for flowy pink scarves in Witch Amusement? Or the Front-Butt Pants of Doom? And y’all know how I love me my Jae Hee so it’s not just idle snark kicking in.)
Perhaps that’s why I’m not much surprised to read that their Levlife line offers “not only male fashions, but also women’s items, clothing, and various accessories.” (Stick to what you know?) The two actors will not merely be lending their names to the line, but actively be involved in the buying and designing of various items.
Perfectionist: Its nice that Jae Hee still looks normal in his life but I am not personally fond of him venturing into fashion. I mean that career move is typical for WOMEN! Oh please, don't tell me he's gay, and I pray that he's not gay. Sure, his line offers men's fashion. But gays and girls do the fashion thing of designing. Or am I too discriminative?
Well that is what I have observed so far!!!! Okay, let's just think that this fashion line is another source of income for Jae Hee. Just make more dramas please.
While at work filming his current KBS series Three Dads, One Mom on May 11, Jae Hee was injured and required nine stitches. Ironically, the scene he was shooting took place in a hospital.
In the scene, Kyung Tae (Shin Sung Rok’s character) is stabbed and Jae Hee’s character rushes him to the emergency room. While waiting for his friend’s surgery results, he becomes overcome with anger and strikes a wall in frustration.
Apparently Jae Hee was a little too immersed in his work and hit the wall with too much force, “tearing his hand.” Luckily, he didn’t have to travel far to receive emergency treatment, and received nine stitches.
But rather than taking time off for his injury, Jae Hee continued with the shoot. Neither is this the first time he’s displayed his serious work ethic; previously, he’d injured an arm in a bicycle chase scene (lol) and continued filming despite it.
Jae Hee’s always seemed like an actor who takes his job extremely seriously (despite some unfortunate role selections), so I’m not too surprised to hear this, although nine stitches? In one hand? Yeesh. It’s just too bad the two actors immersing themselves into this drama can’t make up for the other two who aren’t.
Perfectionist: Poor Jae Hee! After reading this article, you have an idea on how professional he is! Aja! I love him. Though he's not yet a SUPERSTAR today, he would be, SOON! He's got the work ethics for it. :)
The actor recently starred in the film GP506 (which the above pic is from; it’s not a real army pic) and currently stars in the new drama Three Dads, One Mom (for which I’m holding off judgment till I see the second episode — I wasn’t wowed by the first, but first episodes are so unpredictable).
He recently began his military service on the 1st, but has now just been released from training after only four days. That in itself is not terribly strange:
“According to military service law, if one is found to be unfit for active duty following a physical examination, due to disease or mental or physical disorder, or requires more than fifteen days’ recovery time for said condition, said person may be dismissed.”
What IS weird, though, is the fact that is just becoming known that Jo Hyun Jae left in the middle of filming a drama to enlist in his military service — and upon his dismissal after four days, immediately returned to filming. Something’s fishy over in Three Dads territory. (I don’t know the specifics of Three Dads, but generally a drama begins filming anywhere from a month to several months in advance. A trendy drama that doesn’t require excessive preparation — unlike, say, an epic or high-budget production like Legend — may typically have about eight episodes completed when the series begins airing. It is definitely weird to have started military service in the middle of a project.)
The situation is starting to stir up lots of suspicion and criticism — if he suffers from a severe enough condition to prevent him from training, how can he be fit enough to film a drama? — which is not helped by the fact that the drama producers have offered “no explanation, and have evaded questions” about the topic. Furthermore, prior to Jo’s enlistment, the producers had been unusually hush-hush about his impending service date.
Some of Jo Hyun Jae’s fans are supporting their star, casting aspersions on the validity of the news reports, but a majority of them agree that things look suspicious.
The mandatory-military-service topic is always a source of major debate, and a definite hot-button issue. Everyone knows that effing around with draft-dodging schemes in Korea is serious, career-damaging (if not career-ending) business. Methinks he’s got some ’splainin’ to do.
Perfectionist: OMG. What is Jo Hyun Jae up to? This is my first time to read something like this. I think he should explain ASAP, and it should be a pretty good explaining!
Finally caught the first two episodes of the new KBS Wednesday-Thursday drama Three Dads, One Mom, and have a bit of a mixed reaction. On one hand, there’s a very cute quality to the drama, helped in no small part by its appealing cast — and while they’re not quite superstar-famous, all four main cast members are fairly established and known names.
There are some things I like about the series and the setup; there are other things I don’t. Right now, I’m not sure which way the balance tilts. Eugene is adorably gorgeous as the one mom amidst three possible dads, best-friend bachelors played by Jo Hyun Jae, Jae Hee, and Shin Sung Rok. Their interactions, laced with a healthy dose of good-natured male camaraderie, are one of the more appealing aspects of the drama for me. I’ll wait to see how things develop before making a final judgment; for now, I plan to catch a few more episodes.
Simple setup: Start with four best friends who’ve grown up together since childhood.
Despite growing into vastly differing personalities, the four have stuck together all these years into adulthood.
SUNG MIN was the first to fall in love, and married his sweetheart NA YOUNG (played by Eugene). He’s perhaps the most emotionally mature of the four, and also the sweet-tempered one. He dotes on his wife, and she returns his affection wholeheartedly. Both have had somewhat tough childhoods, which heightens Na Young’s desire to become a mother and have a loving family of her own.
Sung Min’s best friends are all single and live together in their messy bachelor pad: SU HYUN (Jo Hyun Jae) is the good-looking, money-obsessed financial manager working in stocks and bonds. He’d like to marry and settle down in theory, although he’s never met anyone worth settling down for. Stingy bastard.
KWANG HEE (Jae Hee) is a manhwa artist who doesn’t believe in settling down and is always seeing one woman after another. Smooth (and fast) talker, somewhat irresponsible.
KYUNG TAE is the hotheaded cop, a little dumb on the outside but softhearted on the inside. He goes by two last names, Na Hwang, in a strange (to Korea) practice of observing his mother’s maiden name (Hwang) along with his father’s family name (Na). That should tell you all about him right there. He’s the sloppiest eater and the messiest dresser, but the kindest in heart.
THE STORY
Na Young mostly likes her husband’s three best friends, but they try her patience constantly by making a mess of her home playing poker all night, dragging Sung Min out with them drinking, and generally being well-meaning but insensitive. And vice versa — the guys like her and think she’s a good match for Sung Min, but she’s kinda naggy.
Na Young desperately wants to become a mother, but attempts at conception have failed. Lately her frustration has her fighting with Sung Min because while he’s accepted that they’re probably not going to be able to have children (he’s sterile, having no sperm), she wants to exhaust their possibilities and see doctor after doctor. He’s being realistic, but she interprets it as not taking her seriously.
Sung Min talks over his problem with his friends, who offer suggestions. They could adopt, or go to a sperm bank, but those are deemed out of the question. Sung Min off-handedly mutters that it’s too bad he can’t use his friends’ sperm… which gives him the brilliant idea to use his friends’ sperm. He knows them all personally and can vouch for their character. They won’t tell Na Young, naturally, and the baby will be raised as his. He won’t make demands afterward or dump them with fatherly responsibility. Furthermore, nobody will ever need to know whose sperm of the three was used. No burden. Su Hyun, Kwang Hee, and Kyung Tae — cheerfully drunk — agree. When they sober up, they’re horrified because they don’t really want to go along with it.
Sung Min, feeling desperate (Na Young is growing despondent, and he doesn’t want to lose her), pleads with each in turn go along and donate his sperm. Finally, they’re guilt-tripped into agreeing, and drag their feet to the clinic to make their donations. Sung Min has told Na Young he wants to see the doctor for one more try at insemination, and she happily agrees.
After the friends leave the clinic, they brood — each has the fear that fathering a child now will come back to bite them later, despite Sung Min’s assurances to the contrary. They call Sung Min and tell him they can’t go through with it: Rescind the decision! Sung Min concedes, to their relief — but then grimly progresses with his plan.
Na Young becomes pregnant (I’m assuming in vitro fertilization), blissfully unaware of the baby’s true parentage. Sung Min’s friends are suspicious about the timing and demand to know if he used their sperm; Sung Min insists (nervously) that the baby is his own, which is why they’re calling her/him Ha Sun, “gift from heaven.”
But about six months into the pregnancy, Sung Min is killed in a car accident, leaving behind a bereaved wife and three devastated friends.
For once, the guys think of Na Young’s welfare before themselves — she’s alone, pregnant, and completely overwhelmed. She has a hard time keeping herself together, much less taking care of closing bank accounts and official death-related administrative tasks. The guys promise to handle everything for her, and find among Sung Min’s things a DVD. It’s labeled for his unborn baby, and the friends watch Sung Min’s self-videoed clip. Onscreen, the three friends interrupt the video; after they’ve left, Sung Min resumes taping, now a little tipsy.
Sung Min tells the video that the baby’s three “uncles” are his best friends, people whom the baby should consider with the same regard as a father. He alludes to the uncles’ “priceless gift” without which the baby never could have been born — and they realize with dread that Sung Min must have used their sperm.
Perhaps as a corollary to this discussion of why ratings are important, for better or for worse (usually for worse), here’s an article that discusses one such ramification: actors who come attached with high price tags that the drama then is unable to recoup when a drama flops in the ratings.
(One thing to note: Despite the high numbers listed, Korean actors find most of their paychecks going to management companies, as actress Choi Jin-shil recently gained attention for mentioning. In the U.S., agents are only allowed to take 10% — though more fees get siphoned off to managers, publicists, lawyers, and the like — but that percentage is much higher for Korean celebs.)
Even if a drama flops, stars’ asking prices continue to soar. It’s not as though market theory applies, and those prices keep rising, defying logic. Even when a drama meets with crushing failure, hurting the production company behind it, a star’s fee still climbs.
However, fees for actors cast in lead roles still skyrocket. These days, star actors are earning close to hundreds of millions of won per episode. A drama role that earned a star 2 million won [approx. $2,000] per episode in 1997 now brings in anywhere from 20 million to 100 million won [$20,000 to $100,000]. At an increase of ten to fifty times its former price in the last ten years, this is an astronomical pay hike.
For a star with a moderately recognizable name, a per-episode fee can be from 30 to 50 million won [$30,000 to $50,000]. For top stars, that number now is in the 100 million [$100,000] range.
Recently, Park Shin-yang attracted much attention for his asking price. He’d demanded his fee for War of Money up front from production company Lee Kim Productions for the drama’s four-episode extension, a total of 620 million won [$620,000]. This amount converts to a per-episode price of 155,000 million won [$155,000]. That may be the fee for bonus episodes, but the fee for each episode [in the rest of the series] is still more than 100 million won [$100,000].
Thus stars’ fees continue to climb without regard to how well a drama performs. Of the dramas this year, there have been far more flops than successes.
Robbers, Who Are You?
These days, the production environment for dramas is sliding into extreme decline. Although the star fees rise, there is a rapid decrease in those willing to invest or enter into product placement agreements.
Furthermore, production costs are shooting up, and aside from a few exceptions, there are numerous dramas that pull in ratings still in the single digits. For that reason, there are some outside production houses that produce one or two dramas, then die out. Here are symptoms of Hallyu beginning to wane, and our drama structure is heading toward deterioration.
In such a serious situation, our film and then drama markets may fall into decline, giving rise to the argument that the drama market is headed for crisis point.
Kim Seung-soo, secretary-general of the Production Company and Drama Producers Association, said, “We can no longer handle these soaring actors’ fees. If we let this problem continue, the drama industry will collapse. We’re even discussing among our membership if we can figure out a way to bind the fees for actors to 20 million won [$20,000] per episode.”
It seems that the general consensus is that star fees are too high. Recently, a poll on a portal site posed that question, and among the 1,621 respondents, 95.3% felt that the prices were too high, 2.7% felt it was reasonable, and only 1.4% felt they were low. from dramabeans
Perfectionist: Awww. Does that mean that there would be less Korean dramas produced??? Andwe!!!
I read this on a forum while looking for Song Hye Kyo's photos. Just click on the link.
Fanzine Reveals Inner Workings of Korean Soaps (2007/05/09)
The Korean Wave is ebbing, and the backlash is under way. Viewers in the Asian countries that could not get enough of Korean soaps at one stage are now complaining about their monotonous plots and off-the-rack characterization. Critics say the formula is becoming an obstacle to the further development of the Korean pop culture wave. Now, even a Japanese magazine for fans of the Korean Wave has laid out elements of the formula for its readers. "We can predict what will happen in any scene of Korean drama, like fortunetellers", it said. "Perhaps Korean drama has a mysterious power that enables us to make predictions". Here are its seven iron rules of Korean soaps.
1. Ordinary girl falls in love with business big shot
This is the standard storyline in Korean dramas. Hero owns conglomerate, heroine is a common office worker or an ordinary woman. How about this: Heroine is trying on clothes in a luxury boutique. Hero watches her, sitting on a chair with his hand on his chin. He smiles at her and slightly shakes his index finger, to indicate "no" for an item she's trying on
2. Angry guy
When a male character is angry, his face is always seen in a mirror or window. Without exception, he then proceeds to break the mirror or window.
3. Very young executive
In both Korea and Japan, most executives are over 50. But in Korean soaps, many business executives are young and hunky. Even staffers' girlfriends fall in love with them.
4. All doctors are surgeons
In Korean medical dramas, there are no doctors except surgeons. Internists and ear, nose and throat specialists may not like it, but it is so. If the lead is a doctor, he or she always becomes terminally ill but keeps quiet about it. And you thought early diagnosis and treatment were basic principles of medical service.
5. Fortuitous cabs
The heroes in Korean soaps have an uncanny ability to catch a cab in a timely manner. In any emergency, a cab just happens to pass. Or maybe it's the cab drivers who have the power of foresight?
6. Weather forecasts are always wrong
Heroine is soaked in unexpected shower due to wrong weather forecasts. Hero appears in front of her carrying -- an umbrella!
7. Mobile phones
No matter how poor they are, the protagonists have an expensive mobile phone. Most cost some W700,000 (US$1=W923).
Hahaha. Well this is entertaining. Some are true, namely 1, 3, 5 and 7. But for the no. 1 formula, Witch Yoo Hee was a change, because she was the rich one among the leads.
And yes, the cabs are always there for them, Haha! I didn't notice that!
I guess these formulas are what makes us love Korean dramas when we first get a hold of them. But the more you watch Korean dramas, you get a hold of reality, and realize that they are just that, KOREAN DRAMAS.
Ordinary circumstances in our lives which are bloated with dramas, to attract more viewers. The drama added to these dramas deviate us from what is real. I'm sure girls out there would want to have a Korean drama type of love story, but the sad case is that there is none. Its just drama, with the purpose of entertaining. These dramas become an outlet of the directors/scriptwriters' imagination and creativity, with the Korean touch of lifestyle and decision making.
Out of boredom and fascination,
I give to you my reflections, thoughts and frustrations about Korean dramas. Don't we just love them?
Or if you don't then I guess you think you're so cool then?
You would also find in this blog, stuffs related to Korean dramas.
My favorite Korean actresses are:
Han Chae Young,
Lee Da Hae,
Han Ga In,
Song Hye Kyo and
Jeon Ji Hyun
For Korean actors, I love:
Jae Hee,
Jo Hyun Jae,
Lee Dong Wook,
Dennis Oh and
Daniel Henney
So don't be surprised if you see lots of stuffs about them here at my blog.
