Viewers will get to watch BLACKPINK’s Jisoo, Red Velvet’s Joy and Hello Venus’s ex-member Kwon Nara in 3 upcoming year-end K-dramas.
Although it is already the last month of 2021, the drama race on the Korean small screen is still exciting as ever. Among the soon-to-release series, 3 of them feature actresses who started out as Kpop idols. 2 dramas are even airing in the same time slot on 2 different TV stations, which means they will go head-to-head. Let’s take a look to see who these 3 female idols are.
Jisoo – Snowdrop
BLACKPINK in general or Jisoo in particular always attract much attention from the public and media channels. Therefore, Snowdrop, in which Jisoo plays the female lead for the first time in her career, has received much expectation since it was first introduced. Aside from those who look forward to Snowdrop’s release, the drama has come under objections from a part of the audience over accusations of distorting Korean history.
Regardless of the controversy, Snowdrop has fixed its schedule to air every Saturday – Sunday on JTBC, starting from December 18. The public is also waiting to see how Jisoo will perform as an actor. Jisoo is known for her flawless visuals but she did not have many opportunities to showcase her acting before.
With the controversial storyline and sensitive setting, it’s hard to say whether Snowdrop will earn good ratings in Korea. 2021 has not been a successful year for JTBC’s dramas either. Overall, Jisoo‘s female lead debut is promising but also worrisome.
Kwon Nara – Bulgasal: Immortal Souls
Former Hello Venus member Kwon Nara will be the one to confront Jisoo directly as her work Bulgasal: Immortal Souls will also air every Saturday – Sunday starting from December 18. This drama is considered tvN’s key project with an investment budget of 40 billion won.
In Bulgasal: Immortal Souls, Kwon Nara will play an immortal woman who became a human being thanks to tragic events she went through. This is a role that requires a lot of emotions as well as deep psychological development, which will be a big challenge for an idol-turned actress like Kwon Nara. In order to transform into the character, Kwon Nara has to make herself less beautiful with a messy appearance which looks much older than her real age.
Although Kwon Nara‘s acting skills are not that great, she is good at choosing suitable scripts. From the series Doctor Prisoner (2019) until now, all films she starred in exceeded 10%. Maybe Bulgasal: Immortal Souls will not be a blockbuster as expected, but it is likely to get higher ratings than Jisoo‘s Snowdrop.
Joy – The One And Only
Thus, Red Velvet‘s Joy has officially returned to the role of an actress with the drama “The One And Only” of JTBC. The most recent film project of this 25-year-old beauty is Love Game in 2018. Joy is a typical case of idol-actors who possess good looks but bad acting skills.
Perhaps for this reason, Joy‘s comeback did not receive too much attention or expectation. However, maybe this will be a good thing, because Joy will not be under pressure like when she first debuted as an actress. 3 years is also a long enough time for Joy to improve her acting skills.
The One And Only is scheduled to premiere on JTBC on December 20, 2021, and will air every Monday and Tuesday.
Although I didn’t expect too much, I still think Kwon Nara will be the one to get the best performance among the 3 in this December’s drama battle. However, Jisoo can completely achieve success with her debut film if her acting ability is good enough. As for Joy, I hope she has improved her skills over the past 3 years.
