5 idols who succeeded with historical dramas in 2021 (ft. SNSD Yuri, ASTRO Rowoon, 2PM Junho, etc.)
Let’s look through some idols who caught the attention with their historical drama characters in 2021.
For the first time after 4 years, 2021 finally noticed an impressive breakout for historical dramas. Although these works were still not as successful as that of 2016 the times before, this is still a positive signal for fans of this genre. Surprisingly, most historical series revealed this year had idol actors play the main characters. This has also proved the improvement of idol actors’ acting. Let’s look through some idols who caught the attention with their historical drama characters in 2021.
Kim Myung Soo
“Royal Secret Agent” was Kim Myung Soo’s last drama before enlisting in the military. At first, the viewers didn’t expect much for this work but after more episodes were aired the story became more interesting. Starting with a low viewership figure of 5% for its first episode, “Royal Secret Agent” ratings kept increasing throughout its broadcasts and ended with the highest peak of 14%, making the average rating of the whole series reach 8.119%.
With this result, “Royal Secret Agent” became one of KBS2’s dramas that have the highest ratings this year. Apart from getting compliments for his visual, Kim Myung Soo was also recognized for his natural and witty acting in this work. Moreover, “Royal Secret Agent” has also become the most memorable work in Kim Myung Soo’s filmography, helping him maintain his reputation during his enlistment period.
Kwon Nara
Working together with Kim Myung Soo in “Royal Secret Agent”, Kwon Nara, a former member of Hello Venus, is also another impressive idol actor this year. Kwon Nara rose to stardom after playing the second female lead in Itaewon Class (2020). In “Royal Secret Agent”, she gained even more attention from the viewers for her performances that proved her improved acting skill.
Boasting great teamwork with Kim Myung Soo and actor Lee Yi Kyung, the trio of “Royal Secret Agent” left a huge impression on the small-screen viewers in 2021. The fact that “Royal Secret Agent” recorded positive results also proved Kwon Nara’s potential as an actor who can choose good characters and good scripts.
Kwon Yuri
Kwon Yuri (SNSD) also earned splendid achievements thanks to the 2021 historical drama she participated in. Though it was her first time challenging herself with the historical drama genre, this 32-year-old beauty has impressed all audiences since episode 1 with her beautiful appearance and great acting skill. Expressing emotions through eyes used to be Kwon Yuri’s weakness but in “Bossam”, she has finally mastered this ‘eye acting’ method.
In addition, her collaboration with the male lead actor Jung Il-woo also received many praises. “Bossam” recorded the highest rating in the history of MBN dramas with its last episode reaching 9.759% and Kwon Yuri’s excellent acting was one of the keys to this success.
Rowoon
With a very lovely role in “The King’s Affection”, which is airing on KBS2, Rowoon – a member of SF9 for the first time has a drama with a double-digit rating in his career. Episode 13 of The King’s Affection aired last week has excellently achieved a rating of 10% and becomes one of the rare KBS2 mini-series to do so in 2021.
Rowoon’s acting ability in The King’s Affection is also not great, but has improved a lot compared to the previous films and makes the audience feel comfortable watching him perform. Rowoon’s historical image is also handsome beyond imagination and has received many compliments from the public at home and abroad. It seems that this guy is more suitable for historical dramas than modern ones.
Lee Jun Ho
Since entering the acting field in 2013, Lee Jun Ho – a member of 2PM has always been highly appreciated for his acting skills. After about 8 years of cultivation and effort, Lee Jun Ho is gradually stepping up to higher levels in his acting career and he is realizing it with the drama “Red Sleeve“. This is a well-invested historical drama of MBC and it is bringing positive results so far.
Entering the 3rd week, Lee Jun Ho’s Red Sleeve has passed Song Hye Kyo’s Now We’re Breaking Up in the Friday – Saturday night time frame. The latest episode of the drama is also the episode with the highest rating of 9.4%. If it continues to keep up this good performance, Red Sleeve will soon surpass The Veil to become the highest-rated drama in 2021 of MBC. Maybe it will reach double-digit ratings and that will help Lee Jun Ho become a strong candidate for the Grand Prize – Daesang at the MBC Drama Awards 2021. Wait and see if that miracle happens.
It’s not exaggerated to say the historical drama genre has been revived in 2021 thanks to these idol actors. “The Red Sleeve” still has a few more episodes to air so we can expect more impressive achievements ahead. It would be really great if this drama surpass the rating record of “Mr.Queen” to become the most successful historical Korean drama in 2021. But if not, its current achievements are enough to be proud of.
