Korean actresses with “crazy women” image and their performances in 2021 (ft. Jun Ji Hyun, IU, Lee Sung Kyung and more)
2021 will end in less than a month. Let’s take a look back on what our favorite actresses have done throughout this year.
The Korean drama industry have seen many ups and downs only in 2021. Especially, there were also many changes to Korean actresses within this year. While some got more achievements, others seemed to receive less positive responses from audiences.
Kim Ji Won
After leaving a great impression on the viewers with the role of Choi Ae Ra in “Fight For My Way” in 2017, Kim Ji Won seemed to move at a slower pace in her career. Her later dramas “Detective K: Secret of the Bloodsucking Demon” and “Arthdal Chronicles” were not as successful as expected. From the end of 2020 to early 2021, Kim Ji Won appeared in “Lovestruck in the City”, forming a couple with actor Ji Chang Wook.
Thanks to her lovely look and acting that suits the romantic genre, Kim Ji Won received positive responses from the viewers. However, since this drama was aired on the online platform KakaoTV, its was not as well-known to the public as other series aired on national TV channels. It was most recently revealed that Kim Ji Won is looking for a new agency as her exclusive contract with Salt Entertainment will expire soon. She joined this company in February 2020.
Lee Sung Kyung
Lee Sung Kyung was not seen in many drama/movie projects in 2021 since she focused more on fashion and advertisement activities. As a Korean ambassador of CHANEL Beauty, Lee Sung Kyung often made headlines for her pictorials. Especially, her photoshoot set for ELLE Korea, released in summer, attracted keen attention from netizens because of her new image in short hair.
Although Lee Sung Kyung didn’t have any new drama projects this year, she still maintains her hot influence on SNS. With more than 13.1 million followers, Lee Sung Kyung is still one of 10 most-followed Korean actresses. It is said that she will greet audiences on the small screen with tvN’s drama “Shooting Star”, working together with rising actor Kim Young Dae.
IU
Thanks to the role of Jang Man Wol in “Hotel Del Luna”, IU was nominated at Baeksang Arts Awards for the “Best Actress” and got recognized for her great acting. IU has had a successful 2021 with many achievements in music. Her 5th album ‘LILAC’ sold more than 393 million copies, ranking No.1 on Gaon Album Weekly Chart and receiving a silver certificate from KMCA.
“Nation’s Little Sister” IU also won 5 categories at the 2021 Melon Music Awards, in which there were 2 Daesangs – Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. At the recent 2021 MAMA, she was also honored as Best Female Artist for having an impressive performance throughout this year. IU is still proving herself as one of the all-rounder artists in the Korean entertainment industry.
Jun Ji Hyun
Perhaps Jun Ji Hyun‘s unimpressive performance in Kingdom: Ashin in the North gave audiences a hint of her less successful return in 2021. Drama “Jirisan” that she took on the lead role did not achieve the expected results. Despite being invested with a large budget and possessing a perfect team from director, scriptwriter to actors, the achievement of Jirisan still made fans extremely disappointed.
The highest rating of this drama is only 10.663%, the rest is all around 7% to around 8%. Moreover, the Korean public has criticized Jun Ji Hyun‘s acting ability in this comeback. Things became even less positive when Jun Ji Hyun is currently one of the two highest-paid female stars in Korea. Jun Ji Hyun is still beautiful, has a good figure and has a high commercial value, but the public’s affection for her has lessened a lot.
Seo Ye Ji
Jun Ji Hyun is still lucky compared to what Seo Ye Ji has encountered. Right on the day of receiving the good news that she was nominated for the Best Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards 2021 for the role of Go Moon Young in Psycho but It’s Okay, Seo Ye Ji was suddenly dragged into the controversy related to her ex-boyfriend, Kim Jung Hyun. She was said to be the one who caused Kim Jung Hyun to behave unprofessionally with his co-star in 2018.
This incident has completely changed the public’s attitude towards Seo Ye Ji. The movie Recalled because of her was also affected a lot in terms of revenue. In addition, she also had to withdraw from OCN’s potential project Island. After a hiatus, Seo Ye Ji will reappear with tVN’s drama “Eve’s Scandal”, which will be released in 2022.
Kim Da Mi
Near the end of 2021, Kim Da Mi has made a comeback and seems to be receiving much love from international audiences with the lead role in Our Beloved Summer. This series quickly entered the Top 10 trending Netflix in many countries and was hotly discussed on social networks after only the first 2 episodes. However, its domestic rating record is not very good, when it reached just over 3% in episode 1 and dropped to just over 2% in the next episode.
However, Kim Da Mi‘s acting skills and especially beauty have developed a lot compared to the Itaewon Class era. With what’s going on, Our Beloved Summer will fail in ratings domestically, but it will still be a drama that gets a lot of international attention, just like “Nevertheless”.
It seems that these “crazy women” do not make a very positive impression in 2021. However, they are also much luckier than Seo Ye Ji. And in2022, the new drama will give the answer to whether Seo Ye Ji is still able to return to showbiz or not.
