From “Mr. Sunshine” to “Twenty Five, Twenty One”, Kim Tae-ri’s dramas are back-to-back hits with two-digit ratings

After “Mr. Sunshine”, “Twenty Five, Twenty One” is Kim Tae-ri’s next drama to exceed 10% in ratings. 

From her small screen debut in tvN “Mr. Sunshine” to her first drama comeback after 4 years in tvN’s “Twenty Five, Twenty One”, both shows starring Kim Tae-ri as the female lead have successfully attained double digit ratings and gained high popularity. From a “monster rookie”, Kim Tae-ri has established herself as an actress who can guarantee good ratings. 

Currently, Kim Tae-ri is playing Na Hee-do, a national fencing player, in tvN’s ongoing Saturday-Sunday drama “Twenty Five, Twenty One”. She receives praises for her ability to express various emotions from comic to realistic and melodrama. Kim Tae-ri also learned fencing six months before filming and has been drawing admiration for her excellent fencing skills in the drama. 

Viewers are in love with Kim Tae-ri’s portrayal of Na Hee-do, an independent character who is on the verge of having her dream torn apart but does not lose her passion and determination to move forward, no matter how frustrated she is. Kim Tae-ri shows loveliness in the scene where her character is running while crying because she has no money to pay for the torn comic book, where she warmly reassures Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk) who says “I will never be happy in my life” due to parental debt, or where she has the strength to confront Ko Yu-rim (Kim Ji-yeon) who treats her poorly. 

The lovely chemistry of Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk, as shown through their eyes, gestures and tones of voice is enjoyed by many viewers. At the end of episode 8, 19-year-old Na Hee-do’s bold confession, “I’ll have to have you,” captures the hearts of many. As a result, it is being called an ‘over-immersion-inducing drama’ among viewers and is gaining high popularity on social media.

Beginning with 6.4%, the drama witnessed a sharp rise in ratings throughout the next broadcasts and reached a peak of 10.9% for its 8th episode. It also became the first tvN’s drama to surpass 10% after “Hometown Cha Cha Cha”, which ended in October last year.

Earlier, Kim Tae-ri also hit the jackpot with tvN’s Saturday-Sunday drama “Mr. Sunshine” hitting the maximum viewership record of 18.1%. Becoming “The Cinderella of Chungmuro” after working with director Park Chan-wook in her debut film “The Handmaiden”, Kim Tae-ri proved her potential as a “monster rookie actress” through her first drama “Mr. Sunshine”, which was written by the famous screenwriter Kim Eun-sook. 

Kim Tae-ri played Go Ae-shin, a noblewoman who later becomes a sniper of the Righteous army in Kyusu. With this role, she stole the spotlight by showing off her elegant historical drama voice tone, her action acting skills, and expressions of desperate sadness. In addition, she also proved her presence as an actress who didn’t fall behind her co-star, veteran actor Lee Byung-hun, at all.

Kim Tae-ri shows a new face through each of her works and is often praised as the top contributor to the works’ successes. As “Twenty-five, Twenty-one” is about to reach the turning point to mark the second act of the play, the viewers have begun to raise higher expectations and wonder whether Kim Tae-ri will help this drama continue its upward trend and make it another “best work of her life”.