Here are some Korean actors who had their reputation affected after starring in too unrealistic dramas

Excessive use of fantastical factors can lead to many adverse impacts, one of which is the reduction in the reputation of the male lead actors themselves.

The topic of science fiction or surreal fantasy is the trend of Korean movies, but not every work of this topic is a hit and causes a fever. There are even some that received criticism because the content is not attractive, even the top famous actors can’t save their reputation. In some cases, the actor’s reputation was even dragged down with the dramas. Let’s review some of these cases!

Gong Yoo

In 2021, Gong Yoo returned to the small screen in the sci-fi drama The Silent Sea airing on Netflix. Since his role in Goblin 5 years ago, Gong Yoo has not received any male lead role in a drama. This time, with the collaboration with Bae Doo Na and a talented cast, everyone thought the actor would have an explosive comeback, but things turned out a lot different than expected.

After the drama was released, the audience’s discussion was not as much as expected. The reviews of the movie were mostly negative from the plot to the slow and confusing development. The advantage of the drama remains only the good effects. 

It’s sad that although everyone was waiting for Gong Yoo’s return, in the end, he not only couldn’t raise the reputation for this work, but also got involved in the drama “flop” which somewhat reduced his reputation.

Joo Won

Joo Won is originally an actor who has good acting skills and knows how to choose scripts. However, after being discharged from the army, he accepted a rather difficult project, Alice, which, of course, was not as successful as expected. This is a fantasy work that tells the story of a criminal policeman who travels to the past through a time machine named Alice to get revenge. 

Overall, Alice’s rating is not too bad, but the content of the drama is rather rambling in the second half, many problems are opened up but remain unsolved. 

The comments of the audience generally say that the more you watch the drama, the more chaotic it is, and the ending makes everyone doubt the genre of the drama they are watching. The relationship between Joo Won and Kim Hee Sun is also very problematic when he falls in love with the woman identical to his mother, which netizens find difficult to accept.

Jo Seung Woo

Sisyphus: The Myth can be said to be the most failed hit drama of jTBC in 2021. Jo Seung Woo, despite being “a whole team and the dog under the wagon”, still had to receive a disastrous result because of too many problems from the script to his co-stars. The drama exploits the theme of the apocalypse and the future, but the content is too confusing and difficult to catch on. 

Netizens commented that this drama depicts a too broad perspective, while the actual exploitation does not meet expectations. The logical flow is completely unfulfilled. In particular, the ending has a twist that turns everything upside down, causing viewers to be confused. Besides, Park Shin Hye also contributed to making Jo Seung Woo’s drama comeback a flop because of her lackluster acting. 

Yeo Jin Goo

Circle starring Yeo Jin Goo and its exciting narrative revolving around the interaction between aliens and humans on Earth piqued curiosity. But sadly, the ratings of this mini series only fluctuate around 1-2%.

Depicting a topic that is not so familiar in K-dramas, Circle is not hard to understand but many viewers still don’t find it enjoyable enough. Yeo Jin Goo challenged himself in a new role and image. Unfortunately, the drama could not become a hit. 

Seo Kang Joon

Another sci-fi series, Are You Human Too?, led by Seo Kang Joon about artificial intelligence, tells the story of a young heir named Nam Shin. After he falls into a coma, his mother, a scientist, creates a robot to replace him and uses it to fight for power.

The drama’s storyline is unrealistic and focuses on the love line, so the level of virtuality increases as the robot falls in love with the female lead. The way the story develops is absurd and the female lead also draws mixed reviews because of her personality. In general, this drama impresses the viewers in terms of almost nothing from rating, story to acting. Perhaps Seo Kang Joon needs to do a better job at picking the script.

Hyun Bin

Before Crash Landing on You, Hyun Bin starred in Memories Of Alhambra alongside Park Shin Hye. The star-studded drama received surprisingly poor results.  The fantasy drama is set in the real-life context interwoven with the world in the game. Hyun Bin is an investment company director. He went to Spain and stayed at the inn of the female lead Park Shin Hye. His life was then caught up in uncanny events.

With the popularity of the main leads, this drama was expected to become a huge hit. The visuals do not disappoint, but the problem lies in the plot with too many holes. The overall storyline also does not suit the taste of the mass audience because the game theme is not easy to understand.

Although Hyun Bin still excelled in challenging scenes, he could not carry the entire drama. The ending does not satisfy the audience either. It can be said that Memories Of Alhambra is a step backwards in Hyun Bin’s glorious acting career.

Fantasy and sci-fi dramas always have their own charm. But not every drama can achieve the same amount of success as My Love From The Star, or at least have a successful debut like W – Two Worlds, Nine… The productions mentioned above all have mistakes that are often found in this genre that not even handsome, talented and famous actors could save.