K-drama stars who are forgettable despite playing leading roles: Lee Min Ho is the prime example?
Leading characters in K-dramas are supposed to be the star of the show with the most screen time. However, there are quite a few exceptions.
When it comes to major characters, the audience would immediately think of central characters with the most interesting stories and traits. However, sometimes “major” is just a title, and these supposedly main characters are completely outshined.
1. Lee Min Ho
Lee Min Ho’s portrayal as a “bad figure” in “Pachinko”, who tricked the female lead into a relationship with him despite already having a wife, proves that the actor is more than a one-trick pony. In addition, “Pachinko” is also one of the rare times Lee Min Ho actually leads a brief poor life. However, despite being marketed as one of the series’ major cast, and being plastered on every poster and teaser of “Pachinko”, Lee Min Ho’s character might as well be a super minor one.
In fact, his only role is to uproot the female lead’s life, get his past revealed and then disappear without making much impression.
2. Cha Seung Won
In every poster of “Our Blues”, Cha Seung Won’s face is shown clearly, signaling that he’s a main cast member. However, Cha Seung Won’s character only appeared for 3 first episodes and a few minutes of the final one. While “Our Blues” takes on an omnibus format, and so focuses on different stories instead of just one, other characters would still show up in plotlines other than their own, while Cha Seung Won just completely vanished.
According to Korean netizens, this is a huge pity, seeing that Cha Seung Won’s character is an interesting and gripping one, while the actor boasts an outstanding acting performance.
3. Park Shin Hye
When it comes to “Memories of Alhambra”, not many people can recall that Park Shin Hye played Hyun Bin’s on-screen partner. The reason is that her screen time is severely less than that of Hyun Bin, and her story isn’t that interesting either.
In particular, this K-drama revolves around the male lead’s journey into a mysterious game, and a huge part of the runtime is dedicated to solving the game’s many issues. Meanwhile, despite being the female lead, Park Shin Hye’s character is completely unrelated to this whole conspiracy.
As a result, Park Shin Hye contributed little to the plot, and was said to only be there for the loveline. Some netizens even went as far as to call Park Shin Hye’s character as the “most useless female lead in a K-drama”.
4. Park Ha Sun
“The Veil”, which stars famous actor Nam Goong Min, is an extremely intense and dark series with impressive characters. However, the female lead, played by actress Park Ha Sun, appeared even less than the second female lead. To top it off, she was killed off in episode 6 as a plot point for the later half of the series, leaving viewers shocked that a female lead can be gone that quickly.
Of course, there’s no refuting the importance of Park Ha Sun’s character in the male lead’s life. But the writing for this character is so bland and the screen time so brief that she becomes extremely forgettable.
