Celebrity

Korean characters get the chance to shine more in Hollywood movies

In Hollywood movies, Korean characters now have greater opportunities to shine.

These days, K-contents such as “Parasite,” “Kingdom,” “Squid Game,” “Hellbound”, and “All Of US Are Dead” are proudly recognized as one of the pillars of the global content market, and this trend is leading to the increasing interest in Korean characters as well as K-contents created in Korea.

It is a really rapid change in status considering that only a few years ago, just the news of any Korean characters getting played by Korean actors could be hot enough to make headlines. Let’s take a look at the K-characters in the recently produced Hollywood content.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife – Podcast

First is Phoebe’s friend, a character who runs a mystery podcast, “Podcast” in the movie “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” The character, played by Korean-American actor Logan Kim, created a true friendship-chemistry with the main character Phoebe.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Podcast

Other than the nickname “Podcast,” the character’s real name was not disclosed. Logan Kim also never revealed the Padcast’s real name, saying, “There is a real name. It was originally in the script, but they took it out for mystery purposes, and I will not disclose that information.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Podcast

Turning Red – Abby Park

“Turning Red” depicts a story happening in Toronto, a large city multi-racial city of Canada, a multiethnic country.

turning red

The main character Mei is from a Chinese family in Chinatown, Toronto, but Mei’s schoolmates consist of students from various backgrounds, one of whom, Abby, is Korean. In the movie, Abby is a loyal girl who express her anger in Korean when she is angry. 

The movie also features an idol group called 4*TOWN, which the main characters like. The group is a mixture of K-pop idols and American boy groups. One of the members’ names is Taeyoung.

turning red

Meanwhile, Mei’s mother Ming’s voice was played by Korean actor Sandra Oh. 

turning red

Sesame Street – Jiyoung

Even if some people haven’t seen the legendary children’s puppet show “Sesame Street,” which started in 1969, many of its characters such as Elmo and Cookie Monster are familiar to everyone.

sesame-street

Starting from Thanksgiving Day in 2021, a Korean character named Ji-young has been added to the series. The character acting is also hosted by Korean actress Kathleen Kim, and Ji-young has been well received as she doesn’t follow the typical Asian stereotypes.

sesame-street
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