Park Eun-bin & Shin Se-kyung Gain Different Responses For Their Cross-Dressed Characters In Historical Dramas

In 2021, actress Park Eun-bin wrote a new history for dramas with women dressing as men with her character in “The King’s Affection”. In 2024 Shin Se-kyung is doing the same thing with her lead role in tvN’s ongoing Sat-Sun “Captivating the King”.

Despite the difference in broadcasting time, the two dramas are inevitably compared as both have lead actresses who were born in the 1990s and debuted as child actresses and cross-dressed female characters in historical dramas. 

Released on January 21st, tvN’s “Captivating the King” is a melodrama about the cruel fate of King Yi In (Jo Jung-suk), who is humble despite being in a high position, and Kang Hee-soo (Shin Se-kyung), a woman dressing as a man to approach the king as a spy and take revenge. As an actress with 26 years of acting experience, Shin Se-kyung realistically portrays the complicated and diverse emotions of Kang Hee-soo, from her detailed gestures when dressing as a man to her feelings when having feelings for the King, her teary eyes full of desperate tears and the feeling of betrayal when losing her friend. 

Although her acting was perfect, there was still a flaw that hindered viewers’ further immersion in the drama. In fact, it was the unblemished makeup to conceal her identity as a woman that made the actress stand out even from a distance. Despite the efforts to hide the character’s real gender, the sophisticated makeup unexpectedly revealed the actress’s femininity at a glance.

In addition, Shin Se-kyung’s appearance in men’s clothing was commented to be excessively beautiful. The combination of her white skin and pretty eyebrows and the perfect shading around her eyes, eyeliner, and even rose-pink lip gloss the actress’s prettiness even more noticeable. Anyone could easily tell that she’s a woman.

Then, how was Park Eun-bin’s character in “The King’s Affection”? Playing a cross-dressed character was not an easy challenge for Park Eun-bin, however, the actress created an unprecedented role that combined various genres, including action, politics and romance, in a historical drama. Receiving favorable reviews for her performance as the charismatic character Lee Hwi, Park Eun-bin achieved as many as four awards, including Top Excellence Award at the KBS Drama Award.

Although Park Eun-bin still applied BB Cream on her face when dressing as a man, her outfits and makeup overall did not create any sense of discomfort to viewers when watching the drama. Every detail of Park Eun-bin’s styling in “The King’s Affection”, from trying dark and thick eyebrows and toning down her lipstick color, reflected the actress’s efforts to showcase a more manly vibe for her character.

The reason female characters dressing as men always receive explosive attention is that viewers will be able to see the impressive transformations of actresses. While Park Eun-bin was praised for meeting the best character in her filmography, Shin Se-kyung’s man-dressing transformation still receives negative reviews from drama fans.

Source: Naver