“Smoker” Choi Hyun-wook, “Bully” Park Hye-soo: Effect A Controversy Can Have On An Actor’s Work

In recent years, the entertainment industry has witnessed a series of off-camera controversies that have affected actors’ on-camera work

Recently, actor Choi Hyun-wook has become the center of controversy and caused inconvenience to his work. In particular, a video in which Choi Hyun-wook was talking to a woman on the street while having skinship with her has become viral on several online communities. In this video, the actor even threw cigarette butts on the no-smoking street.

As public criticism intensified, Choi Hyun-wook apologized through his agency Gold Medalist. Despite his apology, the tvN drama “Twinkling Watermelon” starring Choi Hyun-wook was negatively affected. As Choi Hyun-wook is starring as Ha-chan, a bright and cheerful high school student in the production, the gap between the actor’s real personality and the character’s was bound to widen.

This should remain a painful case for the actor. Choi Hyun-wook has mainly played high school students in dramas such as “Racket Boys,” “Twenty-Five Twenty-One,” and “Weak Hero Class 1.” He also plays a high school student in his next film, “High Cookie.”

At the age of 21, there were not many actors who were as star-studded and good at acting as Choi Hyun-wook among his peers, so expectations were high. The controversy once again reminded everyone that the public’s faith in the character played by an actor is also undermined.

Meanwhile, actress Park Hye-soo, who was criticized due to allegations of school violence, will make a comeback with a movie after taking a test. In February 2021, Park Hye-soo suspended her activities due to a post in which A, who claims to be her middle school classmate, wrote that she had been abused and bullied by Park Hye-soo.

KBS2’s drama “Dear.M” starring the actress was postponed at the time and has not been aired in Korea so far. Park Hye-soo’s side however claimed that she was not the perpetrator of the school violence.

Meanwhile, the film “The Dream Songs,” starring Park Hye-soo, has been scheduled to be released, and the actress has also decided to make a comeback. She announced the legal progress before the press preview of “The Dream Songs” and attended a press conference to first share her feelings about the alleged school violence.

During the “The Dream Songs” press conference, Park Hye-soo said, “I will fight to the end to expose the lies,” but it is up to the public to decide how to accept it. Park Hye-soo seems to be revealing her position, knowing that the work and the character might be affected if she fails to properly shake off suspicions of school violence.