K-Drama

Who’s the biggest beneficiary from “The Glory”? Song Hye Kyo vs. Lim Ji Yeon vs. Cha Joo Young

“The Glory” is no joke in terms of its story, its impressive result as well as its positive effect on the cast.

According to Netflix’s official ranking site “Netflix Top 10,” Part 1 of “The Glory” (written by Kim Eun Sook, directed by Ahn Gil Ho) released on Dec 30th, 2022, topped Netflix’s non-English TV show category with a cumulative 82.48 million viewing hours in just the first week of this month.

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In the drama series category of “OTT Platform Content Popularity” chart recently announced by data analysis company Good Data, “The Glory” has topped the list for 2 consecutive weeks since its release. Song Hye Kyo, the main character of “The Glory,” has also topped the OTT cast list for 2 consecutive week, followed by Lim Ji Yeon in 2nd, Lee Do Hyun 3rd, Jung Sung Il 5th, Park Sung Hoon 7th, Cha Joo Young 10th, and Kim Hieora 11th.

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As the cast, the director, and the writer of “The Glory” are all enjoying its glory, who is the biggest beneficiary among them? Is it Song Hye Kyo, Lim Ji Yeon who finally proves her abilities with her first villain role since her debut, or Cha Joo Young who went viral with the catchphrase “Stewardess Hye Jung”? Is it the “Sexy Adult” Jung Sung Il or Shin Ye Wun who used to cry because of her drama’s low ratings?

It is difficult to choose only one, but if there must be one, the biggest beneficiary is definitely Song Hye Kyo. Song Hye Kyo is both the number one contributor to “The Glory” success and the highest beneficiary. To put it mildly, in a way, she succeeded in reviving herself.

The Glory Song Hye Kyo

There is no doubt that Song Hye Kyo has always been a top star and actress in Korea. However, mega-hit works, such as “Descendants of the Sun” in 2016, put a burden on her at some point. It is true that many viewers are disappointed by Song Hye Kyo, who seemed to be trapped in the melodramatic genre. Her following series “Boyfriend” and “Now, We’re Breaking Up” are slightly different, but in the end, as both are of melodramatic acting, people pointed out that her acting is the same in all works.

Song Hye Kyo, who chose “The Glory” amidst these concerns and burdens, was a Song Hye Kyo who endured and overcame the weight of the crown. Unlike some actresses, who look gorgeous, glowing, and pretty even as poor characters, Song Hye Kyo conveyed the dry and exhausted daily life of Moon Dong Eun with the most realistic look. It is difficult to mention all of her fighting spirit and famous scenes, such as the bony figure that Song Hye Kyo achieved by eating konjac rice.

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In the end, comments about Song Hye Kyo’s explosive appearance exploded, with netizens writing things like, “Is this the same Song Hye Kyo that we have been seeing?” and “Why did she never show such acting skills until now”. Moreover, thanks to her strange tone of voice, which perfectly conveys iconic dialogue written by author Kim Eun Sook, many buzzwords were born from “The Glory”.

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Of course, it is no exaggeration to say that through this work, Song Hye Kyo received the highest spotlight since her debut. Meanwhile, Lim Ji Yeon, Jung Sung Il, Park Sung Hoon, Cha Joo Young, Kim Gun Woo, and Kim Hieora, who pulled off outstanding performances, are also critical to the success of the series, and enjoy the same explosive reaction.

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In particular, Lim Ji Yeon, Park Sung Hoon, Cha Joo Young, Kim Gun Woo, and Kim Hieora, who play the gang of school bullies, all have something in common. All of them have debuted for quite some time, and have shown great talents, from acting skills to gorgeous visuals, but they haven’t received well-deserved attention. For Lim Ji Yeon, Cha Joo Young, and Kim Hieora, the careers of actresses are relatively short-lived, and at worst, if there weren’t any major breakthrough in their filmography, they could be forgotten as just so-so supporting actors.

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Among them, Lim Ji Yeon, who made her debut in 2014, has been slowing down compared to the spotlight when she was a rookie. Compared to her stable acting ability, her gorgeous beauty, and her excellent condition as an actress, she did not shine much. However, through this work, she succeeded in expressing her wit, sexiness, violence and affinity to power with just one distorted smile, and made a massive leap. It seems that she will be receiving love calls for various characters in various genres, such as basic thrillers, after “The Glory”.

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Cha Joo Young, a graduate from the University of Utah, showed off her unique beauty and stable acting skills in “Again My Life”, but did not receive much attention. However, she has succeeded in leaving a strong impression through “The Glory”. Playing Choi Hye Jeong, a character with a distorted self-esteem due to her family background and the lowest level even in the group of school violence perpetrators, Cha Joo Young delivered a realistic portrayal of someone who lives servilely and only aims to raise her status.

Musical actress Kim Hieora also captured viewers’ attention by playing a North Korean defector in “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”. But in “The Glory”, she stands out even more in a leading role.

Cha Joo-Young

Shin Ye Eun, who used to be under JYP, made her entertainment debut so splendidly that she landed a lead role in her rookie days. However, due to back-to-back low ratings of her previous works, she gradually fell behind in popularity.  Therefore, her counterattack through “The Glory” this time is more surprising in many ways.

Shin Ye-eun the glory

It is said that acting as a child version of the main actor could be a dead end unless you are indeed a child actor. However, Shin Ye Eun overcame these limitations and showed off a brilliant performance by transforming into a merciless perpetrator of school violence. Her acting quickly became a hot topic after “The Glory” Part 1 was out.

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An industry insider said, “Director Ahn Gil Ho, who is the conductor of all the characters, scenes, and music, and writer Kim Eun Sook, who is so determined and confident in this drama that she proudly revealed her daughter’s words, are also first-class contributors to this success. The actors immersed themselves into acting and showed their best performances. They became the beneficiary of ‘The Glory’.”

Source: Sports Chosun

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