Korean TV dramas often cast actresses who are older in real life than their leading men. Take the case of the drama Hyena, which stars actress Kim Hye-soo and actor Ju Ji-hoon as a pair of attorneys locked in a love-hate relationship.
Kim, who is the most productive known for his roles in Tazza Films: The High Rollers, The Thieves and Coin Locker Girl, as well as the TV series Signal, is 49 years old. Ju, who gave the impression in the films and plays of the gods of the gods in the Netflix zombie drama Kingdom, is 37 years old. The topic of their age disparity is never addressed in the dramatic intrigue. The most vital thing is which lawyer is the most competitive in court and in love.
Hyena is a case of a refreshing casting, even contemplating that Kim’s good looks and qualifiability make her a desirable addition to any production. Although the cast of Hyena has a wider age hole than usual, it’s not unusual for Korean dramas to release female actresses a few years older than their male counterparts, and it’s not because the plot demands it.
Mary Ainslie is Associate Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, and of the article Korean cushy masculinity vs. Malay hegemony: Malaysian masculinity and Hallyu fandom. According to Ainslie, moving beyond age stereotypes is a side effect of the wave of Korean pop culture known as Hallyu.
“One challenge that may explain the lack of interest in the age difference between couples in Korean dramas (like Hyena) is the general accessory in female-centric questions, which have been a key detail of Hallyu dramas,” Ainslie said.
Korean dramas come with a lot of what is known as “noona” dramas, in reference to the term endearing for an older sister. Dramas are so named because they feature an older woman in love with a younger man. The age difference is another obstacle to overcome for love, a dramatic plot, because the family is condemned to disapprove of it.
Casting an older actress with a younger actor is to be expected in a drama where the plot requires it, but it also happens when the plot does not. While dramas do pair actors of the same age or feature an older actor/younger actress couple, the number where actresses are older than their male counterparts is noteworthy. It also differs from what has traditionally been a casting practice in Hollywood, where casting can pair actresses who are decades younger than their male co-stars.
A recent example is When The Camellia Blooms, starring actress Gong Hyo-Jin, 39, as a character in relation to the character played by actor Kang Ha-Neul, 30. Jung Hae-In, 31, starred in the romance of Noona. Something in the Rain, starring Son Ye-Jin, 38, whose character sought to be older than his, but later starred One Spring Night with actress Han Ji-min, which is nine years older than him. he. In this romance, they were destined to be the same age.
In My Love From The Star, actress Jun Ji-hyun was cast across from Kim Soo-hyun, even though she is six years older. The drama I’ll Go To You When The Weather Is Nice stars actor Seo Kang-joon, 26, as the love interest of actress Park Min-young, 33. In The Crowned Clown, Lee Se-young, 28, plays the queen to Yeo Jin-goo’s king. Yeo, 23, also played the love interest for actress IU, 26, in Hotel Del Luna.
According to Ainslie, the rise of the Hallyu aligns with a recognition of increased female agency in Korea, which came about through women being part of a new middle-class, urban-set workforce. As the Hallyu continues to redefine conceptions of masculinity across Asia, male characters in prime time TV more frequently present a female-friendly model of masculinity and gender relations.
“This is why we see such a change in the depiction of masculinity in particular, as well as a focus upon urban work-centric issues and female-centric issues, such as how to hold down a job and get a boyfriend at the same time,” said Ainslie. “This doesn’t mean that the drama needs to be necessarily focused around age or relationships, just that for the female audience, who are, arguably, the main viewership, the character’s age is not a key factor in their desirability or their coupling with the actor, and a more mature actress can also be more believable and relatable given the urban-set challenges they face. Obviously, there are quite a few Korean dramas/films that overtly tackle issues around aging in women too.”
Is the casting of actresses greater than its main male demographic group?
“According to Statistics Korea, about 17. 2 percent of married couples in 2019 consisted of an older woman and a younger man,” said Lee Seung-ah, an assistant professor at Yonsei University in Seoul. “That’s why I would say that putting a couple of older women and younger men on television screens is just a way of reflecting society. ”
At the same time, Lee said, it can satisfy either of the writers, most of whom are, and the audience, most of whom are also narrow.
Worldwide, an overwhelming majority of directors, producers and writers are historically men, however, in Korea, today, 90% of playwright It is less than 30%. , which can influence casting.
“It’s the storyteller who defines what’s appropriate,” said Thelma Adams, a U. S. -based film critic and female-driven old fiction critic who flips the genres of westerns and crime.
Until now, most narrators have been men.
“It’s the male gaze,” he said Adams. Es an answer and I keep repeating myself. “
In an industry governed by men, male fantasies are present.
“The fantasy is that of an older man and a younger woman. That’s the difference. Who tells the story? When women tell the story, there is no such dichotomy.
As more women work in the global film and television industry and make films with strong female characters, the situation is changing. However, in Hollywood, actresses in their 40s and 50s find it even harder to get cast, said Kristen Paladino of New York-based Paladino Casting.
“There are so many wonderful actresses that have reached the so -called Industry Pinacle and that are represented on television and cinema,” said Paladino. “They are more powerful than ever and they should definitely be considered for those roles. “
In addition to focusing more on female problems and minimizing age differences inside and outside the screen, Korean screenwriters have recently created a series of complex and entertaining female characters, which are necessarily explained through their age.
Kim Hye-soo plays one of these characters and nothing about the age discrepancy between the drama’s leads diminishes their chemistry.