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Drama in dramaland: Actress hit with backlash over casting comments


Oh Yeon-soo, Park Joo-mi

Let this be a lesson to actors everywhere: Don’t shoot off your mouth, especially in public. Oh, and the Korean public hates when their celebrities boast, even if they didn’t intend to be arrogant. Also, Korean celebrities have really thin skin. (But we knew that.)

Actress Park Joo-mi got herself into a bit of hot water earlier this week when she made what seemed to be a careless (but not malicious) statement at a press conference on Monday. Park was promoting her new movie, The Demolished Man, which stars Kim Myung-min as a father out to recover his daughter from her psycho kidnapper, and said that she had to choose between taking this movie or the role of Tae-ra in SBS’s Bad Guy, and picked The Demolished Man.

She hadn’t taken a particular dig at actress Oh Yeon-soo, who now plays that role, but when you make a statement like that the unspoken implication is that she was chosen first, and that the other woman was brought in as her substitute. Producers were unhappy with her unexpected comments and spoke up the following day, Tuesday, correcting Park’s misleading statement by stating that Oh Yeon-soo had always been their first choice. When it was unclear whether her schedule would work out, they contacted a few actresses, including Park Joo-mi, to see if their schedules would be open, as a backup measure.

Then on Wednesday, Oh Yeon-soo expressed her discontent with the way the story wouldn’t die, and posted on her Twitter, “I’m feeling pretty upset this morning. Because of actor Park ** going around talking about the Tae-ra role, it’s ruined the mood to film. I’m feeling like crap because of her utter rudeness.” Fans agreed, calling Park’s statements ill-mannered, though some also called Oh out for criticizing Park on Twitter.

With fans and now industry professionals upset with her, Park issued an official apology on Friday through her management, Sidus HQ, apologizing for the misunderstanding that arose out of her press conference statements, “And I’m most sorry toward Oh Yeon-soo sunbae. I hope that there will be no more misunderstandings about me, and I’ll remain a devoted fan of Bad Guy through the end.”

The same day, Oh Yeon-soo posted again to her Twitter, “I have a simple personality so I forgot it quickly, but the issue keeps growing. I just want to work hard on filming.”

So, what does this whole incident say? First, celebrities on Twitter have (1) a lot of power with a single statement, (2) but a lot of power to hurt themselves just as easily. (Seriously, people, Twitter is public. Very, very public. So is Facebook.) Also, despite a lack of intent to harm, you’ll still be criticized and sometimes attacked for making a silly statement. And Park should really have thought twice; she exaggerated the truth slightly (or misled through omission), but the issue doesn’t end with what she said explicitly, but rather what she implied. It’s the difference between saying, “I was almost in SNSD” and “I was almost in SNSD in place of __ member.” (I’m just imagining the sorts of fandom hell THAT would induce.)

Via TV Report

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I've been following this issue since it first came out, maybe because I'm also watching Bad Guy and I admire Oh Yeon-soo's skills as an actress. Park's remark was quite rude but not that much IMHO, just reading Oh Yeon-soo's tweets about it you may feel that it hit her quite hard, though again I'm thinking that technically it's no big deal since it happens in dramas during pre-production stages. I guess it was just a big misunderstanding, in which I hate especially when Korean Media fleshes it out more :(

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I think Park Joo Mi really so rude in this issue, she may says about this but not in this moment, when Bad Guy still on air. When you know that you was a substitute, I think anyone will feel bad and cannot focus to work, and Oh Yeon Soo is her sunbae too.

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oh lets all be grown ups abt it...really dumb of Park to make tht comment....whats even more dumb is for Oh to add fuel to the fire! the classy thing would have been to tweet what she tweeted after the apology in the first place! she would have come off waaaay classier tht way! oh well guess we are all human and tend to do dumb things from time to time...

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bad publicity for both "Man of Vendetta"/"The Demolished Man" and "Bad Guy"
but hey, it's still publicity . . . :P

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Isn't she like the second/third lead? I can't imagine what would happen if she's actually the lead. Egos are scary.

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eh, i think people spend too much time focusing on all the wrong things. it sucks for oh yeon soo but it sounds like the kind of comment that could easily slip out of anyone's mouth; park joo mi probably wasn't even think of oh yeon soo at all, she just mentioned the two projects she had been contemplating. she should go upto oh yeon soo, offer ice cream, pretty flowers and an apology, maybe the number of a cute guy actor and then the world can move on.

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i agree with xiahkixiri ..it sounded like Park Mi joo was just saying that hse had been given these two roles and chose on over the other..but maybe i wouldnt feel the implication in her words as much due to my language barrier...it doesnt seem like any implication was made when it is translated to english...bt however the media does have seem to blown this way out of proportion...and like oh! tht! chick! said it would have been smarter (and looked cooler) for oh yoon seo to have steared clear instead of making it a bigger deal

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I saw this on Section TV last night as one of their hot 7. I didn't understand what was going on (because I don't speak Korean) but they kept posting Oh Yeon Soo and this lady's picture, and I was guessing that Oh Yeon Soo left the production of "Bad Guy" and the other lady had replaced her. So now, that I saw this article it make sense.

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oh NO SHE DIDN'T! haha i guess sometimes resentment makes people say things they'll later regret. javabeans mentioned SNSD! gasp! =] yeah i can imagine the drama that would ensue.. that would be serious endangerment of lives.

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what is oh yeon soo's twitter?

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But they like to do that though. I was almost in Boys over Flowers. I was almost part of this group. They are always trying to make themselves look better than they are and it's silly to me. Almost means it didnt happen so get over it. Should I put on my resume, I was almost a doctor?! Jeesh.

And as for Yeon Soo. How old are you?! I was digging her character and the chemistry she has with KNG but it just shows she's just playing an adult. Seriously I'm getting sick of the immaturity. From fans, and now with the entertainers?! I'm glad I dont have her ID or I might tweet her to grow up.

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lol i had no idea this was going on... and had to read the first few paragraphs twice before even getting why this was an issue -_-

but for oh to outright call park rude on her twitter? way to fuel the fire ne?

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Ditto to Infiniti512: "I’m glad I dont have her ID or I might tweet her to grow up."

Okay, maybe Park's statement wasn't exactly correct, but I think Oh is overreacting. It ruined the mood to film? Like, really?

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Much ado about nothing?
I can understand why OYS would feel the sting from such a statement but I don't agree with the twittering afterward.

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Honestly, it seemed like a situation blown out of proportion. And it wasn't a lie that Park had to choose between those 2 projects. And she WAS asked 1st to do it... I see no reason for all the hush, hush around the selection process. It's pretty open here in the U.S: Actor X declined or had a scheduling conflict, so Actor Y took the role, etc.
And frankly, out of the 2 women I have less respect for Oh for taking her tantrum to Twitter. She should apologize too.

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it's good that something like this happened. they (people in the media) should learn from this <3

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Who is Park Joo Mi? I don't recall seeing her in any dramas lately.

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I really don't know what was wrong with that comment, more importantly why would the actress playing the role now even continue this craziness by responsing.....Aigooo sometimes I just can't understand the stupidity of it all!

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Why when I read this I had a image of two little kids fighting in my head? And I thought as we grow these little petty arguments disappear... ~.~

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I think when celebs fight/argue with eachother publicly through the press and/or internet it's ridiculous.

On a side note... I would never want to be part of SNSD because be marketed to ajusshi with concepts of 'submisse lolitas' is something very degradating.

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Oh Yeon Su has a twitter? I'm gonna go follow her!

I like her in Bad Guy a lot more than HGI and I honestly can't see anyone else playing her role.

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I would have thought Oh Yeon Soo had seen enough in this entertainment world not to let it affect her. After all, she's a sunbae.

This happens in Hollywood all the time but we don't see the actors kicking up a big fuss over it. It's just a matter of choosing a role, passing it over and someone else taking it up.

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Umm . . . I'm sorry, but what's the big deal? Don't most dramas/movies go through several casting changes before airing? Just recently, the Hong sisters new gumiho drama, and Rain's latest come-back series, seem to have a new-possible lead actress every week. So who cares if one actress was briefly considered for another role? Heck, Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix, but I didn't hear the media freaking out about it, and Michael J Fox ended up replacing Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future, but nobody crucified him. So, is this kind of reaction strictly organic to Korean media? Or is it something you're only allowed to mention if the role you turned down ends up being a "successful" one??

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I guess we need to look at this with some cultural filtering. In most Asian cultures, what Park does is outright rude and vain, especially when Oh is a sunbae (senior) and highly regarded actress. Park's statement - purposefully made or not - has the implications of both her being the first choice and elevating her status to that of Oh (when she is in fact nowhere near that level).

JB's comment is absolutely spot on: 'It’s the difference between saying, “I was almost in SNSD” and “I was almost in SNSD in place of __ member.” '

It would be classier for Oh to say nothing but somehow it is great to see her being assertive about what rightly belongs to her.

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That's just lame. Who cares? Get thicker skin and just worry about yourself. -_-0

@ 20 Maria

I feel bad for SNSD. I would not want to project that image ever.

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Of course we know that the Korean public is sensitive to everything. This is just one among many cases where a celebrity's word/action is blown out of proportion. The best solution? Just keep your mouth shut.

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i just find that everything is blown out of proportions in korea. it seems like everything has to be big, no matter how small the issue was. obviously park was not all that smart when she spoke of this movie vs drama role thing, but seriously, there did not need to be such a fuss. as for oh yeon, why did she bring this up on twitter? i seriously have less respect for oh yeon, because she should be mature enough to handle this quietly and not like "OH YAH THIS GIRL MADE FUN OF ME, THE STATEMENT WAS SO STUPID, I CANNOT WORK, CAUSE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT MAKE FUN OF ME." kind of thing.

anyways it's just a cat fight.

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Maybe to non-Korean eyes, like us, it was nothing. (And it should have been nothing)

I read your post twice to figure out what the problem was. Oh Yeon Soo ruin her character for me, seriously.

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I find the commentary here fascinating, because it is so skewed the opposite way than the Korean side. Here, most people think Oh Yeon-soo was being stupid, where I'd venture to say that most of the Korean commentary has been that Park Joo-mi was rash and disrespectful. Frankly I think both were being silly, but as epyc noted, there are cultural issues at play here -- the fact that Park is by far a junior actress, that Oh has earned her status as a more well-regarded veteran, that Park seemed brash, which is perceived as a junior actor bragging that she's better than her senior, etc. I mean, most of us here are coming at it with a Western perspective (which is natural, since this is an English-language site), but I think maybe a cultural gap is something to consider...?

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Wow - I don't know either actress but sounds like neither were classy at all in this situation. Really? Getting hurt over an actresses comments about how she had to choose between 2 dramas? That seems overboard to me. First choices doesn't mean better in the end anyways.

In different cultures, people read into statements much more. It's really too bad cause it just fuels so much negativity instead of just ignoring and focusing on the positive.

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"but I think maybe a cultural gap is something to consider…"

Possibly, given that this is probably an example of "losing face", and such is a very big deal in Korean culture. I totally see Oh Yeun Soo's perspective, and I guess I'm surprised people are not really seeing her side in this.

Having said that, Bad Guy is still currently airing. Even in Hollywood, you rarely hear actors talk about other people's roles until well after the release. Casting is very, very territorial (esp. among actresses) and Oh Yeon Soo is a top star.

Finally, I also feel that this involved the male actors, reactions here would be different.

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Well, I don't quite get all the implications of this incident, but the only reason I'm still watching Nappn Namdja is O Yon Su.

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@ 20 and 25
actually just about all female idols do sell to the "ahjusshi" age fans but SNSD gets the most flack for it because (some) fangirls dislike them more than other groups

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As a Korean I understand the cultural issues here. But whether senior actor or junior actor, Western or Asian, I don't think going on a public networking site and ranting against another person is such a mature thing to do. And self-control, I think, is respected in all cultures too.

One of the reasons I respect Meryl Streep so much is that when this very situation happened to her, do you know what she did or said? Nothing. And sometimes lack of words (or a brawl in this case) speaks louder than words.

...Anyway, hope the senior Oh can forgive and forget b/c it's not good for your health!

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Cultural gap not withstanding, maturity level of an actress is also very important. I remember a big hooha once between Coco Lee and singer Ayumi Hamasaki which of course has Ayumi behaving like a bratty princess towards Coco Lee for what reason, I cannot recall but it's definitely vanity complex at work there. Anyway, Coco didn't come out and berate her for her ill manners. She just smiled gracefully and ignored Ayumi. Being assertive is fine but not to the point it looks like a cat fight.

But, who's having the last laugh now? Oh or Park?

It's just a classic case of "empty vessels making the most noise", directed at Park (in case anyone misunderstands).

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I want to say a big fucking YES! to Oh Yeon Soo. Not only is Park Joo Mi her junior, but she's essentially a has been. She's been out of the acting business for a while and her comments were not only rude, but also a ploy to generate more interest in her comeback.

Please. Desperate much?

And I am absolutely in love with Oh Yeon Soo's freshness. Some may say it was catty, but I am loving that she put Park Joo Mi in her place. Honestly, we need more seniority in Korean entertainment. Juniors should not be able to so easily walk over their sunbaes.

And you also have to sort of know Oh Yeon Soo's personality. Not that I'm an expert of what she's like in real life, but from what I've seen of her on talk shows, she's very straight forward and doesn't have an ounce of naesoong. She's definitely not the empty-headed, pretty face type of actress that are common these days.

Anyways, more power to Oh Yeon Soo!

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Yes. Twitter is very public. Korean celebs hardly use Facebook anyway, thanks to Cyworld. But Twitter is seriously public. The amount of followers for one celeb is amazing.

Since I stay in Asia, I can totally understand the outcry. Juniors should never belittle their seniors. It's like the recent event where a f(x) member was looking bored during a filming with a much respected sunbae and she was criticised to no end till she has to issue apologies.

That being said, I do think those netizens who are finding fault with all these celebs need to be more considerate. They always sound as if they are more righteous than these celebs. (Which includes us as netizens btw) Being a Kpop+Hallyu+Kdrama fan for years, I am so aware of the consequences that our words can bring to the celebs. You often hear these celebs saying that they unplug their Internet connection. How sad is that!

I mean, look at Tablo's case which should have been a non-issue from the beginning. And some nothing-else-better-to-do jokers decide to make it into a huge issue and start calling his family. :S

However, celebs, being in the spotlight, will always be under scrutiny, especially in Korea. Hawk-eyed (and sharp-ears) netizens will not fade. Not now.

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I think I'm learning rather quickly that if you truly like a certain celeb, you stay away from any of their personal communication to the world b/c inevitably they gonna end up saying something you don't like and suddenly your little bubble of fangirling get popped.

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I just think that culture plays an HUGELY important part here. I studied a lot about Eastern Asian culture in uni and THIS (regarding the "respect" thing in speech here) is one of the very first things people should remember to behave themselves in such cultures (T_T) I just wonder why they NATIVE actors forgot about that this time in PUBLIC? :-|

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does anyone have the azn tv invitation code? i really need it.. i want to watch love letter drama soon.. in youtube, there aren't be completed.. i can't buy the dvd because it was out of the sell.. or can someone tell me the alternative solution to watch free "Love Letter" which starred Jo Hyun Jae, Soo Ae, and Ji Jin Hee? please give me the azn invitation code or the alternative solution at :
felindawibiyana@yahoo.co.id
THX..

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park joo mi reminds me of the saying "an empty vessel makes the loudest sound"

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Never attribute to culture that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

It's simply nonsensical to throw a massive tantrum because of what Park said. This is just stupidity and attention whoring.

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^ I disagree writing a tweet on her twitter is throwing a massive tantrum. and why is stating your mind and stance stupidity?!

I'm all for OYS to vent, air, bitch about her life on her twitter. Yes, it's VERY public, but y is an actress stripped fr her right to be another human being even in twitter?!?!?! When Park was saying what she said she's at a press conference, when she's taking on that role of an actress AT WORK promoting her latest offering to the world, she should watch what she's saying and what it'll be interpreted as. OYS is tweeting as OYS, she's not working, she's sharing a slice of her emotions to the world and it's precious. OF course she can choose to present only the actress OYS to the world, but that's absolutely strictly her choice. We all have 140 characters to convey a piece of our mind, my tweets r as personal and they r as public, we should all enjoy the same human freedom, she'll live with her own consequences of her words, but it would be totally cool of her in my book when she can be herself and bitch about life, but heck all these cyber censoring of what she can or cant tweet. or what her person is... and judging by that steeps into her brilliant work. I honestly cant understand based on what logic whether she is stupid or not, a bitch or not in real life can change an observed opinion of the same piece of acting performance. *shrug*

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after me this is a publicity stunt, after Cinderella's sister KBS is Number one in ratings so now the Baker of KBS is number one too, Bad Guy isn't struggling with ratings but it's not a 30% so in this break they don't want to be forgotten... so here we go with the gossips, so after me OYS did as producers told her to do, because they are her bosses right now... so remember the ratings and imediate money are in Korea and not on the English sites and they advised her to do accordingly with Korean culture (and her role in the drama)

and Prosecutor Princess left SBS with low ratings- even overseas fans are far more than Koreans fans-so now Bad Guy inherit the foreign fan base but a very small fanbase from SBS-the one who watch previous show will tend to watch the next one from the same television

Above all aren't we bored because nothing happens in Korea during the World Cup?... I bet SBS is earning lots of money because of World Cup, but we (kdrama fans) are really bored and we need entertainment so here we go with Bread and Circus for us too

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@40 I sent you one of mine in case you still need it. Enjoy!

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Both were wrong, but I think we should not jusge OYS, because now everyone is tring to send a message to someone or put him to his darn place when they write on twitter and facebook, I do too ....OYS is an human being, I can totally understand what she did, some of the people who are critizing her maybe have done the same once in their life !!!!

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imo, i think Oh Yeon Soo should not have lashed out when that nobody Park Joo Mi made that insensitive comment. It's like acknowledging PJM had the power to hurt her. I understand where OYS is coming from but I do think she should have just let it slide. That's just my Western perspective.

There are stars who do go "I almost played _____ in that movie/tv show", but they don't do it until some time the movie/show is over so the comment comes off more as nostalgic than boastful. Maybe it's because PJM hasn't done that many things in the past 5 or so years and had forgotten how sensitive casting can be. I hope she will watch her words more carefully in the future.

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as much as it's important in asian societies that a junior respect her senior, i think Oh is being really obnoxious about the whole thing. even if she felt disrespected by Park's comments (which didn't even have ill intentions), she should not have voiced it on Twitter. cause now everyone's hating on poor Ms. Park and she has to apologize for something she didn't even mean? i dont know either actress, so i don't know much about them outside of this incident. but still, Oh just seems overly sensitive and haughty. granted, Park should be a little more careful next time considering how things can be misinterpreted very easily in showbiz.

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@44 Park didn't say anything special, ergo there was no reason for any of this drama to occur.

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