Bloody Heart got me wondering who the hero was and who the villain. While I was convinced the drama was about making the former Crown Princess the Queen she deserved to be, I found myself rooting for Counselor Park and not the King.

There is also a large list of characters that are heroes and villains at the same time, and I couldn’t help but love them: from Vincenzo (a gánster) , to Soo Hyun in Kill it (a hit man) to Dong Mae in Mr. Sunshine (a hitman and gangster?), and never forgetting Bead Boy in Secret Inspector & Joy or Lee Bang Won itself in Six Flying Dragons.

Never ever a villain.

Boring good guy every time. I couldn't handle the guilt and wondering how I would feel if someone did something bad to those I love.

It depend on the role. If it's to act the bitchy second female lead, I prefer to be the hero...

As an actor, I guess playing somone far from your personality must be fun to do and interesting. Not always easy like when it's about kid abuse for example.

A villain. But it has to be a villain with class and probable reason, who also acts with his or her head intact and not just cause the character is a villain. And, do not make me a villain who wins all the rounds until the penultimate and finale weeks.

On this note, make me a villain like Mishil in Queen Seondeok or Jang Hyuk in Bloody Heart and I'll play it to my heart's desire and the most definite satisfaction of the audience.

Theres a reason why well written (and well potrayed) villains always steal the show in dramas and movies, they can be far more interesting than heroes and heroines.

Jeong Bo-seok in Giant (2010) immediately comes to mind, the heroes were likeable and compelling but he stole that entire drama from his first second on screen. Another one would be Namgoong Min in Remember (2015), i mean do you even remember any of his cast mates from that drama.

So yeah,I go with Villain

*twists nail*

I would defo play the villain because even if I was cast as hero, I would derail. or an ambiguous character that you cannot figure out till the end.

A hero/good guy is only as strong as his villain.

Over the years, I have read many articles with actors who were typecast in certain good roles but always lamented the fact they were not offered villain roles. They wanted to challenge themselves in a different kind of role (which could upset their fan expectations).

But probably the best is often the most difficult to pull off: the anti-hero. They are often complex and conflicting: they tend to make selfish decisions and don't care about the consequences; they believe they are fighting a noble cause, but their methods are often questionable and hurt other people; they rebel against authority figures and society; but in the end they are self-destructive and delusional.

@Unit, what you say about hero/villain dressing is too true! There's an entire world outside of dramas full of heroes that dress well, as well as villains that dress poorly, and yet this trope continues. It'd be so nice to be able to watch the reverse, and I may throw that out there for my 2023 dramaland wish list. Of course, in my fantasy world, everyone dresses well but that's a whole other topic.

Mishil in Queen Seondeok is a classic example of a villain stealing the show. So is Jang Hyuk's Lee Bang Won in My Country. (Or is he an antihero?)

I’ve read many interviews where actors say they want to play a villain. There must be a sense of freedom in playing that kind of role, especially if you are a straight arrow in real life. I can identify with that on a small scale because in my manuscript, the easiest and most enjoyable character to write was the bitchy, trouble making SFL.

Is it a cop out to say anti heroes and/or anti villians?

I'm thinking of Vincinzo and S1 Taxi Driver.
I honestly wish characters like that existed in reality; people who deal with the rich and powerful who hurt and take advantage of others by any means.

Would SeungCheon from The Golden Spoon also be considered an anti hero/anti villian? I thought even though what he did, stealing someone's life was techinically bad, it was understandable (though apparently many wouldn't make that choice for the same reason Taeyong didn't: love of family). I much preferred the drama over the webtoon. I think webtoon is futher towards the villian end.

I think the appeal is anti heros and anti villians feel a bit more realistic and cynical (and since I'm a jaded cynic, I vibe with that).

After the antis, I like a hero but it depends how they're portrayed. I don't personally like the sickingly (to me) optimistic hero. Like in Signal, I think the 3 leads are all heroic but they are realists or jaded. In the case of the cop from the past, he was like the sole righteous guy in a sea of corruption and yet he still kept his ideals. I liked that.

Villians are interesting and entertaining but the destruction they leave in their wake can just end up making me feel all the negative feelings which brings me back to the anti heroes/anti villians dealing with them.

One a DVD commentary I heard a director say the direction he gave to the actor playing a bad guy is that he doesn't think of himself as a bad guy, he thinks he's the good guy. I think that's missing from most kdrama villains, at least those of the serial killer variety. They stalk around with glowering eyes and standard villain uniform (black mask, black cap...) it's a wonder they don't get arrested on sight as obviously villainous.

I can't really think of an entertaining Hannibal Lecterish villain in kdrama, perhaps Namgoong Min comes closest in The Girl Who Sees Smells, he really creeped me out in that one, so much that I avoided watching him until Chief Kim. I'm partial to the tortured soul bad guys who were once good, like Lee Dong-gun in Seven Days Queen and Park Ki-woong in Gaksital.

I think I would prefer to play a dramaland extra. The most insignificant extra in the whole show. 🤣

First of all, I'm not a nice person.
Dramaland has this rule were the herod pretend to be some kind of saints, and they act like the most righteous person in Korea, and they're like extremely selfless and warm. But I'm not like that, I even kind of dislike that kind of people. I feel like heroes are judgy, dumb, boring, and tooooo much talk.

I remember that for the first half of The Devil Judge I just wanted to slap Jin Young's character. Min Young unnie's character was my favorite.

And even if the character isn't totally annoying, heroes are always making sacrifices, having a hard time, their whole family gets killed, etc.

So I can't/won't (or want to) be a hero.

A villainess... I like to mind my own business, and I'm probably the least greedy person in world. I don't need much. I'm chill. And I really don't care what other people do with their lives. I don't think I would have something to fight for. And even if I had, I would probably let the other person have it. I just don't like fighting.
Oh, wait, and let's not forget about how villains always have a sad ending in these shows: Jail... If it is a sageuk I would probably get tortured and killed.

Yeah. Both options seem exhausting.
I love dramas but being a kdrama character kinda sucks. 😂

heh I know the feature pic is from THE WORLD OF THE MARRIED but it looks like the Korean version of KNIVES OUT, which yanno I wouldn't mind watching...
Yeah in fiction I'd prefer to be the baddie...
But I'm lazy so give me the riches and I'd play the bitchy second lead.
Don't really want to anything more, otherwise I'd probably end up in jail or get killed

I love a smart villain with a justifiable cause so I'd hit that casting any day. Someone just plain greedy, jealous or small minded would leave a scar on my soul. Full blown crazy would be awesome though.

Heroes are too hard working, they don't value their sleuthing enough. Nor do they have their musing monologues of reflection on their own importance. I'd love to act out those....😏

I've noticed that a lot of the actresses my age in kdramas play villains. It's very enjoyable to watch. I think it must be more fun to inhabit a character with dubious motivations. In real life I'm more like a kdrama hero, in that I am a good cook who likes to feed people. I'm watching The Devil Judge right now, and the hero doesn't only save people by pulling them out of a burning bus or shielding them with his body. He also emphasizes the importance of a nutritious, traditional breakfast. So I would like to play a villain but be a hero.

My ex once mused that I'm more like the "hero's first love he lost but couldn't forget" archetype than actual FL. Which is doubly funny given how this exactly the way our relationship played out in the end (only difference is that I was silver and not gold in his heartbreak resume). Still, kdramas are not really nice to their SFLs so I'd rather to play the baddie. Not only they have all the fun with zero repercussions until the finale, they're also very memorable if done right. I think Kirk Douglas perfectly summed it up to his son when the latter was just starting as an actor himself - If you want to make a strong impression, play the roles people love to hate and play them as hateable as you can.

Villains generally get away with so much more, I wouldn't mind trying that out.

As much as I want to play a villain, my real-life personality is not that malicious. I would probably be the kind of villain that accidentally went to the dark side because of fear. I am also not nice enough to the hero, especially with all that forgiveness ish.

I feel like it'll be more fun to play a villain, but I am a terrible actor. I can probably play a bland heroine at best.

Hero :)

Your point on the wardrobe is expressed in the cwebdrama Night of love with you: FL is usually a villain but suddently is the nice-FL and discovers the associated restrictions.
I'd also like to be a powerful vilain in a drama. But I'm not a nice girl so maybe I'm just lacking the clothes ?

Hmm... Actually, if I was to play a character in a drama, I'll probably be the 'god' character. 😅

I like just watching it all happen and staying back to observe things. I also like it when I get to intervene once in a while to keep things going.

Otherwise, I mostly understand the characters and their motivations in each drama I watch, even when I don't agree with them. Sometimes, I'm petty and want what I want (side eye Love Alarm, so disappointed in you 😒) and most times I'm swooning over the pairing.

Some characters I would have loved to play in a drama include Samshin in Goblin, Kang Won Chul in Stranger, Dr. Bong in Hospital Playlist and Gu Jun Hee in Boys over Flowers.