Idols turned Actors: A review of 08’s idols in drama explosion

We all know that all idol group members are not just trained to sing. To survive in the K-pop jungle, one must be trained to be an all around entertainer. Acting, dancing, hosting, modeling, eating a ball flame in front of a live audience, are all part of the rigorous preparation these idol group members have to go through.

Just the past year alone, we saw a lot of our beloved (or hated, depending on where your loyalty lies) idol groups branch out from their usual sing and dance routine.

Super Junior



Instead of getting busy promoting in China or flouncing around in neon feather boas, Kibum spent most of the year in the 111-episode drama “Chunja’s Happy Events”. The drama wasn’t exactly a hit. And though Kibum got to pursue his acting which is a major priority for him, he unintentionally distanced himself from the fans.

If Kibum’s problem was “lack of visibility”, fellow members Kangin and Heechul suffered way too much from it.

Heechul and Kangin shared the role of Sonny for the 1980’s disco dancing musical “Xanadu”. This was their first stab into theater acting and tragically, the theater critics in Korea stabbed back. The production was met with bad reviews citing the bad singing, lousy acting, and lack of coordination among the actors.

Theirs could easily be dismissed by saying they are bad actors. But I am willing to argue that it’s not entirely their fault. Being the slave-driver that they are, SM Entertainment gave Heechul and Kangin more than what they can handle. Instead of focusing on “Xanadu” the boys were also busy with other activities such as filming and promoting movies, recovering from a knee surgery, hosting a radio show, pretending to be rockstars, pretending to be daddies, trotting in Japan, etc.

note: i cut the article, i post only the parts about super junior.. to view the whole article refer to this link.
http://seoulbeats.com/2009/02/idols-turned-actors-a-review-of-08s-idols-in-drama-explosion/

credits to: seoulbeats