You know, and I will get some hate for this, because in part I thought Money Flower dawdled coming to a finish and was about four episodes too long, and because revenge dramas like heist dramas turn on gimmicks, I actually thought Jang Hyuk in Bad Papa, for all the problems inherent in it, was more compelling (and I thought he was way more compelling in My Country–sageuks in general seeming to me better suited to Jang Hyuk’s talents, especially with regard to his operatic voice work and flair in physical scenes, than contemporary pieces).
And the opening scene of Tree is simply classic Jang Hyuk. So I have a different take than you about him. I think it is unfortunate that he has been typecast, and I think he would be much better suited for the tight scripting in movies to do contemporary stories than tv dramas with their often need for endless melodramatic plot complications, pretentiousness, and pretty face love interest, ie. the women he is opposite are rarely three dimensional, even more rarely his equal as actors.

You won’t get any hate. We’ll just disagree on some things. I loved his acting in Bad Papa. I just thought the drama was unnecessarily depressing and dark but great vehicle to showcase his skills. As a fan Im very satisfied with his evolution as an actor, even if his latest dramas haven’t been successful. But I see him maturing as an actor ever since Money Flower, being much more in command of his expressions (much less OTT overboard moments, almost no bulging eyes these days), playing much more with his voice. I loved what he did with his voice in Tell me what you saw. One reason I loved Money Flower was his pairing with Lee Mi Sook.

A wonderful wistful Han Seok Kyu early film somewhat available is Christmas in August. Of course if Dr. Romantic wins, you will see him in that, not quite as three dimensional but so riveting. His support role in The Royal Tailor, a sageuk, shows off how even when playing a support role, his screen presence is off the charts.

@beez I am just an opinionated and biased old coot. Haven’t you noticed? Yuk. I do get a kick out of squeebie nation, so glad to see all of you, and you in particular, kick up your heels. And goodness knows, when it comes to Jang Hyuk, you are not alone. Still I am a shameless teaser as well.

@Drama Fan: PS you read all my comments about Jang Hyuk in the Chuno threads–did you get the feeling I underestimate Jang Hyuk?

Hi BE, again, Im guessing this was in response to Ele’s comment about Seol Hwa? But anyway my answer is I know you very much appreciate JH as an actor. We just appreciate him in different ways and as you said to Beez you love to tease us Squeebies, and we love to overreact! Thats all 😆 Its what we do!

I agree Ele. I have only watched JH in Fated to Love you and Money flower. And I fell in love with JH when he returns the shoes in the cabin scene when he kneels down. Can I explain why? Not at all. But through that scene which is probably ten a penny in a K drama. He made me realise that Lee Gun was a decent ,upstanding caring guy despite his silliness. I still to this day to do understand what he did in that scene for me to make me fall so hard. I also didn’t think he was particularly attractive until that scene. I was planning to write of the drama and that point.
As for Money Flower he would have won Baftas, Golden Globes galore had that been in shot on U.K or U.S. Love the egg analogy.

@Sharra – If you do find time to watch all of Jang Hyuk’s dramas that pre-date Fated to Love You, I think you should then rewatch FTLY. FTLY was like a dedication to his past projects. There are so many little references to his past roles (including the Chuno theme song which shows up when things get exciting). ☺

@Beez That is a great suggestion. I definitely do need to do that because I missed quite a lot of the insider jokes in FTLY.

Ok BE, I’m not going to try to convince you but just want to say I completely disagree. I (I know Beez said otherwise) but I did agree with you that HSK was the center of Tree and he upstaged everyone (although when I watched the show I enjoyed the whole ensemble cast and how they interacted so I wasn’t giving too much thought to this until it was pointed out by my korean friend). My only argument was, Ddolbock wasn’t a great character and JH wasn’t completely in synch with PD, therefore its not a fair comparison of acting range or skills in general when I, feel, that JH is capable of more (based on other works) But If you say, you’ve seen both actors in many works and in your opinion HSK is a better actor, I accept that. However, and here is one key thing you are overlooking, at the end of the day this is all a matter of taste. Not taste in abs or men’s beauty but taste in acting. Just like in your opinion and a lot of people’s opinions HSK is simply a superior actor, there are those who probably do not see it, are not moved by him like you are etc and conversely are moved and convinced by the likes of JH, others will say Gong Yoo is better than both (just to throw a name). So, saying that we are “blinded” by JHs physique sounds a bit dismissive. Especially since we are explicitly giving our reasons to like him, that are not related to his physique. Why an actor moves us more than other is not a matter that we can measure with a ruler. Its not math. And no it cannot be “simply” explained with this guy has abs and this other doesn’t. Maybe consider the possibility that we are not blinded, and maybe just have different preferences, experiences and are moved by different things. And I hope you believe me when I tell you, as incredible as it may sound to you, I never found JH to be handsome or sexy in TWDR, I was intrigued by his intense gaze at first, then by his action skills, then by his comedic acting etc Yes, it wasn’t his best role (when I compare it to other works of his I see it, he went OTT here and there) but it was enough to show me he was a fun, ultra expressive, emotive, dynamic actor to watch and made me curious about his other works. This doesn’t detract one ounce of the attention HSK commanded and deserved as the King. But then again, I would never even have thought of comparing them. To me the cast complemented each other.

@Drama Fan: Oh certainly taste differs from person to person, including what influences that taste. One thing I have found here where so many posters, though certainly not all, are women is their focus on male actors is different than their focus on female actors.
I am so old that the very young and beautiful women actors I see look like my granddaughter, and those more mature are my daughters’ age, so while I am not immune to the heavenly charms of beautiful women, they tend not to affect me in quite the same way.
In addition, while I can appreciate masculine attractiveness, as I said before, seeing, say, Jang Hyuk and Han Jung Soo and the immediate response they engender, I can remember going down a number of rivers in my late twenties, quite stripped down, where neither of those gentlemen would be considered anything more noticeable than every other guy on the trip, none of us considering ourselves movie stars or idols, and lucky, when we had them, to have girl friends. And my friends were scientists, adventurers, professionals, as well as poor back to the landers living simple lives on organic farm properties.
So what I am drawn to first and foremost is artistry, then technique, and screen charisma, of which attractiveness may or may not be apart. Or vice versa–with Jang Hyuk his charisma informs his attractiveness and Chuno really shows it off to beautiful effect.
But this: I noticed Han Seok Kyu because he was the first actor I saw in a series acting side by side with Jang Hyuk in which Jang Hyuk actually almost disappeared when they were on screen together in Tree With Deep Roots. And to this day, I cannot think of that being the case for me in any other drama in which I have seen Jang Hyuk.

@BE – I haven’t commented this time on your assessment of those of us who are Jang Hyuk fans because 1) I’ve explained it to you before and 2) because of my fangirling you aren’t going to accept whatever I say as having any objectivity anyway so…

I think you’ll find we discussed and adored Soelhwa as much as Daegil, unfortunately the actress hasn’t been as prolific as Jang Hyuk. In Money Flower, I loved Min Sook (as in, her acting as her character was despicable!) as much as Jang Hyuk. I have watched as many dramas because I’ve liked the actress as much as I have because I like the actor.

I think fangurling is essentially hyper-enthusiasm about acting, story and character when it comes to drama. I disagree, BE, that it’s about lusting after actors – though the odd flail, as kfangurl brilliantly puts it, is inevitable. But that’s so much less significant than the rest of it, for me anyway.

@Dramafan: no one, no matter how much they loved Seol Hwa spoke of her body, forget about swooningly talking about her body. Her face a bit, but that was it. There is nothing wrong with finding people erotic, etc. So why deny that is part of the deal?
Even though I would find it a bit silly to swoon over her, I am not immune to Go Hyun Jung as Mishile (or as Park Wan in My Dear Friends); she projects an enormous amount of womanly erotic charisma; somewhat like Jang Hyuk, it is hard to take your eyes off her when she’s on screen. If someone said I inflated my admiration for her, I’d probably say just as you are of Jang Hyuk, yeah, but she can act! I do not think Kim Hee Ae projects half that amount of sheer erotic je ne sais quois, but I do think she is a better actor.
That’s all.

Hi BE, I think you were responding to Ele 😋