So true. JRW would be more acceptable, she actually speaks English.
I'm not sure what started this Korean trend in Hollywood, strange. In my opinion, most Westerners can't tell one Asian from another so they wouldn't care about which Asian country an actor hails. Cheap labor?

I agree with you. They should really try to find someone who can actually speak English so they don't have to take such sterotypical roles that don't require talking. Really, anyone who can speak English; they don't have to be a huge hallyu star to be successful in America. Hollywood doesn't care.

lol they all assassins!!!!!! hahahahhhahah
and of course JRW should act in something, I LOVE HER. i think she is sooooo classy and sophisticated. its a shame she doesnt get lead roles often. a lot of pp think she is fake which i dont get. she is probably the one person who i think is actually very comfortable in her own skin. not to mention she is sooooo pretty.

hahah im done

I agree about Jung Ryu Won, I love her and she can actually speak English haha
I had no idea Kang Hye Jung was in Oldboy... I love that movie.

I'm surprised it's a melodrama. KHJ has always struck me as an actress who's drawn to strange, challenging material (Nabi, Oldboy, Welcome to Dongmakgol, Rules of Dating, Invisible Waves) and she shines best in them, not in typical commercial fare.

Hoping it's a well-written indie and her role isn't exoticized. Hoping she CAN speak English; it isn't easy to act in a foreign language, not even for good actors. *cough*Lee YoungAe in JSA*cough*Bae JongOk in Love Talk*cough*Penelope Cruz in Hollywood movies that aren't Volver*cough*

I didn't know that she was in YG Entertainment...

Once again you hit it right and described it to perfection. I'm talking about JRW. She has the IT factor without even trying one bit. She is natural, not only because she can speak english (it's a plus) but because she has it all - natural, pretty, unpretentious, down-to-earth, AND can act. You should watch Which Planet Are You From. Acting along another talented actor (KRW), she shines while playing two different characters. I just love, love, love her.

You are a pleasure to read, dramabeans!

strange to hear that yet another hallyu star would be debuting in the West. There are a lot of Asian Americans here. Why don't they give them a go first. While I do not have doubts that Kang Hye Jung would be a great actress in any role she portrays, I am still iffy about her English skills. Anyway, thanks for the interesting post, dramabeans!

You've missed out JRW's co star in MNIKSS.. Daniel Henney.. coming out in Wolverine. Based on his excellent English skill, his acting would be the most impressive.. no?

Anyway.. Lee Byung Hun has another English-speaking movie "I Come With The Rain" slated for a late 2008 release.. before GI Joe in 2009.

I agree about JRW, she really does have that certain something. Lee Byung Hun can speak English, as can Song Hye Gyo. I think they can both speak it fairly well. LBH's English skills are actually very good; SHG speaks well, and can improve.

I'm not sure about the others. Well, poor Rain seems to have learned more English, but he always seems a bit confused when speaking - like he doesn't have a firm grasp on what all the words really mean.

But, what really bothers me is that these roles all seem to be sterotypes - they are all playing assassins!

is this the same melo with park hee-soon? i agree kang is best in edgy, indie works. i haven't enjoyed any of her mainstream efforts, but wonder if it may be the jaw correction/surgery thing getting between us LOL

as for JRW, she's quite fab in all the CF and celeb appearances, more so than her breakout role (My Two Faced Girlfriend or something with bong taegyun.) the problem was her intelligence - so much of it she could not hide, in order to convince of her role's silly, ditsy moments. sometimes the role even seemed beneath her contempt!

I had no idea Kang Hye Jung was under YG
I totally noticed that trend of Korean stars
going to Hollywood and taking stereotypical Asian roles.
The only one who's not is
Daniel Henney but he never spoke Korean
in any of his movies or dramas anyways.
It's really frustrating to see Korean actors and actresses
degrading themselves this way.
Jung Ryeo Won really does need to go debut in America,
I bet she'd be super popular and do great movies.

What happened to her face???? Why hasn't anyone noticed (pointed out) how vastly different she looks from Oldboy? And it's not just "aged". Something is weird...her nose? Her mouth? She is NOT the beauty she was.

When I read the news a while back, I was like "not again?" And I would love to see Jung Ryeo Won in anything. She is so awesome. But I kind of recalled that she didn't sound so great in English when I watched MNIKSS. Or was it just me?

Creeping Vine: Erm, she went for a surgery quite a while back. And yes, she looks extremely different. I did like her before too. But I still like her now.

Dude I TOTALLY agree with you on JRW! I was wondering about that myself! Besides from what you've been saying about not completely Western or "Other", her English should deem her worthy of any Hollywood flick. I know I sound biased by saying this and probably a bit racist even maybe, but think about it. Which other Korean actor could successfully break into Hollywood without the "ergh...we couldn't really understand him/her" barrier that everyone worried about with Rain? She'd be a great representative and I really did like her in My Name is Kim Sam Soon. She seems like such a natural and could deal with all of the publicity too.

wowy. another? thank god she's not joining the rest as a murder of some sort. i truly love her and i agree, she was great in flowers for life. that really sad yet heart-warming drama.

i second jung ryeo won!

agree with you on JRW and like her in MNIKSS and WPAYF.
here's a scoope about KHJ....

Kang Hye-jeong has entered training with the trainer team who worked with Se7en and Big Bang. Kang Hye-jeong signed a contract with YG Entertainment, housing Se7en, Gummy, Big Bang, Koo Hye-seon, and Jeong Hye-yeong, in February. She started training with a team who is famous for making singer trainees work hard.
credit: hancinema.net

For those who dont know KHJ have dental surgery...to fix her overbite...

I think she looked fine but oh well. I think LBH can speak pretty good english can't he?

I love Kang Hye Jung and she can act
Jung Ryu Won can't act

I actually haven't seen Kang Hye Jung in anything since Welcome to Dongmakgol. When I saw photos of her after surgery I just felt really sad. Such a drastic surgery, and I know she was mocked by all the netizens for it. I don't agree with the maliciousness behind the mocking, but I basically agree with them- before she looked cute, quirky and distinctive, and now she just looks cookie-cutter without looking all that pretty, really. I can't imagine that the surgery was JUST to correct an overbite- if that was the goal it could have been accomplished much less dramatically.

I should probably give her another chance and watch some of her more recent stuff, as she always seemed like a great actress. I just hate it that she tried to erase all her quirkiness through surgery. She was so CUTE before! Now only her eyes are the same...

The overbite was part of what made her face so sensuous and gorgeous.

Big mistake.

Must be the first timein history a woman had some kind of surgery to look uglier than she did BEFORE the surgery.

ITA Creeping Vine... WHY? T_T

It seems to me that JRW would have an even bigger handicap than the other stars ... I seem to recall from MNIKSS (although it's been so long since I've seen it that my memory could be faulty) that JRW has a pretty thick Australian accent when she speaks English. Unless she can fake an American English accent (or a Korean accent for the role of "Stereotypical Marginalized Asian Other"), it would be very difficult for her to get any roles in Hollywood.

have you ever heard of jang hyuk? i think most ppl can recognize him as the main lead in windstruck. i think the hollywood movie he was in was called the dance of the dragon. and apparently it came out with good reviews but i don't think it was popular.

I agree 100%. Kang Hye-jung was beautiful and distinctive before she had the dental surgery. Jennifer Grey from Dirty Dancing had surgery on her nose and after that she was so unrecognizable that she lost a lot of acting jobs. Her career has not been the same since her surgery.