Blackpink‘s Jisoo and Twice’s Dahyun, who are expanding their scope as actors, are entering the ‘Acting Idols‘ Testing Bench’ with consecutive leading roles. Attention is focused on whether the two, who are each appearing in the Coupang Play drama ‘Newtopia’ and the movie ‘The Girl We Loved Back Then’, will be able to pass the test.

Jisoo is releasing ‘Newtopia’, her lead role with Park Jung-min, starting on the 7th. ‘Newtopia’ is a unique romantic comedy set in Seoul under attack by zombies. It is Jisoo’s first work since establishing her personal agency, Bliss, and has garnered attention from early on.

As if to prove such interest, ‘Newtopia’ not only recorded the highest number of viewers on the first day of Coupang Play drama release, but was also released on the global OTT (online video service) Prime Video, entering the top 5 in 39 countries, giving it a solid box office hit from the start.

However, regardless of its box office performance, the public‘s opinions on Jisoo’s acting are clearly divided. Some viewers have pointed out Jisoo‘s shortcomings, such as her murky pronunciation, imprecise pronunciation, and exaggerated facial expressions, which were also controversial in her first leading role in 2021, JTBC’s ‘Snowdrop’. On the other hand, there are also reactions that Jisoo‘s acting is well-suited to the light comedy genre with a cartoonish setting. As the evaluation of Jisoo is definitely mixed, it seems that Jisoo’s role in the subsequent developments will become even more important in order to continue the initial upward trend.

Meanwhile, Dahyun will be challenging acting for the first time in the movie ‘The Girl We Loved Back Then’, which will be released on the 21st. Unlike other idol groups where some members are both acting and singing, this is an unusual move for Twice, who has focused solely on music. In particular, even before the release of their debut film, they have confirmed their next works one after another, including ‘Full Sprint’ and the JTBC drama ‘Love Me’, drawing attention.

‘The Girl We Loved Back Then’ is a remake of the 2012 Taiwanese film of the same name, and depicts the innocent first love of eighteen high school students. Dahyun plays the pretty and good-natured model student Sun-ah, and Jinyoung, formerly of B1A4, plays Jin-woo, who has a crush on Sun-ah.


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.