Korean Wave of Stars Set to Crash US Shores
January 4th, 2007 by dd
Rick Yune, Karl Yune, Will Yun Lee and Daniel Dae Kim
The Korean pop-culture wave has swept Asia. Now what? The challenges to Korean stars continue, and their next target is the heart of the international movie market, Hollywood. Park Joong-hoon, Lee Byung-heon and Jung Jun-ho already have their engines revving. With their dreams seeming to come into focus, the group of top stars may even be seen in Hollywood this year.
The U.S. magazine Variety recently said of the actor, “Of all Korea’s top-ranked male stars, Lee Byung-heon may be best placed to break through internationally.” As a K-Wave star with a huge following in Japan, Lee is also already linguistically prepared for the task. In TV dramas and films he has already shown off his near-perfect command of English on various occasions.
Among actresses, Kim Yun-jin is already on the list of global stars. With her outstanding English skills, she lent her charm to the TV series “Lost” and continues to embellish the covers of international magazines. The hopeful predict that calls from Hollywood are just a matter of time.
Most actors of Korean heritage are so-called 1.5 generation or second generation, so they speak perfect English. But they had their share of struggles, including a high cultural wall in Hollywood. But while the first generation had to be satisfied with extra or minor parts, recently actors of Korean heritage have appeared in starring roles, drawing up their own American dream. [Chosun]
Kim Yun-jin, Sandra Oh, Jeon Ji-hyun and Ha Ji-won
Posted in Asian American, Film, TV, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Kim Yun-jin, Jeon Ji-hyun, Korean, Park Joong-hoon, Lee Byung-heon, Jung Jun-ho, Ha Ji-won, Rick Yune, Karl Yune, Will Yun Lee | 