[HanCinema's News] Veteran Actresses Making a Comeback

With the success of "The World of the Married" attention is turning to veteran actresses as possible selling points in their own right. While the Kim Hee-ae led "The World of the Married" is the most obvious recent exemplar of the trend, it is only a single part of the production trend. "SKY Castle", with its full cast of actresses in their late forties, showed that audiences would watch older actresses in the right projects.

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So it was that "Graceful Family" became one of the big unexpected hits of 2019. Bae Jong-ok, while not the lead character, still drew strong interest from viewers for her commanding performance in a senior administrative role that would typically be filled by a male character. The production of the upcoming wide-release film "Innocence" predates these dramas, but marketing has notably focused heavily on Bae Jong-ok's character, who is an accused murderer.

Kim Sung-ryung of "The Call" is experiencing a similar renewal of interest, although unlike "Innocence", "The Call" does not yet have a definite release date, so marketing information is still far off. However, "The Call" was not experiencing significant buzz ahead of its release despite featuring Park Shin-hye in the leading role.

The marketing seems likely to take advantage of the COVID-19 delay to recalibrate. In any case, much will depend on how "Innocence" performs in the box office later this month. On May 27th "Innocence" will be the first widely released movie at the South Korean box office since "Beasts Clawing at Straws" back in February.

Written by William Schwartz