Top Stars in their 40s Still Going Strong

It has been observed that actors who been top stars for over 20 years are working together with newer actors who are on the rise.

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Male and female actors in their late 20s and early 30s are appearing as main characters one after another, and are called rising stars. Still, top stars in their 40s, familiar to middle-aged viewers and audiences in their 50s and older, are playing the lead in 'tent pole' (a masterpiece that will determine the success or failure of each manufacturer's business in a year) movies and dramas. It has lately been observed that actors who have been top stars for over 20 years and actors who are emerging as the recent trend are working together.

Currently, the most representative examples are the movie "Dark Nuns" starring Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-been, and the Netflix series "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call" starring Ju Ji-hoon and Choo Young-woo. Song Hye-kyo and Ju Ji-hoon, who are in their mid-40s, are playing the main roles that younger actors in their 20s and 30s can lean on.

Jeon Yeo-been has been watching 1981 born Song Hye-kyo on TV for 25 years since her debut in the entertainment industry in 1996 and has been popular since "Autumn in my Heart" in 2000, said, "It was really nice to meet a senior who I want to take after".

Born in 1989, Jeon Yeo-been is eight years younger than Song Hye-kyo, but her debut was a bit late in 2015. When she just debuted with a minor role, Song Hye-kyo was already a top star in her 20th year.

Choo Young-woo who was born in 1999, also mentioned Ju Ji-hoon as a role model throughout the promotion of "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call". He is 17 years younger than Ju Ji-hoon, who was born in 1982. When Ju Ji-hoon debuted as a model in 2003, Choo Young-woo was 5 years old, and entered elementary school when Ju Ji-hoon became a syndrome hit with the drama "Princess Hours" in 2006.

Ju Ji-hoon is using the age difference between the two as a laughing factor, saying in interviews, "There are times when I feel a generational difference from Young-woo".

In addition, actress Kim Hye-soo, who was born in 1970 and has been acting for 30 years, is leading the Disney+ drama "Unmasked". The movie "Nocturnal", which will be released on May 5th, will also feature Ha Jung-woo, who was born in 1978 and has been acting for 22 years.

Some say that familiar actors constantly display their faces through screens and OTT services, which beyond familiarity, is boring. Hwang Jung-min, one of the most prolific actors in the movie industry, is nicknamed "Again Jung-min".

Analysts say that the trend of using actors who are familiar to the public and show stable acting skills is becoming more pronounced as the cultural world moves toward a recession.

"From an investor's point of view, we are trying to make a safe choice by using top stars who have ticket power and proven them", said Jung Deok-hyun, a pop culture critic. "It is also because the main consumers of Korean pop culture are not women in their 20s or 30s, but the 40s and 50s, which is why the age group is higher".

He added, "If the top actor, who can appeal to the 40~50 with purchasing power, is appointed as the main and the rising star, which covers the 2030 generation as a plus alpha, is included, it can be seen that the basic elements of the box office are met".