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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:16 pm Post subject: Bad foreign actors in K-dramas |
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I started watching some K-dramas recently (before you rip on me, just for language practice haha) and one thing that stood out was how bad the foreign actors are. Are they just trying to make us look dumb lol...I've only watched about two hours since yesterday, and already a few incidents come to mind. The last one prompted me to write this post as I just started the 1st episode of "101st Proposal" - some white woman with an accent (Russian?) who misses her line in English, then speaks French with a dreadful accent...after 5 minutes of that I'm gonna try something else. There was another pretty bad American-seeming actor who had a few lines in something I was watching last night...then there was a scene of an elementary school classroom (shot from overhead). This one takes the cake, cause it was clearly a Korean woman with dyed hair/blond wig with the thickest Korean accent ever apparently pretending to play a NET.
I also notice that whenever the Korean actors/actresses speak English, it seems really poor...like worse than the average college student. Singers tend not to be horrible, so why can't drama actors be better, considering they've had tons of resources at their disposal to get the accent tuned up? |
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PEIGUY

Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Location: Omokgyo
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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| maybe they're told to speak that way? |
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r122925
Joined: 02 Jun 2011
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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| PEIGUY wrote: |
| maybe they're told to speak that way? |
I doubt it.
My theory is that they're just not willing to pay for good actors. So they take whoever is willing to do the work for low wages. (often Russians) Plus, how many good western actors are there in Korea who have the proper visas to do this sort of work? I'm guessing not many. And for small "extra"-type roles it makes no sense to fly someone in from abroad. They take what they can get.
The target market (Koreans) don't notice and don't care. |
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KimchiExplosion

Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: Nowhere near Seoul
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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| I think the horrid acting in Kdramas (from the Korean actors as well) is just part of the charm, like an Ed Wood movie. |
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cert43
Joined: 17 Jun 2010
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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Russian, huh? Well, that doesn't really surprise me, as they're not REALLY known for that industry, but sure there is some hidden agenda for Korea behind having a foreinger casted in thier movies( kinda along the same reason they will hire a NET for a public school)
and a blond Korean?! See this is the problem with the media and thier constant on screen manipulation..and they do notice,but just want to use them for International presence ( like everyone else)..and they probably do make $$$..
The world is gonna learn the hard way about this, but by then its' going to be too late..I mean what are they gonna do? Keep running these and doing this when shes dead? Guess that is thier plan. Oh well, at least, she is still more famous then ANY of those people.
Yeah, I bet they wouldn't even put her suicide on tape.  |
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Steelrails

Joined: 12 Mar 2009 Location: Earth, Solar System
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah you'd never have anything like a Chinese person portraying a Japanese person in a major Hollywood movie.
Welcome to being a minority.
No there isn't some agenda. It's just budget and you take what you can get because your audience doesn't care whether they're French/American or Chinese/Japanese as long as they look white or Asian. |
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Kaypea
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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It's just weird that they couldn't rustle up a Kyopo and have a Kyopo foreign English teacher. Or even just go by a university and grab a prof. (I mean, instead of a korean lady in a blonde wig and heavy accent playing 'foreign english teacher').
It reminds me of some communist variety show I saw on Chinese tv where people were portraying Lenin's friends by dancing around in blonde wigs. I mean in that case, it makes sense... as if foreign teachers are going to take part in that. |
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r122925
Joined: 02 Jun 2011
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Kaypea wrote: |
It's just weird that they couldn't rustle up a Kyopo and have a Kyopo foreign English teacher. Or even just go by a university and grab a prof. (I mean, instead of a korean lady in a blonde wig and heavy accent playing 'foreign english teacher').
It reminds me of some communist variety show I saw on Chinese tv where people were portraying Lenin's friends by dancing around in blonde wigs. I mean in that case, it makes sense... as if foreign teachers are going to take part in that. |
It's weird to you but it's not to Koreans. Have you ever heard a Korean's opinions about an American program that portrays Koreans? MASH for example? Koreans were minor background characters in this show, but Koreans will rip it to shreds for all of it's inaccuracies, miscasting (many of the actors portraying Koreans were Chinese), bad translations/pronunciations, etc. And this was one of the most popular programs in American TV history. Koreans probably thought it was weird that they didn't just swing past LA's Koreatown and pick up a few real Koreans. Americans didn't care because none of them could even tell the difference. The exact same principle is at work here in Korea. |
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RangerMcGreggor
Joined: 12 Jan 2011 Location: Somewhere in Korea
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Kaypea wrote: |
It's just weird that they couldn't rustle up a Kyopo and have a Kyopo foreign English teacher. Or even just go by a university and grab a prof. (I mean, instead of a korean lady in a blonde wig and heavy accent playing 'foreign english teacher').
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Because you can't just grab foreigners and make them act for money. There are legal issues involved. |
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pkang0202

Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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I had a friend in Korea who did some acting gigs. He was an American and had experience acting. The script he was given was bad. He was not allowed to veer off the script.
When he tried to "act" he said the director would start yelling at him. After a few hours of that, he just went through the motions as rigidly and awkwardly as possible. That is when the director finally praised him and said it was perfect. |
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bekinseki
Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Location: Korea
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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If you're a good actor, you'll probably move into the voice acting industry. If you can't act, you'll gravitate toward TV.
I know a few people (mostly East Europeans and Russians) who've been on Surprise, by far the most hilarious show with foreign actors. Apparently that show grants you a six-month entertainment visa (or something similar) for performing in just one show, and lets you go on your way for the remaining six months. |
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