MBC ‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’

IU and Byun Woo-seok from MBC’s new Friday-Saturday drama ‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’ have been swept up in a controversy over their acting.

Premiering on the 10th, ‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’ had drawn heated interest even before it aired. The meeting of IU, recognized not only for her music but also for her acting through ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ and ‘My Mister’, and Byun Woo-seok, who sparked a sensation with ‘Carry Seonjae and Run’, gathered everyone’s expectations. In addition, couple photo shoots and videos boasting the two’s chemistry further heightened anticipation for the drama.

Perhaps expectations were simply too high. Immediately after the first broadcast, various online communities and social media were filled with critiques of the pair’s acting.

One netizen wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Don’t rest on your laurels; please, both of you, take acting classes. Speaking as someone who watched ‘Seon-eop-twi’, ‘Bobogyeongsim’, and so on, you both have distinctive tics.” There were also reactions such as, “They’re doing different kinds of acting. They don’t suit each other.”

There were additional comments about IU’s portrayal of Seong Hee-ju, such as, “Whatever she does, it’s hard to shake the feeling she still seems like ‘IU’,” “She was good in ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ or ‘My Mister’, but this time it feels like she’s wearing an ill-fitting outfit,” and “It feels like she’s trying too hard to act.”

As for Byun Woo-seok’s acting as Grand Prince I-an, comments included, “It’s like ChatGPT reading mode,” “He seems to have been given a role beyond his level of acting experience,” and “His facial expressions are unreadable.”

On the other hand, there was no shortage of favorable reactions. Other comments included, “I thought it was fine; people’s expectations just seemed too high,” “The role itself looks difficult to act,” “It’s enjoyable to watch simply for how well they look together,” and “Isn’t it just awkward because the drama is still in its early stages?”

As the much-anticipated ‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’ received mixed reviews from its very first broadcast, attention is focusing on what changes the two actors will show as the story develops.

Meanwhile, episode 3 of MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama ‘21st-Century Grand Prince’s Consort’ will air at 9:50 p.m. this Friday (the 17th), and it can also be watched on the online video service (OTT) Disney+.