This is probably the most unique pick and most controversial of our top ten most influential Korean-Americans for 2009 because it’s a website. allkpop.com is the only website chosen because of its significant influence of exporting the Korean wave. Based on our calculations, Johnny Noh and his gang has made allkpop.com the most web trafficked Kpop website outside of South Korea; this in a matter of two short years. They’ve become so big that Korean entertainers and the agencies that represent them have taken notice and they’re now coming to allkpop.com for help to deliver their promotions and messages to the U.S.
The Korean wave had its biggest year yet with significant milestones like Korean actors Daniel Henney, Lee Byung Hun, and RAIN making their entry into Hollywood. You had Korean singing acts trying to make their way into the American music consciousness with Se7en, BoA and the Wonder Girls taking big steps into the U.S. market. And the website that was at the forefront of breaking and covering these events was allkpop.com. And just to give you a little bit more perspective, this website that covers Korean pop culture and entertainers made the distinction of becoming the #1 retweeted account on Twitter this past fall and it’s currently a finalist for Mashable’s Open Web Awards for “Best Breaking News” website in 2009. That is pretty impressive because they’re one of the finalist against well known websites CNN, Twitter, and the BBC. How the heck did they end up among those big names? That says it all and that’s why they’re #8 for 2009.
In previous columns and articles, we had kept mentioning the increasing numbers of Koreans (from South Korea or Korean-American) breaking into Hollywood and it looks like Newsweek has taken notice of this trend as well. In an article titled “Korea Takes Hollywood,” Newsweek magazine (issue dated November 16) writes about the increasing importance of Korea as a new or emerging market for Hollywood because at the end of the day, it’s always about the money. However, it does go beyond money and they’ve also noticed the talent pool of actors and directors. Most recently, Koreans have penetrated Hollywood with significant roles like John Cho in Star Trek and FlashForward and Lee Byung Hun in G.I. Joe. How about leading roles? Kpop star RAIN will be the first Korean to be in the lead role of a major Hollywood studio film in the upcoming “Ninja Assassin,” and the cast includes other Koreans: Sung Kang and Rick Yune. On a side note, we’ll be at a private screening for Ninja Assassin and meeting up with RAIN later this week.
So what’s the challenge? It goes both ways as the article illustrates. To many Asian actors are typecast for martial art flicks. And for the Korean actors, it’s a risk to come to Hollywood, even though it’s the biggest entertainment market in the world. Those risks include alienating themselves from the South Korean market and losing out on opportunities, as well as losing creative freedoms which potentially could be limited by big Hollywood studios. There are certainly risks but more importantly, the Korean wave is continuing and people are noticing.
For our articles on the Korean wave, you can check out a few past articles.
David Chang was making kimchi on national television this week on the Today Show, and we all know that Korea is trying to evangelize the wonders of Korean food. So there’s a lot of news bits about Korean food overall, but are we taking it a little too far with kimchi donuts? Really? I know you all have kimchi on the side next to the turkey at Thanksgiving, but imagine eating kimchi with custard. Well Dunkin Donuts just launched the kimchi donut in South Korea or kimchi croquette.
The Wonder Girls are Trending Up
The Wonder Girls were in the top ten trending topics on Twitter. Say that 5 times real fast. That’s right, the lovable teen Kpop group from South Korea not only made it to the top 100 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., they became a top tenner on Twitter this weekend. We’re going to guess Rain as the next Korean entity to become a Top Ten Trending Twitter Topic (TTTTT).
There are Three Ways to Say “Thank You” in Korean
According to the Korea Times, there are three ways to say “thank you” informally in Korean, depending on where you live. This is a result of the Korean language evolving as Koreans have spread out across the world.
For North Koreans it is “고마와,” for the Koryo-saram in Central Asia it might be “아슴챠이타” and in standard Korean, based on the dialect of Seoul, it is “고마워.” On top of this, the occasional English “thank you,” can be heard.
I wonder if there are three different ways to say “Can I have your number?”
Korean Wave of Plastic Surgery
Do you want to look like Lee Byung Hun or Hyori? Koreans are famous like Brazilians for plastic surgery. Well, Kpop and Korean dramas seem to be the rage lately and all of Asia is enamored with the singers and actors. It also helps that we’ve got some good looking Koreans. Anyway, looks like Asians (that are not Korean) are opting for surgery to look more Korean, this according to the Plastic Surgery Channel.
People from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong are flocking to Korea these days for facial bone contouring and cosmetic surgery on their eyes and noses.
The trend was reportedly spawned by what many are calling the “Korean Wave” – the rising popularity of Korean celebrities.
Asians from other territories want to look more like popular Korean actors and musicians. And they’re willing to travel and pay up to three times more for plastic surgery than they would in China.
Currently, the number of foreign patients in Korea is 33 percent higher than it was in 2008, and they reportedly spend twice as much money as regular Japanese tourists.
Have you noticed the significant increase in Korean-American actors and actresses on TV and movies lately? Have you noticed there are more men than women in Hollywood? You would think that there would be more women in front of the camera because let’s be honest, Korean women are great to look at which makes sense in such a visual medium. Not that the Korean men aren’t studs but who doesn’t like looking at a Korean women? They are undeniably beautiful women. Then again, I guess it does take more than just looking good in front of a camera to make it in Hollywood.
This is a an anecdotal story I’m going to share and it does not provide any empirical evidence as to why there are more Korean guys than gals on the screen. However, it does suggest something. In my earlier days living in NYC, I roomed with actors and guys who worked at a movie studio. I was the odd man out because I had a regular job unrelated to the entertainment industry. I once asked one of my buddies if he ever saw Asian guys out on the audition circuit. He quickly responded, “Are you kidding me?! Those guys get more work than most actors out there.” Huh?! What? He continued to tell me that though there are only a few roles seeking Asian male faces, there were even less auditioning for them and he suggested that I just give acting a try – even though I had very little acting talent. Well, to best illustrate this perception, let’s do a quick roll call here.
Ladies on a TV show or in a film in 2009
Smith Cho, Moon Bloodgood, Grace Park, Jamie Chung, Kelly Choi, Margaret Cho, Jenna Ushkowitz, Sandra Oh, Lindsay Price & Yunjin Kim
Guys on a TV show or in a film in 2009
Daniel Henney, Tim Kang, Ken Jeong, Aaron Yoo, John Cho, Rex Lee, C.S. Lee, Justin Chon, Rick Yune, Sung Kang, Rain, Lee Byung Hun, Daniel Dae Kim & James Kyson Lee
We may have missed a few folks but these are the Korean-Americans who were in a prominent role in their film or show. Now 14 to 10 in favor of the men doesn’t seem like a big difference, but if we were to count up the hours of coverage or viewer impressions, then we would see the greater disparity. We don’t have time to count up every second and sum it all up but here are a couple proxies.
Weekly TV program comparison: Tim Kang, Ken Jeong, Rex Lee, John Cho, C.S. lee, Daniel Dae Kim and James Kyson Lee are in key roles on current weekly network television shows.
Movies: Only Moon Bloodgood and Jamie Chung were in big screen films this year versus John Cho, Aaron Yoo, Ken Jeong, Justin Chon, Rick Yune and Sung Kang. And don’t forget that Hollywood is really gambling with Ninja Assassins and the predominantly Korean cast with Rain as the lead role.
So what are we trying to say? Simple observations suggest that America is becoming more accepting of the Asian male and there are more opportunities for them. But what about the ladies? My conclusion is that there’s that much more competition on the female side of the fence where they’re competing against more open non-ethnic/racial specific roles. Though they may be going on casting calls for Asian-American woman between 25-30, they’re also going on casting calls for (all) women between 25-30. I thoroughly root for all the Korean women on the big and small screen, but I wish there were more of them up there. Don’t you?
Josh Hartnett is crossing oceans to expand his horizons and he co-stars in the move “I Come With the Rain” with Lee Byung Hun, who made a big splash in Hollywood this year as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe. Hartnett and Lee Byung Hun come together for a photo shoot on Vogue Korea. Not sure if it’s a good movie, but it’s look pretty cool from the trailer below.
The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) kicks off today in Pusan, South Korea. It’s one of the biggest and glitziest film festivals in Asia and it’s projected to attract nearly 200,000 people. It’ll have a handful of American entertainers dropping by to promote their films. Leading the way will be Josh Hartnett who will be in Pusan to talk about “I Come with the Rain,” a film that co-stars him and Lee Byung-Hun, who was Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe this past summer. Justin Chon of Twilight fame is to make an appearance as well as a few other Korean-American actors. Other Hollywood folks that will be making appearances are Bryan Singer (director of “X-Men” and “The Usual Suspects”) and Jon Landau (producer of “Titanic”).
PIFF head of programming Park Do-Sin says the festival is “the window to the world for Asian films”.
“Many independent and artistic films from Asian regions have been presented here and have gone on to achieve worldwide attention,” he said.
The programme boasts 98 world premieres among its 355 scheduled films from 70 countries, as the PIFF fights back against growing competition from elsewhere in the region.
Update: The stars were out last night at one of the premiere entertainment events in Asia at the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF). On opening night last night was Josh Hartnett walking down the red carpet with his co-star from “I come with the Rain,” Lee Byung Hun. It must’ve been difficult for Josh being surrounded by a bunch of Koreans who can’t speak to much English. I’m sure he had fun nonetheless. Also on hand from America was Kim Yun-Jin of “Lost” fame. There are a lot of beautiful people in Korean entertainment.
Looks like Lee Byung Hun’s going to be back on the big screen of America. According to HanCinema, the long time South Korean actor has signed on for the next 2 sequels of G.I. Joe. Lee Byung Hun played the Storm Shadow character and was heralded for his charisma and action on the big screen. There was much debate if his English was really that good with speculation that it may have been voice overs. Who cares! He’s back and he’ll be slashing his way again.
Top star Lee Byeong-Heon is in the new Hollywood film, “G.I. Joe 2″!
He will be starting the filming by the end of this year and has been contracted for the 3rd sequel, also!
Now, he is busy with the drama filming, “IRIS” and its promotions overseas. Most of his time starting next year will be send in Hollywood!
Lee Byung-Hun comes to American theaters in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, a big budget Hollywood movie with plenty of action. This ain’t no romantic comedy folks. Lee Byung-Hun is a big actor in South Korea but unknown in the U.S., unless you watch Korean dramas. What’s rather interesting is that Lee Byung-Hun wasn’t familiar with the actual G.I. Joe cartoons nor was he initially interested in playing the part of Storm Shadow in the G.I. Joe movie.
“My manager showed me the script of ‘G.I.Joe’ and said that I had to take this role. To be honest, I didn’t find the script interesting. So my manager’s words didn’t sound that persuasive to me. It’s a huge project, but I doubted I could do it. I didn’t feel the need to try it, while feeling scared”. Lee sought advice from directors Kim Ji-woon and Park Chan-wook, who encouraged him to take the role. But Lee was still hesitant. “The most difficult part was overcoming my own doubts. That’s what we call ‘mind control’. I was afraid that people who like my acting would never approve of my cartoon-like character”, said Lee. While deliberating, Lee remembered how he came to love movies in the first place. He said he still remembered how happy he was when he first went to the theater at age 4 and saw a sci-fi movie. “My favorite movie was a sci-fi movie. So I asked myself what kept me from filming such a movie in Hollywood. That’s how I was able to film it with pleasure”, said Lee. Lee says he found Hollywood to be a completely new world to him, a place where capitalism and rationalism rule. Shoots were never delayed because costumes and expensive accessories were always at hand, and the cast was provided with snacks on time. If any of the actors wanted to have hamburgers, hamburger cars were brought to the filming set. Everything was perfect. He said, “The director’s authority didn’t seem to be that powerful against the amount of money invested in the production. Even the production crew’s instructions are reflected”. Lee’s English pronunciation in the movie is quite impressive, though he says he only learned English for two years as a teenager. Some even raised suspicions about the authenticity of his voice in the movie, because it sounds unusual. Lee said, “It was good to hear that. My voice sounds unfamiliar even to me. I heard that our vocal chords work differently with different languages. Few people have heard me speak English so far”. The actor added that he was lucky because he didn’t have to say many lines. Lee usually reads the script twice before he practices his lines on the set. But this time he memorized his part by heart with the utmost effort. “Making bloopers by saying the wrong lines is not professional. That’s why I memorized everything by heart. It was difficult. Sometimes the director asked me to accentuate certain words. That was very confusing. I realized time and again what a difficult task it was”, recalled Lee. The portrayal of feelings was another challenge. Playing Storm Shadow, which is a very popular cartoon character, presented numerous challenges. Lee said the director liked it a lot when he made his eyes look exaggerated or when he portrayed action scenes. “I thought the director would never want me to act the way I had acted in all of my previous productions. That’s why I did things accordingly. To American viewers, my acting might look natural, but to my Asian fans it might look too ‘cartoonish’”, said Lee. Lee said, “It takes more than one time to succeed. But I’m satisfied with my first Hollywood role. It was a chance to diversify my profile”. Lee says it is encouraging to see several Korean actors and actresses making forays in Hollywood. But he added that it is not easy to overcome racial and language barriers and achieve a top status. “Korean actors tend to lead isolated lives. But our lifestyle is reflected in our attitude. As a result, we become narrow-minded instead of opening up to the outside world. We must get rid of that kind of attitude. We must open up and practice speaking foreign languages”, said Lee. ”I always wanted to try my skills at filmmaking. But at the same time I want to continue doing what I am good at. I would try to direct a movie when I don’t feel ashamed of my skills”, said Lee in conclusion.
The interview below is in Korean. It was an awkward beginning to the interview.
For all you Korean drama fanatics, your man – Lee Byung-Hun – has his own poster now for this Friday’s release of G.I. Joe the movie. Actually, the poster has been out the past week because the G.I. Joe press junket arrived in South Korea last week with the whole cast. Interestingly, Lee Byung-Hun was the most popular cast member at the press events which either says that Asians only care for their own or the luster of American celerities is fading a bit.
So Lee Byung-Hun plays the character Storm Shadow, the white ninja who battles the covert G.I. Joes. Lee Byung-Hun was once voted as the South Korean actor most likely to make it in Hollywood. Well, it may be in a stereotypical fighting role but you gotta start somewhere, and this movie’s been heavily promoted everywhere so hopefully Lee Byung-Hun will get some good press (as well as his hair).
The Hollywood Reporter published a very interesting article this morning about the Korean wave (“hallyu” in Korean) of actors finding their way into big hollywood studio films. Coincidentally, we published a similar article yesterday about this occurrence. Very interesting. Coincidence? Perhaps.
They beg the question, what’s with the interest in South Korean actors when they can barely speak English? Someone once said, “don’t think it’s just about the money, it’s ALWAYS about the money.” Hollywood used to view Asia as a region of incremental dollars for their films, but with the significant rise of South Korean films, dramas, and their talent pool, Hollywood has taken notice of its big potential. For example, the Hollywood Reporter article starts off by noting that South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun was the most anticipated sighting for the fans waiting at the hotel, and not Sienna Miller and the other actors in G.I. Joe.
“For Hollywood, it [hallyu] is a sign that Korean actors hold major ticket power in Asia,” said Choi Min-soo, the head of marketing at CJ Entertainment, the importer of “G.I. Joe.” “It’s also a sign that the Asian market is no longer just ‘one of them.’”
Hollywood may have almost exhausted what it can do domestically, and the last few years we’ve seen Hollywood look to remake dozens of films that were first produced overseas and the subsequent trend is to import the actors and actresses that have a strong following. In the business world, it’s about scale and Hollywood is finally realizing that the scale is much bigger when you start weaving and integrating pieces together from outside the U.S. borders.
For Paramount Pictures, the film’s distributor, this was a promising sign — one that suggests the potential benefit of casting an Asian superstar to attract regional ticket buyers when marketing a quintessentially American film.
The strategy seems to be on the rise with major Hollywood productions that once had limited roles for Asian actors. Aside from Lee, who plays the film’s charismatic Storm Shadow, other Korean actors are also participating in the trend.
Similar to the Korean wave of singers i.e., Wonder Girls, BoA, etc. entering the U.S. market, it’s these supporting roles that are paving the wave for greater acceptance of Koreans in the biggest media and entertainment market. For those doubters, did you really think America would have a black president 2 years ago? Believe in the Korean wave!
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This is probably the most unique pick and most controversial of our top ten most influential Korean-Americans for 2009 because it’s a website. allkpop.com is the only website chosen because of its significant influence of exporting the Korean wave. Based on our calculations, Johnny Noh and his gang has made allkpop.com the most web trafficked Kpop website outside of South Korea; this in a matter of two short years. They’ve become so big that Korean entertainers and the agencies that represent them have taken notice and they’re now coming to allkpop.com for help to deliver their promotions and messages to the U.S.
