Singers, making their debuts as actors in TV dramas?

Yoon Kye-sang, Son Ho-young, Danny Ahn, Rain, Eric, Yoon Eun-hye, Ahn So-hee, Lee Min-woo, Park Jeong-ah..
This is the list of top Korean singers.

Their talents and individuality attracted so many fans to fall in love with them. Sometime as a solo, and other times as a member in a group, they had been on the stage singing for their fans.

However, a whole new story kicks in when they choose the screen as their new stage. The long stagnation in music industry and the introduction of a new concept of "multi-entertainer" increased the demand for multi-talented stars who are talented in not only singing but dancing and acting as well. Consequently, these singers made acting as their second career.

For example, Rain (Jung Ji-hoon) in Director Park Chan-wook's "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK", Eric Moon (Moon Jung-hyuk) in "A Bittersweet Life" and "Diary of June" and Yoon Eun-hye in "The Legend of Seven Cutter" have all made their debuts in the film industry.

In addition, Son Ho-young from group g.o.d recently initiated his acting career in "Miss Gold Digger" and Yoon Kye-sang, also from g.o.d, is going to release his second film, "Lovers of 6 Years" on 6th February. His first debut film was "Flying Boys".

Also Ahn So-hee from group Wonder Girls have just made her first debut in "Hellcats", which released not so long ago.

Lee Min-woo from Shinhwa have made his debut in "Holy Daddy" and Park Jeong-ah have also made an attempt to begin her acting career in "Frivolous Wife" ("The Perfect Wife") but her film never get shown in the cinema.

Evidently, the number of singers turning to acting career or work in both acting and music industries had been rapidly increased.

The producer of "Miss Gold Digger", Sidus FNH's director of production, Yoon Sang-oh said, "Nowadays, singers receive acting trainings in order to prepare for their acting career. For those singers who have confident acting skills, it's an effective marketing strategy to cast them than look for a new face".

In fact, it is true that the popularity of these singers will enhance the efficiency in advertising the film. Director Yoon also added that the growing number of actor-singers will satisfy the high demands in the Korean film industry to seek new talents.

However, the problem is that those films starred by these singers failed to attract audiences. Except few exceptions including Uhm Jung-hwa from "'How To Top My Wife", "Singles", "Marriage Is a Crazy Thing" and Yoo Jin from "Unstoppable Marriage", many singer-actors failed to make appeals to the audiences.

On the contrary, the TV dramas starred by these singer-actors became huge hits. Examples include Rain's "Full House" and "Sang Doo! Let's go to school", Eric's "Revenge" and Yoon Eun-hye's "Coffee Prince". And many of them can be seen in various entertainment shows as many music programs have closed down.

There's no doubt that the TV viewers are familiar with these singers. However they aren't strong appeal as a main character in a film. Director Yoon said, "If the audience see these stars as actors rather than singers, they will be satisfied with their performance. But we don't have such atmosphere yet".

However, many critiques agreed that the singers should continue to make their debut into the film industry. Because the "actor shortage" phenomenon and the need of these singers to extend their career is closely intertwined and provide solutions to each problems.