A New K-Drama’s Age Gap Between The Male And Female Leads Isn’t Its Biggest Problem, According To Netizens

Over the last few months, K-Dramas with huge age gaps between the male and female leads have gained attention and not always in a positive way.

The age gap between The Glory‘s Song Hye Kyo and Lee Do Hyun became a hot topic, while the upcoming drama Cinderella at 2AM‘s casting brought concerns over chemistry to netizens’ attention.

(left to right) Lee Do Hyun and Song Hye Kyo | Netflix

Recently, it was reported that actor Kim Young Dae would appear in a new drama called Because I Want No Loss. The 27-year-old first gained recognition for his role in Extraordinary You, later appearing in The Penthouse: War In Life and The Forbidden Marriage. 

Kim Young Dae | MBC | SBS | KBS

The drama is a romantic comedy about a woman who fakes a relationship not to lose benefits over her newly single status.

Starring opposite Kim Young Dae is Shin Min Ah, a veteran actress who has appeared in many series over her career, including, most recently, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha and Our Blues.

| tvN | tvN

Shin Min Ah is 12 years older than Kim Young Dae, meaning one could expect complaints about the age gap. However, this was not the case, as netizens have begun discussing another “issue” they have found fault with.

On a post announcing the new casting, a netizen shared their opinion that lately, K-Dramas have cast well-established actresses with younger male actors who are not on the same level, skill-wise.

This trend of casting actors with a SEVERE case of "one face fits all emotions" with talented and veteran actresses needs to STOP https://t.co/GJNXWgMfLy

— stressed simp (@filmkdrama) September 1, 2023

While this is a subjective topic, a surprising number of other netizens agreed with the post, stating why this standard can be detrimental to the drama and the opposite actor or actress’s public opinion.

It’s worse when the actresses get the slander bc of the male lead too like they end up being the scapegoat because of the drama not doing as well https://t.co/2bEZ25vzSP

— (@tsnmikyu) September 2, 2023

Actresses have to hard carry the shows only for their male lead to hoard all the buzz IVE SEEN IT ALL. https://t.co/EWpkJSfcni

— nunu (@nunuyeostress) September 2, 2023

especially because then somehow the female lead always ends up being the one blamed for the “no chemistry” allegations https://t.co/Kdhxkgq7tR

— Vir (@dIwIrene) September 2, 2023

There has not been an air date set for the drama, but will you be tuning in?