Heo Jung-min continues to expose casting ‘gapjil’

Actor Heo Jung-min has been expressing his anger regarding drama casting for the second day. Fans are sending words of support and consolation to actor Heo Jung-min, calling it the production company's 'abuse of power'. However, can casting be said to be a production company’s authority and ‘impossibility of power’?

Regarding this incident, many in the industry are pointing out that the actor may have been underinterpreting the authority of the production company. It is one of the production company's rights to look at the overall picture of the work and cast the desired actors.
The production company simply chose an actor who was more suitable for the work. Moreover, the industry consensus is that it is difficult to say that it is a case of 'power abuse' simply because the casting was changed in a situation where there is no contract to appear. There is also a view that the disclosure process was too one-sided and was conducted using emotional language.

On the 16th, Heo Jung-min claimed through his SNS that he was forced to leave KBS' new weekend drama 'Hyoshim's Life, Each Life'. He said, "I prepared for two months. But the writer said he didn't like actor Heo Jung-min and abandoned him? Why can't I even see his face? Is it because I'm not good-looking? Is it because I'm not good-looking? Am I not good at acting? What will happen to my two months of preparation and the days ahead? “Is that okay?” he said, adding a curse word.

At the time, the agency AcommyNT said about Heo Jung-min's post, "It is not an accurate fact at all and is nothing more than a personal complaint."

The production team of ‘Hyosim, Each Life’ also denied Heo Jung-min’s claims. The production team acknowledged that the director and actor Heo Jeong-min met once in March, but said, "As a result of subsequent discussions with the production team, it was concluded that the image of the character in the play and the actor did not match, and two weeks later, in mid-April, the above information was reported to management. “It was announced,” he said. The author then emphasized that he had no involvement in casting. However, since the production company said that the agency informed them of this problem, it seems that there is a major communication problem between the agency and its actors.

In response, Heo Jung-min apologized, saying, "I would like to offer my deepest apologies to the actors and actresses on the production team. I fell short in many ways," and the situation seemed to be resolved, but the controversy erupted again when another casting secret was revealed on the 17th.

Even 10 years ago, Heo Jung-min told the CEO of the KBS mini-drama production company that he and 'Go Actor' had their script stolen. ‘Actor Go’ was revealed to be actor Go Gyu-pil.

Heo Jeong-min passionately reveals his feelings day after day. He entered the entertainment industry at the age of 14 and has appeared in dozens of works. As a veteran actor, he must know that this revelation is a big blow to him.

However, Heo Jeong-min's revelation also caused damage to those around him. The first work he mentioned, 'Hyosim, Each Life', is actress Uee's comeback work after 4 years, and it is likely that the other cast members are working hard to prepare for it as well as Heo Jung-min. It received a negative image even before it was aired. Additionally, the writer who was not involved in the casting was criticized for remaining silent.

There are countless instances of casting changes before a drama begins filming. Even when the news that casting has been confirmed, there are many cases where people quickly say things like ‘it didn’t happen’ or ‘I only received an offer’. This is because the filming of a work begins only when the tangled interests are aligned.

Of course, it’s not that I don’t understand Heo Jeong-min’s feelings. If you are unilaterally notified of a work you thought you were appearing in, the actor's feelings are bound to be hurt. But haven't the actors who have become top actors today gone through such processes? It will never be like that. There is a need to reexamine whether Heo Jeong-min can be seen as a victim of abuse of power. The industry's gaze towards him is prickly.

Ten Asia Reporter Kim Seo-yoon seogugu@tenasia.co.kr