The warmest comfort of this era, <Our Unwritten Seoul> concluded with its 12th episode on June 29. Until the end, <Our Unwritten Seoul> broke viewership ratings, depicting the lives of twins Mi-ji and Mi-rae (Park Bo-young in a dual role) who, despite their identical appearances, live completely different lives. Through Mi-ji and Mi-rae, the drama portrays the struggles of young people in modern society and the courage to keep living. Viewers are applauding Park Bo-young for perfectly embodying both Mi-ji and Mi-rae. Leading the drama in a dual role, Park Bo-young reaffirmed her acting skills and presence. Until now, twins have been a challenging subject to depict in dramas due to filming conditions, but with the establishment of a pre-production system, dramas featuring twin protagonists have emerged. Here are a few dramas that featured twin characters despite the challenging environment.
<Innocent Defendant>
Cha Sun-ho - Cha Min-ho = Um Ki-joon
One of Um Ki-joon's 'masterful villain' roles. In the drama <Innocent Defendant>, Um Ki-joon appeared as the twins Cha Sun-ho and Cha Min-ho, showcasing a dual role. The characters he portrayed, Cha Sun-ho and Cha Min-ho, are twins who look identical but have grown up completely differently, with Um Ki-joon capturing both the good and evil sides. The story follows Park Jung-woo (Ji Sung), who wakes up in a detention center with no memory and tries to clear his name, with the narratives of Cha Sun-ho and Cha Min-ho deeply embedded in the plot. After Cha Min-ho kills his brother Cha Sun-ho, he tries to live his life, while Park Jung-woo harbors doubts about Cha Min-ho's 'suicide,' which serves as the introduction to the drama's events. Um Ki-joon found particular interest in portraying 'Cha Min-ho living as if he were Cha Sun-ho' and participated in the drama. The acting rivalry between Ji Sung and Um Ki-joon created dramatic tension even in the somewhat slow-paced development of <Innocent Defendant>, leading the drama to surpass 30% in viewership ratings and gain popularity.
<Who Are You: School 2015>
Go Eun-byul - Lee Eun-bi = Kim So-hyun
What particularly caught attention in <Our Unwritten Seoul> is that both Mi-ji and Mi-rae are the main characters driving the drama. Most Korean dramas dealing with twins typically involve one twin dying, with the surviving twin taking on their identity or seeking revenge. This approach likely aimed to reduce the burden on the actor portraying both twins and simplify the challenging production process of capturing twins on screen. A work that slightly twists the clichés of such dramas is <Who Are You: School 2015>. Here, one twin dies, and the other takes over their life, which is a typical flow, but the uniqueness lies in the protagonist being a teenage girl. Kim So-hyun played the twin sisters Go Eun-byul and Lee Eun-bi. At that time, Kim So-hyun was a teenager like the twin sisters in the story, proving her presence as a veteran child actor with her acting skills that captivated viewers. In fact, just a year prior, she had also taken on a dual role as Jo Eun-bi and Choi Seung-hee in the drama <Reset>, where she portrayed contrasting images of a delinquent teenager and an innocent first love from memories.
Two Actors of a Short but Intense One-Act Play
Do Eun-chang - Do Shin-woo = Park Hyung-sik
Yoo Soo-yeon - Yoo Jeong-yeon = Noh Jeong-ui
Perhaps due to the creativity that the theme of twins brings, there are actors who showcased dual roles in one-act plays as well. In 2013, when Park Hyung-sik was more often associated with the title 'Idols of the Empire' than the word 'actor', he took on the childhood roles of twin brothers in the four-part drama <Sirius>. The brothers Do Eun-chang and Do Shin-woo, played by Seo Jun-young, grow up in a bizarre relationship as a murderer and a detective, with Park Hyung-sik responsible for their narrative. Of course, the story takes a more serious turn seven years later when the two have grown up, but the roots of why they walked in such different directions lie in their childhood, making Park Hyung-sik's role significant as well. He garnered attention by showcasing the potential he could capture on his face in this drama. It is common to categorize an actor's character into 'spicy' and 'mild', and Park Hyung-sik managed to show both flavors in this drama.
In 2020, Noh Jeong-ui, who quickly captured the public's attention, also took on the roles of Yoo Soo-yeon and Yoo Jeong-yeon in the one-act play <Everyone Is There>. Raised in a good family but suffering from school violence, Yoo Soo-yeon reunites with Yoo Jeong-yeon, who has lived a rough life in a poor environment, through counselor Il-young (Kim Sae-rok), and they seek revenge against the perpetrator. Starting as the endlessly weak Soo-yeon and gradually becoming filled with malice to help Soo-yeon, Jeong-yeon showcased completely contrasting personalities, demonstrating her strength throughout the drama. That same year, she rose to stardom as Hong Si-a in <18 Again>. <Everyone Is There> shines not only with Noh Jeong-ui but also with the performances of other notable actresses at the time, such as Kim Sae-rok and Lee Yoo-mi.
