Lead role after lead role!
In the world of K-Drama, the “daily” series are a league of their own: often broadcast on weekday evenings (before the main news airs) or on weekend mornings, these daily-format series are shorter in runtime and produced under tight schedules and low budgets, which naturally lead to simple, formulaic, and cliché dramatic plots—known as makjang (over-the-top soapy).
Still, because these makjang K-Dramas air during the “golden hours” of 7-8 PM, when their main audience of homemaking women and older generations watch while doing chores or eating dinner, they often achieve viewership ratings high enough to compare with some of the prime-time titles.
That said, daily K-Dramas often cast newcomers or veterans who have faded from stardom. For rising actors, a daily drama can serve as a springboard to fame, potentially leading to mini-series or weekend roles. And there are two K-Pop idols-turned-actresses who are currently crushing it, taking on leading roles in series after another.
T-ARA‘s Ham Eunjung (Hahm Eun Jung) may have debuted as a child actress in 1996 and worked her way up in various K-Dramas between 2013 and 2014, but her award-winning success came after appearing in daily K-Dramas, starting with Love On A Rooftop in 2015. In 2021, for her supporting role in Be My Dream Family, Ham Eunjung won her first-ever “Supporting Actress” award at the KBS Drama Awards. By 2024, she had become highly praised, taking home the “Excellence Award” in the “Daily Drama” category for her leading role in Suji & Uri. Her next series, First Man, is set to air on MBC later this year.
Same goes for RAINBOW‘s Oh Seunga (Oh Seung Ah). Starting with KBS‘s A Sea of Her Own in 2017, this K-Pop idol has taken on lead role after lead role. Now a well-recognized face to the daily K-Drama audience—especially as the villainess in a lot of her works—Oh Seunga, too, is an award winning actress. For 2024’s The Third Marriage, one of MBC’s most viewed daily K-Dramas, this idol-turned-actress took home the “Top Excellence Award” at the 2024 MBC Drama Awards.
And avid K-Drama viewers, along with those who have parents that follow daily K-Dramas religiously, agree that these two are, undoubtedly, the best leading actresses in the game right now.
- “I first found out about Oh Seunga through The Second Husband and thought she was an actress from the start LOL.”
- “I watched The Third Marriage with my mom since she was watching it LOL.”
- “My dad was SO into Ham Eunjung’s show that I ended up watching with him too LOL.”
- “My mom really likes Oh Seunga LOL.”
- “My dad’s a total daily K-Drama (and K-Drama in general) addict, so I’ve seen these two faces WAY too often LOL.”
- “Back when Bad Love with Oh Seunga was airing, I was late to work A LOT because if I didn’t leave the house before it started, I’d be late… And I watched it start way too often, haha.”
- “The Queen’s House was so fun. Ham Eunjung was beautiful and acted really well.”
- “My mom knows Ham Eunjung by her name.”
- “The Third Marriage looks tempting…”
- “I mean, it looks like these two only pick really fun projects LOL.”
- “Ham Eunjung was surprisingly perfect for those roles. She suits the bright, sweet heroine type so well, like an ideal daughter-in-law that older viewers would love. I never realized that when she was an idol LOL. I just thought she was cute and pretty back then LOL. She’s so full of charm!”
- “I actually really enjoyed watching The Third Marriage.“
- “I had no idea Oh Seunga used to be an idol. I showed my mom this post and asked, ‘Mom, do you know who this is?’ and she went, ‘Oh, this little minx? She’s the bad one!’ LOL.”
- “I always trust Oh Seunga when she plays a villain. She never disappoints.”
- “Oh Seunga’s experience really shows, her acting chops are insane.”
- “I’ve seen Oh Seunga in so many things, but I didn’t realize she was an idol.”
- “She’s from RAINBOW?!”
- “I’ve seen several series with the two of them, they’re super fun LOL. And both act really well.”
- “Uh… But Oh Seunga performed at the Garo Sero Research Institute Concert, so… Thanks for the heads-up so I can avoid watching her stuff.”
- “Whoa, that Oh Seunga is the Oh Seunga from RAINBOW?! I kept wondering who she was the whole time I was watching.”
- “All those titles lmao. They sound like web dramas. I had no idea these two were acting in daily K-Dramas.”
- “Being a daily K-Drama lead like those two is seriously tough work. Ratings were probably good, but it also seems like the staff who worked with them thought highly of them.”