Actress Cha Joo-young, who rose to near-international stardom thanks to her standout turn in Netflix's "The Glory," seems to be sticking to her guns when it comes to career choices, which have polarized viewers between the artistic choice vs. fitting the role of provocateur.
Cha, who you might remember as the 'good girl gone bad' Choi Hye-jeong in The Glory, is now lauded for showing her range as an actress.
Yet the roles that followed, according to MyDaily raised eyebrows about where she was headed.
Following her success on The Glory, Cha made an appearance on KBS 2TV's weekend drama "The Real Has Come!" Others who were critical of the show argued that the conventional format limited Cha's acting talent from being best displayed.
Entertainment analyst Park Soo-jin said, "It was a wasted opportunity to make use of the high wave of popularity from 'The Glory.'"
Cha has come under a great deal of scrutiny for her most recent role as Queen Wongyeong in tvN and TVING's drama "The Queen Who Crowns."
With its adult content, the series garnered interest due to a lengthy topless segment with Cha that eclipsed anything else in the series.
Media critic Kim Min-woo said, "The advent of drama which is naked has undermined the fidelity of... drama delivery while merely putting the (purpose of the delivery) into nude. It endangers the Cha Joo-young image in her careers as an actress."
Even with "The Queen Who Crowns" winning its first battle with a viewership rating of over 5%, the talk of the town (or the Web just now) has been not about Cha's performance but about her nude shots. "This change is disheartening for fans of 'The Glory,'" Kim wrote.
As for the controversy, Cha's agency has not said a word, but insiders say her intention was to prove her versatility as an actress following the latter.
Lee Hyun-jin, a go-to pundit on entertainment issues, said: "It's likely provocative elements will become a challenge for her in the long run, because viewers tend to compartmentalize things."
Meanwhile, as Cha Joo-young embarks on the road ahead, experts stress that she should carefully craft her next steps if she wants to undertake a wider variety of roles.
Park said, "She has a great amount of potential. But she needs to be guided out of the boxes that sex-based work provides her.")
It will be interesting to see how this plays out for Cha Joo-young as she continues her career in the public eye as both a performer and artistic exploration and whether the two will be able to co-exist.
