One thing k-drama actresses are really good at is pretending to be boys. Actresses such as Yoon Eun Hye and Park Shin Hye, who look very glamorous when dressed up, also do a convincing job of pretending to be boys in dramas.
It seems to be a rite of passage, as several top actresses have chopped off their locks or sported mustaches to play girls-pretending-to-be-boys. And they generally do such a good job of remaining charming that they manage to make the male lead fall in love with them despite their orientation.
Yoon Eun Hye and Park Shin Hye are the most famous examples. Yoon Eun Hye played a girl pretending to be a boy so she could get a job as a waiter in "Coffee Prince." She fooled Gong Yoo long enough to make him doubt his preferences.
Then there was Park Shin Hye pretending to be her twin brother in "You're Beautiful." It was only supposed to be temporary, with her filling in while her brother recovered from a botched surgery, but before she knew it she was a regular member of the band ANJELL.
Her disguise did not last quite as long since she lived in a dorm but she fooled the band's fans.
A recent k-drama example of a girl pretending to be a boy took place in "Empress Ki" with Ha Ji Won deciding to live as a boy to reduce her risk of being kidnapped and forced to become a concubine. Unlike Yoon Eun Hye or Park Hin Hye's character, she picked up some skills traditionally associated with boys, such as shooting arrows, horseback riding and fighting. She managed to fool and romantically confuse Joo Jin Mo and Ji Chang Wook's characters for a while.
But there are other actresses who have disguised themselves as boys in character. Moon Geun Young hid her feminine charms in "Painter in the Wind," a historical drama that supposes the Joseon era painter Shin Yun Bok was really a woman. In this drama a master painter played by Park Shin Yang manages to fall in love with her. So does a woman, thinking she is a boy.
In "Sungkyunkwan Scandal," Park Min Young wears boy clothes so she can attend the prestigious Sungkyunkwan University. The risk she takes is enormous as discovery could lead not only to her death but the execution of her entire family. And yet while pretending to be a serious male scholar, she manages to make Park Yoochun, Yoo Ah In and Song Joong Ki fall for her.
In "To The Beautiful You" f(x)'s Sulli plays a girl who attends an all-male school that her track hero, played by Minho, attends. In this drama the hero doesn't fall for the heroine while he still thinks she is a boy. But once he learns her secret and decides to protect her, he starts to care for her.
It's a good thing these dramas are so much fun to watch or viewers could resent the fact that these actresses still look so appealing while disguised as boys. Or resent the fact that they could win the confused hearts of so many leading males.
Do you have a favorite girl-disguised-as-boy drama? Let us know.
