Actress Lee Ha-nui and Park Shin-hye are showing impressive performances in their drama comebacks, making their hiatus after giving birth to nothing.
In the recently airing MBC Friday-Saturday drama ‘Flowers that Bloom at Night’ (written by Lee Sam, Jeong Myeong-in, directed by Jang Tae-yu, Choi Jeong-in, and Lee Chang-woo), Lee Ha-nui is playing the role of Jo Yeo-hwa, a widow who has been in mourning for 15 years after her husband died on the day of her wedding. During the day, Jo Yeo-hwa acts like an ordinary widow who cannot take a single step beyond the wall of her house, but at night, she wears a mask and climbs over the wall to kill bad guys. He has a temper that cannot pass by those in need, so he climbs over the wall every night to bring rice to the hungry and medicine to the sick, and is praised as a ‘legendary tale of beauty.’
Is it because it is her comeback film that appeared after suffering after her marriage and childbirth after the 2021 SBS drama ‘Wonder Woman’? In ‘Flowers that Bloom at Night’, Lee Ha-nui stirs the drama like a ‘fish in water’. She lives as the eldest daughter-in-law in the Left House without her husband and is sometimes treated humiliatingly, which causes her to feel angry inside, but the moment she overcomes her walls and becomes an assassin, she actively helps those in need. A widow's double life may seem foreign. However, Lee Ha-nui leads the play naturally and smoothly with her unique slyness and stable acting skills. Jo Yeo-hwa has Lee Ha-nui's unique 'jo', but she actually plays a big role in completing the widow's character, which has never been seen before. Thanks to this, Lee Ha-nui was able to become Jo Yeo-hwa herself.
What is especially surprising is his action skills that have not rusted. Previously, Lee Ha-nui showed off her brilliant action acting in the movie ‘Extreme Job’ and the dramas ‘The Fiery Priest’ and ‘Wonder Woman’. However, after giving birth, there were concerns about whether she would be able to handle action scenes like before. However, Lee Ha-nui seemed to give a wise answer to this foolish question and showed off her amazing action acting in ‘Flowers that Bloom at Night’. In the play, Jo Yeon-hwa subdues most men with her outstanding martial arts skills, and Lee Ha-nui, who plays her, shows that she is an ‘irreplaceable’ actor by even performing difficult moves. Lee Ha-nui said, “I went to action school and practiced for about 5 to 6 months, and I think the expression ‘refinishing’ is used in times like this.” She added, “I was drenched in sweat every day from head to toe and worked so hard that I couldn’t even lift my hand after filming.” “He also conveyed his efforts so far.
Thanks to this, ‘Flowers that Bloom at Night’ started with a high viewer rating of 7.9% (hereinafter referred to as Nielsen Korea nationwide standard) since its first broadcast on January 12th, and is cruising at 13.1% for the 7th episode. As soon as Lee Ha-nui returned as the ‘top lead actor,’ she proved her worth by putting her work in the ranks of her hit works.
Another ‘working mom’ that viewers welcome is actress Park Shin-hye. Park Shin-hye, who has been concentrating on family life for a while after getting married in 2021 and giving birth the following year, returned to acting after a long time through the JTBC Saturday-Sunday drama ‘Doctor Slump’ (written by Baek Seon-woo / directed by Oh Hyun-jong), which started on January 27th. This is her comeback after 3 years since the drama ‘Sisyphus: The Miss’. ‘Doctor Slump’ is a romantic comedy, which is the genre that Park Shin-hye is best at, and expectations were even higher because it was Park Shin-hye’s first comeback after giving birth, which must have enriched her emotions as she faced various situations during her hiatus.
In ‘Doctor Slump’, Park Shin-hye plays Nam Ha-neul, an anesthesiologist whose life has been on an upward curve from being ranked first in the country to being the top student in medical school, only to hit the brakes. Nam Ha-neul lived her 'uninteresting' life without knowing how to do anything other than her studies and work, but when she developed burnout syndrome, she looked back on her completely ruined life and pledged to change. He is a person who becomes Meanwhile, she encounters Yeo Jeong-woo (played by Park Hyeong-sik), who was her enemy during her school days, and after discovering the secrets of each of them that she wanted to hide the most, they end up comforting each other knowingly or unknowingly. In the first and second episodes, a story that opened the beginning of the narrative of these two people unfolded.
At the beginning of the play, the focus is on the story of why each character fell into a ‘slump’. Nam Ha-neul, who had been rushing forward like a bulldozer for his success, feels helpless and complains of depression as he is trapped in a situation that oppresses him. Realizing that any success is nothing without erasing himself, he impulsively quits the hospital after being confronted by the anesthesiology professor who is the culprit, but is hurt by his mother, Gong Wol-seon (played by Jang Hye-jin), who does not understand this. But later, she feels love from the text message Gong Wol-seon sent her and cries like a child to be comforted.
In the play, Park Shin-hye calmly follows Nam Ha-neul's emotional lines. Her tired facial expression and helpless behavior due to her oppressive situation resemble modern people who are tired of reality. But then she finally loses control of herself and the sight of her exploding resonates with many people and brings them to tears. Park Shin-hye previously played a doctor character in ‘Doctors’, so there were concerns that she might look similar to Nam Ha-neul in ‘Dr. Slump’, but this was unfounded. Park Shin-hye portrayed her character's rich emotions through realistic acting that reflected her reality, and she showed further growth. Thanks to this, immersion in the drama has increased, and viewership ratings are also on track for episodes 1 and 2, reaching 4-5% (based on Nielsen Korea's nationwide paid households).
Needless to say, Lee Ha-nui and Park Shin-hye are good actors, but it is also true that since they had a long hiatus, attention was focused on whether they would be able to show the same ‘form’ as before when they announced their return. Even after her marriage and childbirth, she also received attention for making a comeback as the main character rather than someone's 'mother'. Those who returned amidst a lot of attention completely immersed themselves in each character after hard work and dominated the play with the same acting skills as before. At the same time, it clearly proved that marriage and childbirth are not obstacles for actresses. These are the reasons why Lee Ha-nui and Park Shin-hye's comeback to the small screen is even more welcome.
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