More K-pop stars leaping to big screen

A poster for “Shades of the Heart,” left, and a poster for “The Box” / Courtesy of At9 Film, TAKE

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Many K-pop idols have tried to make the leap to the big screen, but not so many have succeeded. Despite lackluster results at the box office, more K-pop singers are branching out to the film industry where they find opportunities to break out of the confines of their image as impeccable idols and demonstrate their multiple talents.

Of the many who have crossed over from music to film, IU seems to be the master of doing both at the same time. While the singer-actress is gearing up to drop her fifth studio album “LILAC” on March 25, she is also returning to the silver screen with, “Shades of the Heart,” directed by Kim Jong-kwan.

Set for release on March 31, the upcoming film revolves around Chang-seok (Yeon Woo-jin) who engages in conversations with four different people to write a new book based on his relationships with them.

IU jumped into acting in 2011 through KBS's teenage drama, “Dream High,” and since then appeared in many hit series such as “My Mister” (2018) and “Hotel Del Luna” (2019). In 2018, she debuted in Netflix's original ensemble piece, “Persona.” The K-pop singer is also set to star in Japanese filmmaker Kore-eda Hirozaku's debut Korean-language film, “Broker,” alongside Song Kang-ho, Bae Doo-na and Gang Dong-won.

Chanyeol of EXO will play an aspiring singer in the upcoming film, “The Box,” which will hit local theaters on March 24. This marks his first leading role in a Korean film. Similar to Hollywood film, “Begin Again,” the movie is a coming-of-age story of an aspiring singer-songwriter (Chanyeol) who meets a washed-up music producer (Cho Dal-hwan) and runs a series of busking gigs. The singer-actor is expected to enlist in the army on March 29.

Previously, he played a supporting role in “Salut D'Amour” (2015) and starred in the Chinese film, “So I Married My Anti-Fan.”

A poster for “Hypnosis,” left, and a poster for “Young Adult Matters” / Courtesy of Smile ENT, Little Big Pictures

Hani of K-pop girl group EXID will dip her toes into the water of acting by taking the lead role in “Young Adult Matters,” which will hit theaters in April. Directed by Lee Hwan, the film tells a story about a group of runaways trying to help one of their own terminate her pregnancy. The K-pop idol will play the role of Ju-yeong, a teenager who flees with her pregnant friend and realizes the harsh reality through a series of unfortunate events.

Hani launched her acting career in 2020 through web drama “XX,” and later was featured in “SF8: White Crow.” She is currently starring in Kakao TV original series “How to Be Thirty.”

Johyun of K-pop group Berry Good is returning to the big screen in less than three months after releasing “Dragon Inn Part 1: The City of Sadness” last December. Directed by Choi Jae-hoon, the psychological horror film “Hypnosis” follows a college student (David Lee) and his friends who turn to hypnosis to recover their lost childhood memories, and subsequently find strange things happening to them.