Netizens Call Out Western Media Outlet For Allegedly Undermining Gong Yoo’s Hard Work

“He’s an acting legend!”

In the K-Drama industry, some actors and actresses are just purely iconic and have been gracing the screens of netizens for years. One of those people is legendary actor Gong Yoo who first made his acting debut in the early 2000s before landing his first lead role in 2005 in SBS‘s Hello My Teacher.

Since then, netizens worldwide have fallen for the talent, visuals, and charms of Gong Yoo, and it isn’t surprising why.

Actor Gong Yoo | Marie Claire

More recently, more people worldwide have been introduced to Gong Yoo after the actor appeared in the history-making K-Drama Squid Game. In the show, Gong Yoo only appeared briefly as the handsome recruiter but quickly caught the attention of fans worldwide for his charisma and effortless visuals.

| Netflix

However, it seems as if this short cameo has become cemented with Gong Yoo, and netizens aren’t happy about it… Considering how famous and talented the actor is, it isn’t surprising that he is set to star in the new Netflix thriller series The Silent Sea, alongside actress Bae Doo Na.

One Western outlet shared the trailer for the new series with the caption, “Watch the trailer for the ‘THE SILENT SEA,’ starring Bae Doona and #SquidGame’s Gong Yoo, dropping December 24 on Netflix.”

When the tweet was shared, fans immediately flooded the comments with their thoughts about this veteran actor being referred to as “Squid Game’s Gong Yoo,” rather than the roles he worked very hard for, and that helped him build up a career.

They thought it was disrespectful to label him under this show because of the global popularity, while others thought it was down to lack of research.

Yet, if it seems like netizens are over-reacting, their logic makes a lot of sense. Over the years, Gong Yoo has starred in so many iconic roles that K-Drama fans would much prefer to be used to identify him. One of his most iconic roles was his character Choi Han Kyul in the legendary show Coffee Prince…

| MBCDrama/ YouTube

Or his role as  Seok Woo in the movie Train to Busan, where he played a fund manager whose wife left him because of his selfishness. He is the main character who viewers follow on this train journey and captured the hearts of fans…

| Zero Media/ YouTube

If they want something more recent, Gong Yoo stole the hearts of fans with his comedic acting playing Kim Shin alongside BTOB’s Sungjae and Kim Go Eun in Goblin: The Lonely and Great God…

| Netflix

Of course, it could be easy to put it down to ignorance, but many netizens felt that more thought should have been put into the tweet. Considering he has spent nearly two decades in the industry, Gong Yoo is someone they thought deserved more than just a show with a name that catches attention.

Source: PopCrave

Squid Game