[Sportschosun Kim Joon-seok Reporter] Unexpected controversy surrounding lead actors is now affecting productions that are nearing the end of filming or have already seen huge sums poured into them.
From Ha Young, who has been caught up in controversy over her great-grandfather's pro-Japanese activities, to Kim Soo-hyun, whose 60 billion won blockbuster was put on hold over allegations tied to the late Kim Sae-ron before he was later cleared by police, the content industry is once again facing so-called "actor risk."
The production drawing immediate attention is SBS's new drama "There's a Winning Chance," starring Ha Young and Lee Je-hoon.
Scheduled to air in 2027, "There's a Winning Chance" follows a law firm led by Kwon Baek, a former lawyer and current office manager, as it turns around seemingly hopeless cases. Lee Je-hoon plays Kwon Baek, while Ha Young takes on the role of rookie lawyer Yeo Sim-hee.
The problem is that filming was already in its final stages when the controversy over Ha Young's great-grandfather surfaced.
According to reports, about 90% of the project had already been filmed. SBS also said that "a substantial portion has already been shot" and that it is "closely monitoring how the situation develops."
Filming is continuing as scheduled. On the 11th, a planned shoot went ahead without changes, and Ha Young reportedly attended the set and completed her scenes. Filming is scheduled to continue through September.
But because the unexpected controversy arose after most of the filming had already been completed, the production team has no choice but to closely watch public sentiment going forward. At this stage, replacing the lead actor is also not realistically easy.
The controversy began with the recently released Netflix series "Our Sticky Love."
During the promotion of the show, Ha Young described her family as a "fourth-generation family of doctors." The controversy spread after it became known that her great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, had pro-Japanese activities during the Japanese colonial period.
Her agency initially said the allegations were groundless, but later corrected its position after reviewing additional records.
Ha Young also issued a personal apology on the 12th, saying, "I only knew a fragment of my great-grandfather's life through stories passed down by my family," and added that she regretted bringing up her great-grandfather as if it were a family source of pride without fully understanding the facts.
Even after the apology, the fallout continued to hit promotional schedules.
The replay service for the KBS2 episode of "Problem Child in House" featuring Ha Young and Jung Hae-in was suspended, and a planned interview related to "Our Sticky Love" was also canceled.
Some self-promotional content was also never released, showing how the controversy spread across the show's entire promotional campaign.
There have been previous cases in which a production with a large budget was affected by controversy surrounding its lead actor.
A representative example is Disney+'s "Knock Off," starring Kim Soo-hyun.
"Knock Off" is known to be a major project with a production budget of about 60 billion won.
However, last year, allegations emerged that Kim Soo-hyun had dated the late Kim Sae-ron since she was a minor, and as the controversy grew, the originally planned release was put on hold.
The situation later changed significantly.
Last month, police decided not to send the case to prosecutors, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to support allegations that Kim Soo-hyun had violated the Child Welfare Act and other charges.
Kim Soo-hyun's side had acknowledged that he had dated the late Kim Sae-ron, but maintained that the relationship began only after she became an adult, denying allegations that they had dated while she was a minor.
In the end, investigators concluded that there was not enough objective evidence to prove the allegations, and Kim Soo-hyun was cleared in connection with the case.
Still, the future release schedule for "Knock Off," which was already delayed once, remains undecided.
Kim Soo-hyun's case shows that so-called "actor risk" does not arise only when an actor's actual wrongdoing has been confirmed.
Even if allegations are never ultimately proven true, the process of a controversy spreading widely can still have real effects on a production's filming, release, and promotion schedules.
The cases of Ha Young and Kim Soo-hyun are clearly different in nature and in terms of responsibility.
In Ha Young's case, the controversy began with her great-grandfather's past actions, not her own wrongdoing. In Kim Soo-hyun's case, the release of his project was delayed because of allegations against him, but he was later cleared by police.
Even so, the two cases share one common point.
After a production had already moved well into filming, an unexpected controversy involving a lead actor emerged, affecting co-stars, the production team, the production company, and the platform as well.
People in the production field say it is difficult to completely block such risks in advance.
One production company official said that even if thorough checks are carried out during casting, there are practical limits to verifying an actor's private life or family background in detail, and that replacing an actor is not easy once filming has already been completed.
On the other hand, some argue that caution is needed before allowing controversy surrounding one actor to block the release of an entire work created by many people.
In particular, if the facts or the person's responsibility have not been clearly established, there is a need to separate the release of the work from the actor's personal issue to some extent.
Although the nature of the controversies and their outcomes differ, the reality that unexpected variables surrounding actors can affect a production's filming, promotion, and release schedule has emerged as a major concern for the content industry.
narusi@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
