Jeongnyeon The Star is Born is one of the most publicly discussed on-going dramas. In fact, the sageuk drama that has been airing since last Saturday, (10/12), consistently scored high ratings to touch 13.4% in its latest episode.
Starring Kim Tae Ri to Ra Mi Ran, the drama successfully captured the audience’s attention with its interesting premise around a person’s journey in achieving dreams and ambitions in the 1950s.
For those of you who are curious, check out a series of interesting facts from Jeongnyeon The Star is Born below!
Grand Prize-Winning Webtoon Adaptation
This drama made by tvN is the result of an adaptation of a popular webtoon on the Naver site entitled Jeongnyeoni which was released in 2019. Thewebtoon by writer Seo Yi Re and illustrator Na Mon won the Grand Prize at the 2024 Bucheon Comics Awards.
Through Jeongnyeoni, the webtoon creators want to preserve South Korea’s traditional art form, whose existence is increasingly eroded. In fact, they are praised as revolutionary feminist literature that revives public interest in yoseong gukgeuk, aka traditional Korean theater.
Not surprisingly, many fans of the ‘Jeongnyeoni’ webtoon have been enthusiastic about the storyline and visualization of the drama series version since it was announced to be adapted.
Musical Drama with Korean Traditional Arts
In accordance with its webtoon adaptation, Jeongnyeon The Star is Born will present a musical feel in the 1950s, right after the Korean War ended. The story focuses on Yeoseong Gukgeuk, a traditional Korean theater art that uses changgeuk or Korean opera and pansori as elements to tell stories on stage.
The performance is identically performed by a group of women who want to tell stories of passion, freedom, and no patriarchy.
As such, the drama is dominated by female characters who tell the story of Yoon Jeong Nyeon’s (Kim Tae Ri) journey in achieving her dream of becoming a gukgeuk theater actress , after watching the Maeran Women’s Gukgeuk Theater Company performance.
Despite having an unrespectable family background and education, this woman from Mokpo is talented in singing. Until one day, Jeong Nyeon became a trainee for a theater company in Seoul.
Totality of the Players
The success of a drama is not only from the storyline, but the totality of actors and actresses in playing roles. This is also not missed by some of the players in Jeong Nyeon The Star is Born.
In order to explore the character as Jeong Nyeon, Kim Tae Ri is known to have learned the Mokpo dialect by going to Mokpo. The actress also underwent vocal training for three years to visualize pansori skills, hone dance skills, and traditional opera until the filming process was completed.
Besides Kim Tae Ri, Shin Ye Eun also mastered many things to fit the role of Heo Yeong Seo. Starting from practicing on the theater stage, diet programs, and developing a standard language.
Production Parties Involved
The figures behind the making of Jeongnyeon The Star is Born are Choi Hyo Bi, writer of the Netflix series A Time Called You (2023) and Jung Ji In, a director who previously worked on the popular sageuk drama The Red Sleeve (2021).
Thanks to this drama, the director won many awards, such as the Grand Prize at the 2022 Korea Communications Commission Broadcasting Awards, Best Director and Drama of the Year at the 2022 APAN Star Awards, to Outstanding Korean Drama at the 2022 Seoul International Drama Awards.
Well, that’s a series of interesting facts from Jeongnyeon The Star is Born. Come on, don’t forget to watch the continuation of this drama story every Saturday and Sunday on Disney+ Hotstar.
