Her acting in EOE makes me cranky - even my parents, who don't usually comment on things like this, have complained about it. And this interview doesn't really seem to put her in the best light.

I haven't seen her in the aforementioned movies - how is she in those?

I know she's still young, but she's been in the industry long enough to know that she needs to step up her game - or she's simply going to be known for her pretty face and co-starring with the hottest male stars (kinda like another starlet you recently posted about).

is she kidding me??? "chubbier on screen.." WTF??? she is as skinny as a TWIG!! in fact..she looks freaking ANOREXIC in east of eden!!! and that is disgusting because she is TALL and ANOREXIC...and those two do NOT match up together!!!

i'm also disappointed in her acting..i stopped watching east of eden because her acting was so stiff....i feel that instead of improving in acting...she's actually gotton worse...

oh. please, Pak. Lee Da Hae is the anorexic one okay? You need to get new glasses if you haven't already.

sorry to hear you stopped watching EOE. Because LYH's acting improved drastically in recent episodes. And...another thing, just keep your mouth shut if you haven't been following EOE, ok?

calm down jo. They can both be anorexic, you know, it's not like it's a contest and only one of them can be it.

and come on, we're all allowed to have an opinion. if yeonhee's better now it doesn't make her earlier acting any better.

Well...I hope she could take the criticism.. We don't need another suicide.

I'd like to chalk this up to being young and new in the business. Hopefully she'll pick up PR techniques as she becomes more famous (and I'm sure she will). Of course this doesn't excuse the tacky-ish interview though.

I never thought Lee Yeon Hee was as terrible as everyone has been saying, I actually think she's good, not excellent but good (and with definite room for improvement). I do hope she doesn't develop that weight complex (like Yoon Eun Hye, poor girl). Everyone just seems to be picking on her, she's improving so give her a small break and move on to your next victim, netizens.

some people are just criticizing her acting mostly because she's
getting more exposure than the other actress they like.
she has been paired with really good actors and to name a few;
hyun bin, so ji sub, park yong Ha and now Song Seung Hun.
she's moved her audience of her acting in EoE. The chemistry of
Young Ran and Dong Chul is just one great reason to watch it.
both their personality (SSH & LYH) perfectly suit the character fine they are
portraying.
She's done her role justice. She's perfect for the role of Young Ran.
And she's moved me to tears when i watch her with Dong Chul.

*..*

I can't believe she's the girl in "Millionaire's First Love!" Sorry I can' t really comment on her acting coz I never got the chance to finish watching that movie or even seen any of her drama--only watched the first 10 mins then forwarded it couple of times then I just turned it off. i totally agree with cbc's comment. On the other note, she's P-R-E-T-T-Y.

People just hatin on her cause she gets to make out with Song Seung Hun.

Well she's actually had the chance to kiss some real F-I-N-E men....... i.e- Hyun Bin, Song Seung Hun, Gong Yoo.

Now that I think about it, I'd be real jealous of her too.

there seems to be arguments arising ....and I have to agree ....WHY would you quit watching EoE just cuz Lee yeon hee's acting doesnt meet your standards =.=" like jo said ...her acting keeps improving ...we have a long way to go with this drama...Lee yeon hee was superb in a millionaire's love...am sure the audience will stop with those critics eventually . I have hope in her lol :) but still i like her being the main girl even though lee da hae is excellent.

The girl knows how to cry, but there are some scenes where she comes off as forced. I didn't like how harsh people were criticizing her and so I defended her, but after seeing this interview, I'm a little more hesitant to. I still like her, but ironically, how LYH addressed the criticism was disappointing to me. Hopefully she'll improve her acting in the second half of EoE and show everyone.

Of all issues to be indignant about, she's upset about her looking chubbier onscreen? She still looks awfully skinny to me.

I agree with you on this, her response to the criticism is very poorly constructed and the comment about how she came off "chubbier" onscreen really throw me off a bit there cuz she's like one of the skinniest one in the industry (in my opinion of course). If she get any skinnier, she'll be like a talking skeleton seriously. Anyway, I like how you said that she's a pro and got paid a huge sum of money for whatever she's doing and sometimes trying just isn't enough. Like I don't think a professor would give any point for effort if one fail on the test (though it would be great that they would but reality doesn't work that way).

Ahummm...why do i feel that every article written on LYH on javabeans is in some way negative? I think the person writing these articles dislikes LYH?

I don't see anything wrong with LYH's statement or comments. Seriously why wouldn't you be mad if you put so much effort into something but instead got criticized for it? She being totally honest and I love that about her. Somethings just can't be learned in days...I'm sure if, for say, LDH were to do the same dancing scene, she wouldn't have done any better, as a matter of fact I think she would have done worst. And this comment about her saying she looks chubbier on t.v....so many people say that...and the camera does tend to add on a couple pounds...I can see so many people(including myself)saying that they look bigger on camera than in person because it's true.

I will continue to support LYH because I feel that she is a great actress. She plays her role as Young Ran like no one could. She portrays her emotions really well. Every time she tears up, I can't help but to tear up myself, that's how great of an actress she is. Seriously people need to stop all these negativity towards her and her acting.

LYH Fighting!

"Lest you start feeling sorry for the starlet, she goes on to decry, “I was upset seeing myself looking chubbier onscreen than I am in real life.” (I know we all have our own issues, but: Are you kidding me? Bish, plz. Lee Yeon-hee is practically pro-ana “thinspiration” material, so to hear her say that makes me pretty unsympathetic, if not downright cranky.)"

I think all the young Korean actresses feel this way now. Han Ji Hye, Lee Dae Hae, and Lee Yeon Hee (who's worn the most skin-baring dresses) are all competing to be the thinnest actress on East of Eden. The weight issue in dramas is pretty strong nowadays. Song Hye Kyo was considered chubby for a long time, and so she'd go on these crash diets to lose the weight. Still goes on today. People complained about Kim Sun Ah's weight in When Night Comes. If you watch K-dramas from 10 years back, it's kinda stunning how, well, NORMAL the frames of women looked. Thin sure, but not emaciated like Han Hyo Joo in Iljimae.

"because Lee has a pretty good valuation from her film work: Millionaire’s First Love and M, for instance. "

She drew a fairly positive response from Millionaire (though the movie itself was blasted.) But her subsequent work has driven mostly negative reviews, and the fact she's been given "Song Hye Kyo"-style promotion, casting her opposite much older leads again and again, only fans the backlash.

LYH mumbles a lot of her lines and she kinda drifts between a monotone and a whine. That itself is not unusual for young actresses (when YEH accepted her Baeksang, she also brought up how critics and netizens criticized her about her short tongue.) Her upside is considerable though. There's stunning clarity between her face and the camera, the subtle shifts from jealousy to anger to joy to anguish all register on the camera. She does bitter and cynical very, very well. In that sense, she's the anti-Song Seung Heon, who kinda mugs for the camera in order to convey emotion through facial expressions.

East of Eden is kinda in a weird position where it's both a very popular show and a heavily criticized show. Many of the lead actors have been alternately criticized and praised for their acting on the show, while the storyline kinda fluctuates between really exciting and really boring, gritty and overwrought, within 15 minute spaces.

I was a Lee Dong Chul/"Guk Ja" fan myself. I like the fact that she was absolutely MEAN to him for like 90% of their, erm, "courtship." She slapped him; she called him her dog; she stole his chopsticks. Omo omo! If that's not love, I don't know what (it) is!

Same for me too. The show is kinda like tomaco.

the fact of the matter is Lee Yeon-hee cant act and the fact that she is talking about how fat she is is just plain stupid if she doesn't improve on her acting Yeon-hee wont have a long career looks dont last forever and nether does bot ox but from the looks of things she must think differently

Wow, that is one tacky interview... maybe a bit of big head disease?!

For me, EoE is frustrating to the point of unbearable on many levels, the dialogue is 'stylized'?! That's putting it super kindly. There is just so much an actor/actress can do to make those lines/plots realistically acceptable. I know it's a drama, but I just cant engage with anything when I cant stop rolling my eyes at the ridiculous.

I'm not that impressed with anyone's acting in EoE since Kim Bum's gone. I'm not even liking Lee Mi Sook or the veterans. But it's more how the characters are written or how plots r dragged out/going around in circles that I have problems with.

but yeah, mom is hooked (mainly for SSH) so I'm 'persevering' through.

It just felt like I'm watching a canto TVB production that is taking itself way too seriously as a masterpiece.

well, i'm sure she said more than that she looks fat on screen. she may have just said that so she can hide what she's really feeling. if she cried in the interview and apologized, everyone would criticize her for not being strong enough to take criticism. this may just be her own way to cope with it, so leave her alone. no one likes to show their weak side to the public, and i'm sure she's suffering from all the criticisms. i love her acting in east of eden. she makes me cry whenever she tears up, and she's definitely going to go far in her acting career.

I really really liked her after watching Millionaire's First Love. Pretty and talented was what I thought of her. But yeah, she's pretty disappointing in EoE. It's even worse that Young Ran is so unlikable and that she's acting alongside LDH and HJH who have been oustanding so far. Still, LYH is tolerable. But forget acting, what I can't stand is her oncreen romance with SSH - their love story is so unconvincing.

It's ridiculous to see that, even in comments corner of dramabeans, if some one criticizes LYH, there will be other people trying to protect LYH by criticizing LDH, or even HJH. The other actresses having same problem with you (if that's true) does not make your problem any lessened. The shipping war is every where, I see tension in soompi, coolsmurf blog and now, it's right here. :-)

Look directly at LYH's acting: I myself watched all 24 episodes of EOE so far, with several episodes rewatched several times, icl ones with a lot of LYH init. In my opinion, LYH's acting in first episodes is weak, and the worst are her face expression (her eyes are good, but the face is stiff, like some one said) and her voice. Only very recently, from episode 20 or so, she's improving. Especially in episode 23, her acting is much more natural, but, still, can not be compared with SSH, HJH and PHJ. Esp her close co-star SSH- he appears next to her the most, and this guy has such a lovely voice, his body language (eyes, face expression, pose) is very good. So it's easier and more natural that LYH's weak points are pointed out right away. I think she may be less criticized, if she's not acting besides such a seasoned actor.

She used to be with other good actors like Huyn Bin, but, her role in that movie is for people to love- there's not complexes like in here. Her role in EOE is very bratty, tough and a little violent, it's depends on people's feelings and judgement, if they like her or not. If she fails in acting, she will just make a lot of people hate him. Look at PHJ, he did a great job, even what he did is terrible, but his acting is so good, no one can really hate him. This is a good example, that, if LYH is good actress, she still has a lot of room to improve and makes people love her.

Her fans need to see the truth, that she's one of the youngest and least experienced in EOE, this is a fact, not an excuse. She's the most criticized, because the others did an excellent job. PHJ and HJH did wonderful so far, SSH, YJH and LDH acted well. Needless to say about other veteran cast, they are excellent. Kim Bum did very well. And LYH is not the only one to feel pressured. Many of the cast are in the same situation, two main SSH and YJH f(this is a come back project for them), LDH (her HR's compared with Sandglass HR, so she got tension and worked so hard, need to be hospitalized for fever or something), HJH (she's reading business book to study more for her role). I mean, every one is trying very hard for this role. If LYH is practicing, it's very normal. And, if she can't improve, she will be left behind, more obviously.

I heard people say stupider things than "I looked chubbier on screen than I am in real life". She never said that she looks fat, she just said that she looked bigger on camera....which I must say is true. Maybe the role models on set (Lee Da Hae and Han Ji Hye) are being bad role models. Maybe they need to put on some weight and set an example the younger actresses. I hope LYH is naturally small and not trying to fit in with the other actresses. LYH has nothing to worry about because she is more than a pretty face. She has acting talents and producers notice that. She is constantly being picked to be in movies because producers believe in her acting skills to pull off a character in their movie. LYH is going no where!

LYH Fighting!