Argh! The worst first impression I can recall (and I wish I couldn't) was Hyeri in Hyde Jekyll, Me. I finished that one but dropped the next two I started where she was a lead. It took Roommate/Gumiho to (mostly) wash away the bad taste.

For good first impressions, think Ko Hyun-jung in Queen's Classroom, Han Groo in Girl K... actually the list could get pretty long.

Oh my, @missvictrix.... I enjoyed so much reading your article😍. I have felt the same many times with both male and female artists.
Felt totally identified with Hyun bin and Lee Min hoto, except that my reaction to him was your opposite, because of BOF, I hated him totally. And while I watched him in some other dramas, I.e. "personal taste" or partially in "the heirs"... those roles only increase my dislike toward him. My sister told mage he was cool in the "legend of the blue", but I haven't had the occasion to watch that one.
Also, when I watch "crash landing on you", I hope soon... maybe also my Hyun bin's opinion will improve.... who knows.
UEE, yeah, I hated her totally in "You're beautiful", because she made the character to be hated, but then I loved her to bits in "Marriage contract".
Shin Sung rok, I hated him in "my love from another star", but I started to like him in "three dads and one mom", which I happened to watch later. And then I loved him crazily in "perfume".
And yes, so on, and so on...
The list is long.
But hey, by the way, sometimes I have watched an actor playing whatever secondary non important role that is not relevant and even when he makes me laugh or whatever, I forget totally about him/her, so that next time he is in a better role and I think, wow, awesome this is the first time watching this actor. When I read his filmography I am surprised he was in a drama I watched before, and I just cannot remember him at all.
It used to happen to me a lot at the beginning because for me most Korean faces were the same, but after watching more than 100 dramas, I can recognize better this or that one and where did I see him/her before, LOL😂😂. I am proud of myself. 😛

Oh, first impressions... you are so right! My most amazing worst impression was Son Ye Jin. I watched her in Personal Taste and I didn't like her at all (as you said, not her acting but her dull role), and Noona didn't help much. I was about to skip CLOY because of her, but I decided to give it a try and I can't be happier. CLOY is not the best drama ever, but I enjoyed it a lot and made me fall in love with her.

My most famous case of first love at first sight is Seo Kang Joon. The minute I saw him in Cheese in the Trap I knew it would be forever love. I even liked Entourage!

What a nice topic! I never thought about K-actors this way, but there's definitely some truth to that.

First impressions definitely last. I have to agree about Son Seung-Hun, he was dreamy in Autumn in My Heart and Summer Scent, so I always have a soft spot for him even though I did not like his subsequent works.

Same with Son Ye-jin and Jo Seung-woo in the Classic. They stole my heart there, so I will love them forever. Kim Ji-suk was so endearing in "Likeable or Not", that I've been rooting for him ever since.

At the same time, it's great having a drama come along that makes you see old actors with new eyes: Song Joong-ki was previously a flower boy and never struck me as manly or sexy, and then Vincenzo totally made me change my mind. Run-on was a great drama. I was indifferent to Im Si-wan and Shin Se-kyung before, but they were perfect in their roles and in one of the most wholesome romances I've seen in K-dramas, so I'm a newly converted fan of both!

CLOY redeemed Hyun Bin for me, now I am absolutely smitten. Ironically, I first watched him in Secret Garden and wasn't impressed or affected either way. I tried watching him again in Hyde Jekyll, Me, but with similar result. It's weird because I loved Ha Ji Won and still do, but he just didn't do it for me.

Thank God for CLOY! A total standout drama, finally, I see what the fuss is about. Glad to say that I'm eagerly waiting for what he does next!

I watched Lee Seo Jin first in Times, then Marriage Contract , the drama that inked the deal forever.
Go Hyun Jung in Queen Seondeok, Han Ye Ri in SFD, is the reason I'll watch them in anything, classic first impression. I've loved several Park Min Young dramas, but her role in Her Private Life is the deal sealer.

Wang Bit Na in She Would Never Know helped me forgive her character in RWTMR. Lee Hyun Wook in the same drama was further sealed by his character in Mine.

Talking of bad impression, my number one is Han Chae Young's Jin Bo Bae in A Man Called God. It totally ruined her for me.

First impression is really hard to overcome if its a bad one, and first impressions at times do not ink the deal, may second or third does the trick.

Generally, I do not go for negative first impression at all but it builds up over the time. It is not outright hatred but more of a disinterest.
Not everyone gets better written character or have start power to choose the role. I have issues with stars that have power to choose what they want and still give out lacklustre and copy-paste performances one after other. The people who fell into category are LMH and PSH. I have never liked any of their drama roles. I will not avoid any of their drama because of them but whether to watch drama or not will depend upon other factors such as writer, director and other actors.
Opposite is true for positive impression. I quite liked Kim Hye-yoon in extraordinary you, Ji sung in Kill Me and Kill Me and whole cast of coffee prince and Forest of secrets. I tend to start watching drama solely for them but whether to stay with whole run will depend on other factors.

Hmmm I have a soft spot for Song Hye-kyo because of Worlds Within even if I do not like her other dramas. She has this very detached way of acting and delivery in general, which I think worked perfectly for her character in that drama.

On the other hand I absolutely HATED Hwang Jung-eum's performance in She Was Pretty. Thankfully Mystic Pop-up Bar sort of redeemed her for me. And she rocked the red lipstick.

This is so true! The amount of dramaland dross I have tolerated because I loved JCW when I first saw him in Healer 😖 Thankfully others such as Park Seo-joon, Lee Jong-suk, Park Min-young, Song Joong-ki have (mostly) lived up to my first impressions of them.

On the other end of the spectrum are the ones I absolutely cannot stand because of the first drama I saw them in - Hwang Jung-eum in She Was Pretty is definitely up there. Also poor Ahn Bo-hyun - I was so annoyed with his entitled second lead role in Her Private Life that I simply can't watch him anymore. And Itaewon Class only made it worse.

I find it easier to change my opinion, when a bad impression is followed by a good performance. I can slowly forgive Cha Eun-woo for My ID is Gangnam Beauty, where he really stood out as the worst performer in a generally stiff cast, because he followed it with Rookie Historian, which I almost did not watch because of him.

It is harder to forgive, when it goes from really good to amazingly poor. After Forest, I re-watched Bad Guys to double check that it is indeed the same Park Hae-Jin. I will skip his dramas for now.

Some actors I just like or dislike, not because of their role as either hero or unpleasant, I am not sure why that is. I simply cannot warm to Lee Min-ki and Kim Hye-Yoon (sorry to both!), but admire IU and Seo Kang-Joon. There must be other factors at play, maybe it is a voice thing. As somebody wrote once before, I would gladly listen to Han Suk Kyu reading a cook book in Korean and I would be happy!

It's hard to separate the acting, the writing and the directing in a drama. So if I watch an actor for the time and don't like him : it can be because he's bad at acting, because he did what he could with the bad script or was asking to act like this by the PD. Or sometimes, they're good in a genre and not the others. So I will still watch him in a new drama to make an opinion. Hyeri for example, for me, she's tolerable when she can overact like in Gumiho but when the story asks for subtile acting, she's still bad. For Jang Ki-Yong, I like him when he's not the lead otherwise he's always overshadowed by the rest of the casting.

For me, it was Gong Yoo. I liked him in Goblin but I'm usually not a fan of super moody, sad characters. I was more interested in Lee Dong Wook's performance in that show, especially since Sunny and Grim Reaper has to be one of my favorite side romances of all time. Also, I didn't feel the chemistry between him and Kim Go-eun in Goblin, probably partially because of the age gap which bothered me. Then I watched Coffee Prince and realized what a charming actor he was. He did so much with that role and his smiling made me smile! :) He is just so delightful in Coffee Prince. Then I watched Train to Busan and loved him as an action hero.

Thank you, @missvictrix for an enjoyable read!

I don't suffer from bad first impressions as much as I suffer from great first impressions that result in indelible role imprinting, forcing me to miss any subsequent dramas.

For instance, I cannot watch Ji Chang-wook in any other role after Healer (which has saved me from some pretty stinky dramas🤪)
Other examples would be Ji Hyun woo in Queen Inhyuns Man,

What a fun essay, thank you missvictrix! Even I didn’t like HB at the beginning of Sam Soon but he went on to become my number one KCrush, and Sam Soon my favorite drama of all time ❤️
You are making me rethink my habit of just avoiding future shows of actors I don’t like 🤔

I think an actor's skill level in giving a wide range in performance is the key first impression. The one actor I have a complete negative opinion on is Park Si-hoo, who I find wooden, sleazy and dull in his roles.

On the other hand, the best first impression was Son Ye Jin in "Alone in Love." Then I saw the Classic to confirm her acting skills were above the level of the rest of the cast.

My first Kdrama is Hotelier and Song Yoon-ah is practically the first K artist that I like. However I stopped watching other Kdramas after that because I can't stand all those ridiculous drama tropes (rich guy poor girl) at that time. I ended up watching K movies more when I have access to TVN movies and boy am I blown away by how well made K movies are. I like many movie actors/actresses but Jung Woo-sung, Son Ye-Jin & Cho Seung-woo will always be my first love. Their movies are top notch in many ways. I got back to K dramas again in 2019 mostly because of CLOY. The quality of this show changed my initial perception of K dramas and I'm glad that it happened. By the way I did not forget about Song Yoon-ah :) I guess I'm one of those people who takes first impression seriously :P

For a first bad impression i might say Lee Elijah Basketball 2013,i found her sooo bad there that i really had my doubts i'd watch ever anything else with her in it and was proven wrong as she returned with great acting in quite a lot of great productions...

The first impressions!!!! I have this problem with a good number of korean artists. First being Oh yeon seo in Hwayugi. After a point her blank expressions and eye rolls started irking me and I eventually dropped the drama and never tried anything that she acted. Same goes with song hye kyo. The first work of hers that I watched was " That winter, the wind blows" and while I somehow completed the series, I cant stand her expressionless acting anymore. I tried descedents of the sun and burned out at episode 3. I have avoided all her dramas after that. Another heroine is Ha Ji won. I have watched her quite a few dramas and while I think she acts quite okay in tomb boy roles, she is pretty much stoic in everything else. I find Im soo hyang monotonic in acting. For every situation she has one single expression. And the recent addition to this list is Gong Hyo Jin. I first watched her in WTCB and wasn't impressed by her acting. I did give her other dramas like "Master's Sun" and " Iys okay, its love " too but dropped both because I got bored with her acting. I dont know how to explain but there is something off about her acting. I find it bland and at times she fails to convey the emotions in a particular situation to the viewer.

The other actresses in the list are Gong seung yeon, shin se Kyung song ji hyo and ko sung hee.

When it comes to actors I mostly avoid dramas of Lee seung gi, Song Joong ki and the recent addition song kang. I have a good number of the former's dramas and dropped each one of them before finally avoiding them completely. My impression of Song Kang was bad because of his role in Love alarm and again in the ongoing drama Nevertheless. He is a jerk in both of these and that kind of prevented me from checking his other drama " Navillera".

I only have one actor I can't stand and that is Lee Min Hoo, I find his acting tedious and bland in everything I've ever seen him in. The only drama I've enjoyed him in was City Hunter.

But I have a great many love at first sights! Seo Kang Joon, Seo In Guk, Nam Goong-min, Kim Seul-gi , Luo Yun Xi, Wang Duo, Bai Lu, Zhao Lu Si, Ding Yu Xi. Kim Min Jae deserves honorary mentions simply for his voice. Then there's also Kim Soo Hyun who made a very strong impression on me with his movie Real, although drama wise, I find him a bit meh.

Fantastic article, @missvictrix! It’s not a topic I’ve thought too much about before, but yes, first impressions of actors do heavily colour ones opinion of them - whether deservedly or not.

For me funnily enough, I had the opposite reaction to Lee Min-ho in Boys Over Flowers - I hated him in it and that initial dislike never quite got away. For a while I thought City Hunter would be the cure, but then he followed up by the likes of The Heirs and The King: Eternal Monarch. That’s when I knew that it’d be nigh-impossible for me to form a positive opinion of his drama choices anytime soon. Another male actor whose first impression I cannot shake off is Cha Eun-woo. I always find him to be the weakest link in any ensemble he’s a part of (not an unusual situation for idol-actors), and his stiffness is unbearable to watch onscreen.

For the ladies, Shin Se-kyung was the actress who got the bad first impression. I don’t even remember which drama it exactly was, but I tried avoiding her subsequent dramas with a passion because I knew I couldn’t stand her. Thankfully, Rookie Historian and Run On improved my opinion of her significantly. An actress whose performances i still cannot stand is Jin Se-yeon. I loved Gaksital and all the powerhouse performances in it - except hers. I found her terribly boring and uninspired there, and all her future performances even worse.

TRUTH!

This is very, very relatable.

Memories of Alhambra will always have that fond spot in my heart because of its capability to completely change my mind about Hyun Bin. Same as I Hear Your Voice and Lee Jong-suk.

This is why I'm glad I came to dramaland a bit late (around 2012). Because by that time, many of the currently 30-something actors has already several projects under their belt, which means the possibility of me watching them for the first time in their debut work is minimal.

I'm forever thankful I caught sight of Jung Kyung-ho in Heartless City instead of I'm Sorry I Love You (which I did watch several years later, and I shuddered imagining his Yoon as my first introduction to him). Though sometimes there are also those "magical" debut work that inspired a huge soft spot for me just like the case of Hwang Jung-eum and Shin Se-kyung in sitcom High Kick through the Roof. No matter how many times I heard people complaining about their respective overacting and depressing one-note expression issues, I still come back for their new project again and again.

And that's just the impactful impression that I remember on top of my head. I guess this is why people found projects that manage to give its actors an image makeover to be very impressive.

For me, the actor that managed to make me do a 180 on my first impression is Song Joong Ki. I hated DOTS and wrote him off as a pretty boy / little fresh meat. Then I watched Vincenzo this year and spent half the time being dumbstruck by how good his acting was and revising my opinion. Ladies and gentleman, I was floored. The guy can ACT. Now he's atop my must-watch actors list.

I almost took my little blue book to note down @missvictrix’s name after seeing Hyun bin and as the cover image and title.
But I see they have come around. I will let this one go. Strike one :)

Mr Sunshine, as my first drama, was a work of wonder, so I’ll always be partial to Lee Byung-hun, Kim Tae-ri, Yoo Yeon-seok, Kim Min-jung and Byun Yo-han. I had no idea of age gaps or scandals so nothing was spoilt for me. I did wonder what the attraction was with Yoo Yeon-seok, but I’ve completely changed my mind there. No one can deny what a great actor Lee Byung-hun is, and I followed up anything I could find him in, but Kim Tae-ri, Byun Yo-han, and Yoo Yeon-seok are the ones who have made the most lasting impression. I loved Kim Tae-ri in The Handmaiden and Byun Yo-han in Misaeng: Incomplete Life and Six Flying Dragons, and I can’t wait to catch him in Book of Fish. I follow the actors irrespective of drama, film or genre. Kim Min-jung was a much more interesting character in Mr Sunshine than she is in Devil Judge. I may have gone off her.

Secret Garden was an early one for me too and when I think of it I still get the feeling of having seen something magical and also fantastic. It had chemistry and Hyun Bin's character was probably my first grumpy, stand-offish, troubled chaebol-type character, so I was enraptured. I followed him in all the dramas I could find, including Hyde Jekyll, Me and Memories. I liked him best in Negotiation.

Secret Love was another early one for me, and I found Hwang Jung-eum’s character very pitiful and brave, but she was difficult to cope with in She was Pretty (was it the perm??). Then she completely turned my impression around with Mystic Pop-Up Bar. I love it so much, due mostly to the writing, but the characters were so much fun and it was all so interesting. Ji Sung’s first impression as a very attractive and compelling actor has lasted.

Frankly I don’t care what Ji Chang-wook is in. I’ll always love him for his beautiful wide mouth and how he plays heartbreak. He is a very good actor with excellent timing. Melty was awful and he looked tired, but he really showed his acting chops in Empress Ki. I will always defend him.

I wish I was more like this. I feel like I give too many tries to both actors and writers. The actors usually turn it around with the exception of Lee Min Ho and writers usually have at least one work I like except Kim Eun Sook. I gave up on the both of them and have stopped bothering with their dramas. Everyone else I give it a go.

Maybe because I've been watching so many dramas or maybe it is just me (I cant have long term relationship ha ha), even though I love the actor if the script and the character development don't suit me, my love can only retain my attention for so long. Enough to make me trying several first episodes but not enough to make me finishing dramas or even 120 something minutes movie. Or if I dislike the actor, when the writing of the character right, my matter of dislike, doesn't matter much. I love Kim Sunah as Kim Sam soon, but her projects after that, just.... Or Hyeri, I dont mind her in Reply, but her acting after that just annoying. There're Jung Ilwoo, Song Seunghoon, Jang hyuk, Lee jungki, etc
In the case of Hyun Bin, I think his project choices that suit me ha ha ha Not saying I watch all his projects, but somehow I always finish his dramas. I love you oppaaa

Ahhh it was so nice of you to include Mr. Darcy's quote @missvictrix. I feel so seen with Lee Min Ho and Hyun Bin. I have a very soft spot for LMH because of BOF. I just can't dislike him. Also I watched Secret Garden and it is perhaps one of the most overrated dramas. It was enjoyable but not really worth the hype. One of the people I have a really good first impression of would be Rowoon. I loved him as Haru and now whenever I look at him, I don't see an idol but a really quiet guy.

Oh, how I hated Lee Sung-kyung in "It's Okay, That's Love" and in "Cheese in the Trap". I did not like her at all, she seemed so insufferable. I disliked her temperament and her voice. It does not happen often to me but in her case I just could not separate her from her roles in these two series. And of course I did not like her in "The Doctors". Only with "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo" I started to see her as an excellent actress and finally was able to change my first impression of her. Now I finally understand she must be really talented to make me hate her in her drama roles so much. I am looking forward to her future roles and wish only the best the her!

When I read the title of the article I thought it was referring to something that happens to me a lot. I´m not being able to overcome the bad impression that a character gives due to his personality and way of behaving and I drop the drama unfinished; like the ML of "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo" , the main ML in "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim" and many others.

I will still check out dramas starring actors who give bad first, second, or third impressions if the storyline is interesting enough. The only exception would be if there is something about their voice that annoys me (very rare).

I always hope to see them show a different side to their acting or hope they find a likable or meaty role or hope they find a role that gels with their acting style. It's fun to "discover" the new side to them that others may be missing.

Park Shi Yeon was terrible in My Girl, but she was great in Nice Guy. She played the antagonist and she fleshed out the layers that antagonist had. Jo In-sung was pretty awkward in The Classic, especially when compared to Son Ye Jin and Jo Seung Woo. Found him sexy in That Winter the wind blows, but didn't finished. And fell in love with him in It's Okay That's Love.

Im Soo-hyang never made an impression on me until her 1-2 episode role in the korean Criminal Minds. One of the few people who shined in that dumpster fire of a drama. L as the younger version of the male lead in Master's Sun was pretty bad, but I liked him in Miss Hammurabi. It was a good match.

I think i gave up trying with Kim Myung Soo,i just can't stand his acting and the way he pronunces the words,it just irks me for some reason...And i watched almost all his shows and still can't stand it becoming so much that i now can't even stand seeing him with no feelings for the real person but more his actor persona...
Irks me even more that he keeps getting leading roles when he is so bad at it...
Rant over!

INNNNNTERESTING, I always felt so bad when I decided not to watch a drama solely because of its lead.... I have nothing against them I just don't like them? AND TURNS OUT IT'S EXACTLY THIS FIRST IMPRESSION THING (to the characters they played ofc)!

I have overcome a lot of this (Han Yeseul, Ha Jiwon, Jung Kyungho(!!!), Lee Minki, Song Kang......) but there are still a lot i mean a LOT of actors that I still can't stand up until now namely Park Seojoon (I think it's Kill Me Heal Me that makes me went nope on him), Seo Kangjoon (CAN'T STAND his character in cunning single lady), Nam Joohyuk.. (School. 2015. do i need to say more?), Seo Inguk (Reply 97... i just don't feel him idk man), and perhaps Song Kang... I avoided anything Songkang after Love Alarm... but then Navilera happened and I LOVE him, but then...... Nevertheless happened........ SO....... and sadly.... 3 of 5 of these people stars opposite Park Minyoung, who is one of my fav actress, on her last few projects.........