Double Roles Flood the Home Screen With "The King: Eternal Monarch" and "Born Again"

Playing double roles is trending in drama.

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There is something in common among the newly introduced dramas recently. It is the fact that one actor plays two roles in SBS' "The King: Eternal Monarch" and KBS2's "Born Again". In the past, there were also many dramas featuring 1-role 2-characters, but it is refreshing that the numbers of 1-role 2-characters have increased and they play important roles in the narrative of the dramas.

SBS drama "The King: Eternal Monarch", which first aired on the 17th, tells the story of the parallel world between the Korean Empire and the Republic of Korea. The romance between Lee Gon (Lee Min-ho), the emperor of the Korean Empire, and Jeong Tae-eul (Kim Go-eun), the Korean police, is expected to unfold. Because it is a parallel world, characters coexist in both worlds. Kim Go-eun will play both Jeong Tae-eul, a violent crimes detective, and Luna, a wanted suspect. Until the second episode, only Jeong Tae-eul appeared and Luna only showed her back, further raising expectations for Kim Go-eun's acting transformation.

Woo Do-hwan, who plays the role of Jo Yeong, the commander of the Korean Imperial Guard, plays the role of Jo Eun-seol, a social service worker in South Korea. He is a 180-degree different person, from visual to styling to speech and personality. Earlier, Woo Do-hwan said in a production presentation that he was 'burdened to play a double role", but he is receiving favorable reviews for successfully portraying two completely different characters in one drama. In addition, Kim Yong-ji challenged the two-player role as Myeong Na-ri, the owner of a building, and Myeong Seung-ah, an employee of the imperial press office. "The King: Eternal Monarch" is using the concept of a parallel world, which can be somewhat obscure and difficult, as a device to help portray and heighten the mystery of the connection between the two worlds.

Subsequently, "Born Again", which was first aired on the 20th, is also a drama starring two roles per person. This is because the three main characters, Jang Ki-yong, Jin Se-yeon and Lee Soo-hyuk, all play two roles each. "Born Again" is a reincarnation mystery melodrama depicting the fate and resurrection of three men and women involved in two lives, making 1-role 2-characters essential. Jang Ki-yong plays the lonely wolf Gong Ji-cheol, who refuses to be conrolled by destiny, and elite medical student Cheon Jong-beom. Jin Se-yeon plays Jeong Ha-eun, who suffers from a heart disease, and a bone archaeologist named Jeong Sa-bin. Finally, Lee Soo-hyuk is a pure-hearted detective named Cha Hyeong-bin and the cold-blooded prosecutor Kim Soo-hyeok.

If "The King: Eternal Monarch" is in the same time in the parallel world, "Born Again" will visit the small screen with different details, even though it resembles the same background of the times. Actors are also eager to succeed in transforming their acting as well as their hairstyles, costumes, expressions and speech.

In response, a drama official said, "Playing two roles is an area that actors want to challenge. There is a lot of pressure to go through, but the synergy when you do well is enormous", he said. "Recently, the drama production environment has improved and conditions have been set for actors to be able to play two roles at once. Nevertheless, if the two roles are played well they will benefit, but if they play poorly, they will need to make a careful choice".