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The whims of Choi Ji-woo

Choi Ji-woo

One of the hottest TV dramas currently being shown is "Rondo," which airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. on TBS. The drama marks the first appearance in a Japanese TV series for Choi Ji-woo, the 30-year-old South Korean actress best known for her heroine role in "Winter Sonata." She co-stars with Japanese star Yutaka Takenouchi, 35.

With the big-name match-up, it was inevitable that "Rondon" would gain most of the media attention. It has been announced that the drama will be aired in China, Thailand, Malaysia and four other countries in Asia.

TBS is pulling out all stops to promote the drama as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations this year. The first episode earned a 20% rating and it seems everything is going well ... on the surface.

The reality is very different, says one of the program's crew. "The atmosphere on the set is as bad as it could be," said the staffer. "With Ji-woo, we rarely start on time, so everyone, including Takenouchi, has to wait for her, sometimes for as long as two hours. But she makes sure that she gets her time off while in Japan and is traveling all over the place from hot springs to Disneyland. I think she periodically goes back to South Korea as well. Honestly, I cannot understand her." 

There also seem to be problems of miscommunication and cultural differences in the process. Another crewmember points out the disharmony with the South Korean staff.

"Choi brought 10 staff with her from South Korea," said the crewmember. "Basically, the way we work is different from the way they are used to working. TBS is known for its long hours of rehearsals, but such a practice is incomprehensible for them. They once yelled at us not to make Ji-woo do the same things over and over. This is the first time for us to collaborate with production crew from overseas. We hope that we overcome our differences in the end."

While the Japanese hosts gave Choi the best possible treatment, this caused some tension for the staff and other actors. "Choi brought her stylist from Korea, which TBS paid for. She also brought her wardrobe from Korea, so she gets her own fitting room while everyone else shares an assigned stylist and a fitting room provided by the station," grumbled one of the crew.

Since her arrival, TBS has done all it could to welcome the South Korean star. The red carpet was rolled out at the press conference, which is unheard of. Her guarantee is also said to be exceptional. The Korean media report that it is higher than Choi's most highest paid Japanese counterpart, Yukie Nakama.

If TBS is providing such VIP treatment for her, one would think that the station should be able to maintain some order. But things aren’t that easy in reality. "When the two sides reached the agreement, the president of TBS, Hiroshi Inoue, was to meet with the actress. He even went to get a haircut for the meeting. But he was let down by Ji-woo's mood swing that day when she canceled the meeting," said a TBS worker.

Another point of contention, said the TBS staffer, is that Choi wanted to be able to cook during her stay in Japan. "So instead of reserving a hotel room, the station rented an apartment for 1 million yen a month. But she has been dining out most of the time. She makes the staff search for a good place to eat. Even when her mother was in town, she dined out."

Though the opening episode earned a good rating of 20%, the second episode went down to 15%.

"We started filming in November, and if things had gone smoothly, we would be done filming six episodes by now," said a crew member. "But we are still filming the 4th episode. We are all tired that things aren't going as planned. On top of that, we are getting pilloried for not earning a high rating and thus not being able to recoup the costs of the drama to the station." (Translated by Toshiya Fujii)

February 6, 2006

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Korea's revenge
Beelzebub   (Feb 6 2006 - 09:54)	Rate | Report

Not surprised..
chon   (Feb 6 2006 - 10:35)	Rate | Report

I really like Choi Ji-Woo...
beowulf   (Feb 6 2006 - 10:51)	Rate | Report

The whims of Choi Ji-woo
Placenta   (Feb 6 2006 - 12:06)	Rate | Report

beowulf
frontandcentre   (Feb 6 2006 - 13:12)	Rate | Report

can't believe it
ho_hum   (Feb 6 2006 - 19:25)	Rate | Report

I heard that..
Nibbins   (Feb 14 2006 - 05:57)	Rate | Report

To Chon.
snoopy3   (Feb 17 2006 - 21:51)	Rate | Report

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