Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
It’s official! Ryan Reynolds will be appearing on an upcoming episode of “Running Man.” The long-running variety show hosted by Yoo Jae-Suk boasted about the casting coup on Instagram. A series of three photos showed name tags for Reynolds and his “6 Underground” co-stars Melanie Laurent and Adria Arjona.
Individual responsibility isn’t enough. There needs to be social change: “The audience, media and culture need to shift into acceptance rather than demanding Korean artists conform
to meet our expectation. Otherwise, these stars are caught in a loop of abuse that will never end.”
Jazz pianist Kayla Waters kick-started her career with back-to-back No. 1 singles on Billboard. Her latest release, “Full Bloom” (from her CD “Coevolve”) is zooming up the Smooth Jazz Songs chart as well. Residing in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, D.C., Waters says touring is a perk of her job. But even when she doesn’t have to travel, she enjoys squeezing in a quick visit somewhere.
Dr. Jen Gunter has two New York Times columns dedicated to women’s health, a Canadian docuseries called “Jensplaining” and a very active social media presence where she disseminates medical fallacies in a way that the general public can understand. Her latest project is the book “The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina: Separating the Myth from the Medicine” (Citadel, $18.95) — a Publishers Weekly and New York Times bestseller.
From the giant stages of a sold-out stadium tour — including two nights at London’s 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium — to the intimacy of a “Saturday Night Live” performance, BTS was everywhere in 2019. Consistently reaching the top of the U.S. charts singing in their native Korean, BTS made pop culture history on their own terms. For all this, the septet has earned the honor of being named Variety’s Group of the Year.
“Goblin” actor Lee Dong-Wook has a new talk show and his first guest is Gong Yoo! Will you be watching?
The American Music Awards sweep was a vindication for BTS’ fans, who were shocked the group was shutout at the People’s Choice Awards earlier this month, where the band was nominated for Music Video, Favorite Group and Concert Tour.
Born and raised in Chicago, NCT 127’s John Suh got his first taste of concerts thanks to his mother, who worked for a local radio station. “I was too young to remember who I saw, but I remember myself having a lot of fun,” says Suh, who goes by the stage name of simply Johnny. “(One day), I would love to see Coldplay at Soldier Field. That would be very awesome.” Johnny and some of his band mates took a breather from promoting their EP “We Are Superhuman” to participate in this interview.
One of the reasons that K-Dramas have such universal appeal is that most have a strong emphasis on friendships. The character may fight and even break their friendships at a certain point, but they almost always resolve it and return to each other.
BTS topped the Jonas Brothers, Panic! At the Disco, Pink and Ariana Grande at Sunday’s American Music Awards to win all three of the categories in which they were nominated: Favorite Duo or Group (the first time an Asian group has received the honor), Tour of the Year and Favorite Social Artist (for the second consecutive year).
Of course, there are some K-Dramas that are better than others. But K-Dramas to me are like pizza. Even a bad one is still better than most other shows.
“Chicago Typewriter” takes place in modern-day Seoul, but some of the best storytelling occurs during flashbacks to the 1930s, when Korea was under Japanese occupation. There, we learn about three resistance fighters whose lives and friendship will set the tone for the 21st Century arc.
There are some K-Drama fans who will watch each new episode as they are released and patiently go about their lives. Then there’s me, who promises to watch just two episodes and then gets overly worked up that I have to wait a few days for the next episode. So here’s the question: Do you watch new dramas as they air? Or do you wait until the series is almost over so you can watch the entire series within a few days?
“When the Camellia Blooms” starts off with so many things happening at once that it’s initially difficult to focus on all the different story arcs: a serial killer, small-town pettiness, marital issues and the possibility of romance. But as the series progressed, each consecutive episode found its focus and finished with a sweet and satisfying finale that felt true to the characters. There is death and sadness dotted throughout the series. But at its core, “Camellia” is a story of love — not just between a man and a woman, but between parents and their children.
If you’re like me, you may feel a tinge of sadness after your favorite K-Drama airs its last episode. One of the ways I deal with this is by checking out other dramas starring some of the actors I fell in love with.
Raised by a single mom, “Supernatural” actor, philanthropist and author Misha Collins remembers how hard his mother worked to make sure there was food on the dinner table, even when they were homeless and living off food stamps. “My mom always found a way for us to eat meals together,” says Collins, who resides with his own family in the Pacific Northwest. “We were poor enough that my little brother and I understood how lucky we were to have the food we had and appreciated it accordingly.
November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Journalist, author and adoptee, Seth Berkman, got a taste of his birth country when the New York Times sent him to report on the United Korean women’s hockey team. Consisting of players from both North and South Korea, select players trained and competed together as teammates at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Omar J. Dorsey has had parts in critically acclaimed films such as “Selma,” “Django Unchained” and “The Blind Side.” The actor’s latest role is in the Harriet Tubman biopic, “Harriet,” where he plays Bigger Long, a free black man who captures runaway slaves for their white owners.
Just weeks after the Korean boy band SuperM held a showcase in Los Angeles, their management company, SM Entertainment, announced that it has signed with CAA for representation in all areas. Founded in 1995 by Soo-Man Lee — one of Variety’s 2019 International Power Players — SM Entertainment’s roster also includes K-pop luminaries NCT 127 (pictured above), EXO, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior and Red Velvet.
The K-pop group SuperM kicks off its North American tour on November 11 in Fort Worth, Texas. If you live in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, you’ll have the opportunity to see them perform live. But because they have many fans who don’t live in the cities they’ll be visiting, the group made the decision to shoot “SuperM the Beginning.” The hour-long episodes give fans a taste of their whirlwind debut.