Why Park Seo-joon Deserves to Win the Best Actor Award for 'Itaewon Class'

Park Seo-joon has been nominated for Best Actor in the Baeksang Arts Awards for his role as Park Saeroyi in 'Itaewon Class'. The Baeksang Arts Awards has been compared to the Oscars of Hollywood. And while PSJ has already been nominated for the same award back in 2018 for 'Fight for My Way', he eventually lost to Cho Seung-woo.

This year, he is nominated alongside Hyun Bin ('Crash Landing on You'), Ju Ji-hoon ('Hyena'), Kang Ha-neul ('When the Camellia Blooms'), and Namkoong Min ('Hot Stove League'). And while all of these actors definitely deserve their nomination, I have to say that my vote goes to Park Seo-joon all the way.

Most articles online are saying that the biggest contenders for the award are Hyun Bin, who plays Captain Ri in the fan favorite show 'Crash Landing on You', and Park Seo-joon... but having seen both, I can't even see how it's a competition. Park Seo-joon absolutely BLEW ME AWAY from the first episode of 'Itaewon Class' with his performance as Park Saeroyi.

From the very beginning of the show, PSJ had to channel intense emotions and just when I thought we had seen the best of his acting chops, he went ahead and carried on throughout the show showing us just how great of an actor he is.

Of course, it goes without saying that most Korean actors are gifted in the acting department and I'm not taking that away from anyone. However, given the vibe of 'CLOY' and the laughs that were to be had in the show, I can't really say that Hyun Bin deserves a Best Actor award from it. Sure, he was cute when he pouted and he's a good cryer, too... but you couldn't really feel those emotions emanating from him the way that they did from PSJ in 'Itaewon Class'.

Though it can be argued that this might be because Captain Ri grew up having to hold his emotions in - being a soldier who still needed to be strong after losing his brother - I never felt a deep emotional attachment to his character in the show. If anyone, Son Ye-jin is the one who really made me feel things in 'CLOY'.

(BEFORE YOU GET MAD, I DO LOVE CAPTAIN RI IN HIS OWN RIGHT. I EVEN WROTE A BLOG POST ABOUT HIM HERE.)

Park Saeroyi, on the other hand, had me rooting for him and feeling things alongside his character. The frustration of not being able to get the justice his father deserved and yet holding that in in order to make his dreams of success a reality. You could feel all of that as you watch the show. I've never wanted to bash someone's face in as much as I wanted to bash in Jang Geun-won's face in, and I've never hated an old man as much as I hated Jang Dae-hee.

I also love how Saeroyi silently but surely struggled with his emotions between Soo-ah and Yi-seo as time went by all the while without turning the show into the usual K-Drama romcom. In fact, it wasn't until the very last episode where I felt like there was a bit of romance and kilig involved... which is a good thing because that isn't what I primarily look for in a K-Drama (my favorite ones being the more action-packed ones).

Although 'Itaewon Class' isn't action-packed, though, it truly captured my heart. It's the K-Drama that I now recommend to people over and over again - and a big reason behind that is Park Seo-joon's acting in the lead.

While Park Seo-joon has played many memorable roles in the past, this is the role that really made me appreciate him as an actor. He is AMAZING, and I really hope that he gets the recognition he deserves at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

The Baeksang Arts Awards will be held on June 5, 2020. Who are you rooting for?