Gather here, romance film lovers! A new Netflix original Korean movie has been released just last October 2022 and it's been the talk of the internet for a while now. It's because 20th Century Girl has perfectly captured the ~innocent~ feeling of what it's like to fall in love for the first time during your high school days. BUT! We're not here to make you look back on those days yet.
If you haven't watched the film, we're sure your interest in this movie has been piqued and made you wonder who the cast members could be for they must have shown incredible efforts to portray their emotions well to be able to touch the hearts of many. On the other hand, if you have already seen this masterpiece of a drama, you must have thought at some point that you've seen these actors and actresses before. We're here to help you remember the familiar faces in this motion picture. *wink*
Here are the 20th Century Girl cast members:
1. Kim Yoo Jung as Na Bo Ra
17-year-old high school student, Na Bo Ra, is a reliable daughter, a caring sibling, and a loyal friend who is also skilled in taekwondo and broadcasting. She sometimes helps at her family's business of renting out movies and just like any other eldest daughter in a family, always bickers with her younger brother. Her dedication and loyalty to her best friend, Kim Yeon Doo, cannot be underestimated for she is willing to do everything for the sake of her bestie's happiness.
And so, while Yeon Doo is away, Bo Ra offers to keep her best friend updated about the whereabouts of her crush, "Baek Hyun Jin." She spends most of her free time gathering facts about Hyun Jin like his height, what he likes to drink, and all that stuff. She carefully puts those details down in her notebook to send to Yeon Doo, making sure to not miss any important information about Hyun Jin. In the process of collecting scoop about Hyun Jin to share with her best friend, she also finds herself understanding what Yeon Doo meant about falling in love for the first time as she develops feelings towards Hyun Jin's best friend whom he's almost always with. *sigh*
The way Bo Ra cares for and always puts her best friend's feelings first is admirable and heartwarming that even when their friendship was tested, it only resulted in binding them stronger together. We definitely need a Na Bo Ra in our lives!
This is the first time I've seen Kim Yoo Jung act and I must admit that her smile is now added to one of my favorites! She was able to portray the energetic character of Na Bo Ra really well and I respect her madly for going all out in every scene because her emotions seep right through the screen and seem to literally touch the viewers. Her first leading role was in the sageuk series, Love In The Moonlight with Park Bo Gum. A few of her other dramas are Lovers Of The Red Sky, Moon Embracing The Sun, and May Queen.
2. Byeon Woo Seok as Poong Woon Ho
Poong Woon Ho is a hardworking student who has part-time jobs after class (and also during school breaks) and likes to work with cameras. Just like Na Bo Ra, he is also a caring hyung to his five-year-old brother (who is in New Zealand) and a great friend to Hyun Jin. Since the two are almost inseparable, he gets tangled up in Bo Ra's ways to gather fascinating information about Hyun Jin.
One incident makes Bo Ra able to eavesdrop between Woon Ho and Hyun Jin's conversation about which club they're going to join in, and she catches that the duo will be auditioning in the broadcasting club. Woon Ho and Bo Ra ended up getting accepted into the club, while Hyun Jin decided to withdraw from the audition when he saw how capable Bo Ra was and explained to everyone that he wanted to make room for someone as amazing as her. This led Woon Ho and Bo Ra to spend more time together during their free time doing club activities, and Bo Ra makes great use of this opportunity to ask Woon Ho more questions about Hyun Jin.
Woon Ho does cooperate with this most of the time, but his actions always consisted of mainly teasing Bo Ra while in the process. I guess we can say this is to mainly conceal his true intentions of looking after her and doing the little things for the sake of seeing Bo Ra's smile, even if it meant bringing Hyun Jin and Bo Ra closer together. Woon Ho is now added to our list of ‘male characters who are major green flags' in the world of Hallyu! *insert heart eyes*
I remember that jaw-dropping moment when I first saw Byeon Woo Seok in the drama Record Of Youth. This made me realize that both him and Yoo Jung has worked with THE Park Bo Gum! OMO. Not to mention, Woo Seok's visuals are out of this world! For more of his drama appearances, you can watch him in the series Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency, Search: WWW, and Moonshine. Also, catch him on his next drama which will be aired in 2023, Strong Woman Gang Nam Soon, a sequel to the hit rom-com series, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon!
3. Park Jung Woo as Baek Hyun Jin
The main cause of all of this is none other than the name "Baek Hyun Jin." With Bo Ra's actions to get to know everything about Hyun Jin, anyone would mistake it as her having feelings for him. Even though this misunderstanding happened, it was fun to see the bickering scenes between these two with his side comments and all the annoyingly cute actions he does to tease her. Despite this, we are also able to see his thoughtful side as he gave Bo Ra a ride when she hurt her ankle and also during one of the most memorable scenes at the latter part of the film (we can't tell you the exact deets because it would give away a spoiler! *zips mouth*). And since Hyun Jin and Woon Ho spend most of their time together, he quickly caught up with what's been going on between the feelings of his best friend and Bo Ra. He also showed how supportive he was of Woon Ho's happiness, and I admire him for being such a good friend that Woon Ho can rely on.
Park Jung Woo has starred in the 2017 web series Love Playlist as Kang Yoon. You might have also seen him in Hospital Playlist who portrayed as Gyeo Wool's brother, Jang Ga Eul. He has also starred in the short film Spring Night and some other drama series like Fly High Butterfly and Team Bulldog: Off-Duty Investigation. We are definitely excited to see more of Park Jung Woo!
4. Roh Yoon Seo as Kim Yeon Doo
Na Bo Ra's BFF 'til the end, Kim Yeon Doo, has developed a huge crush on a guy who went to her mother's tailoring shop one day. Due to her heart disease, she is set to go to America for her surgery. Afraid that she might never see the guy she fell in love with at first sight ever again, she refuses to pack her things for her trip and leave her country at the start of the movie. But thanks to Bo Ra, she was able to go overseas without having to fear anything anymore. Although a major misunderstanding happened between the two of them, in the end, her love for her bestie won. It's touching to see that she is also willing to go great lengths for her best friend's happiness, just like how Bo Ra is to her.
After watching this film, I just found out that Roh Yoon Seo is just a rookie actress! Her acting debut was when she played the role of a pregnant high school student in the tvN drama Our Blues. Prior to pursuing her acting career, Yoon Seo was a cosmetics model in 2018. The chemistry between Yoon Seo and Yoo Jung as besties in this movie was really great, I couldn't think of any other Korean actresses who could portray as such cute BFFs!
5. Han Hyo Joo as adult Na Bo Ra
Nothing much changed when Na Bo Ra became an adult. She has now successfully pursued her career in broadcasting. And even though she's already living in Seoul, she still came home to Cheongju to help her family in moving the old movies stored in boxes out. When she saw the invitation for an art gallery, she finds herself there and receives the answers to all of her whys from the past.
Han Hyo Joo is an all-rounder, an actress, a model, and a singer! She is known for her leading roles in Happiness, W, Brilliant Legacy, and Dong Yi which earned her multiple titles at award shows. She also appeared in some films like Masquerade, Cold Eyes, and The Beauty Inside.
6. Ong Seong Wu as Joseph / Poong Jun Ho
The all-grown-up Joseph is Poong Woon Ho's younger brother and appeared when adult Na Bo Ra was in the art gallery and explained everything that had happened. He also admits to hating Bo Ra a bit because when he was young, he thought that she would take his hyung away from her when Woon Ho decides to study in South Korea for college.
Ong Seong Wu used to promote as an idol in the K-pop group Wanna One which was formed under the survival program, Produce 101 Season 2. After the group's promotion for a year and a half, Ong began to pursue his acting career, having his first male lead role in the drama Moment At Eighteen in 2019 followed by More Than Friends in 2020. He also appeared in the recently released films Seoul Vibe and Life Is Beautiful. Catch him on his next drama, Strong Woman Gang Nam Soon, along with Byeon Woo Seok and Lee Yoo Mi!
MORE FAMILIAR FACES IN K-DRAMAS HERE:
All The Familiar Faces In 'Our Beloved Summer' And Where You've Seen Them Before
All The Familiar Faces In 'Vincenzo' And Where You've Seen Them Before
All The Familiar Faces In 'Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha' And Where You've Seen Them Before
