Singer and actress IU and actor Byun Woo-seok, who are gaining attention for their collaboration in The Grand Princess of the 21st Century, are also drawing great interest for their upcoming “school uniform acting.”
Recently, posts from people who participated in the filming of The Grand Princess of the 21st Century have spread online. One of the extras revealed the school uniform worn during shooting, drawing particular attention.
The uniform consists of a light blue shirt matched with a navy vest and skirt, with unique patterns on the tie and vest catching the eye.
Viewers commented, “IU and Byun Woo-seok would look great wearing those,” and “They could totally pull off being high school students,” expressing their excitement.
Although IU (born 1993) and Byun Woo-seok (born 1991) are both in their mid-30s, each has flawlessly portrayed school-aged characters in recent works.
IU received praise for perfectly portraying a wide age range—from high school student to college student to working adult—in the Netflix series When Life Deceives You, which was released in March and gained great popularity.
Byun Woo-seok also played a high school student in last year’s hit tvN drama Lovely Runner, showing that both actors can easily pull off school uniforms despite being in their mid-30s.
Additionally, eyewitness accounts of IU, Byun Woo-seok, and Noh Sang-hyun filming at a high school set for The Grand Princess have raised anticipation even further.
The Grand Princess of the 21st Century is a romance drama set in a modern constitutional monarchy Korea. It tells the story of Sung Hee-joo (played by IU), a chaebol heiress who has everything but resents being a “commoner” by title, and Prince Lee Wan (played by Byun Woo-seok), the king’s son who has nothing despite his royal status. The series is scheduled to air in the first half of next year.
Korean netizens’ comments were mixed:
- Is there really no other actor, that they had to cast IU?
- If you have any conscience, please stop acting. Don’t ruin good projects.
- She’ll probably try to ride on another successful project using Bong Sun-yoo and Byun Woo-seok again.
- I just can’t picture them together. The height difference will be huge.
- Suzy and Byun Woo-seok would look better together.
- IU’s acting style and voice tone are always the same, I can’t get immersed and I really hate it. Why do they keep forcing IU into everything? Does she pay the directors and PDs???
- She must think she’s good at acting because she got an award… If she had any conscience, she’d decline the role.
- Unnie and oppa, please stop wearing school uniforms. There are roles that should be left to the juniors.
- I hate watching IU act, so no matter how much they promote her shows, I don’t watch them lol.
- Do you even know what “actor” means? Why are you taking away real actors’ jobs?
- Are there really no actors left in Korea?
- School uniform lol
- Sorry, Byun Woo-seok… I can’t watch this drama.
- What a waste of Byun Woo-seok. Why IU, out of all people? There are so many pretty actresses. Byun Woo-seok is one of the most popular celebrities right now—any drama with him would be a hit no matter who the female lead is. Why her?
- Why are there so many people who dislike IU?
- I admit Byun Woo-seok is super popular and likable, but IU just isn’t it for me.
- Please just stick to singing, composing, and writing songs… this is really too much.
