Although the final episode’s rating was 3.5% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide), which was disappointing, the drama provided a glimpse of Song Kang’s potential for growth.
SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama “My Demon” (written by Choi Ah-il, directed by Kim Jang-han), which concluded on Jan 20th, depicts the story of a contract marriage between Do Do-hee (Kim Yoo-jung), the devilish heiress of a conglomerate, and Jeong Gu-won (Song Kang), a demon who temporarily loses his powers.
In this work, Song Kang portrayed the flawless and deadly demon Jeong Gu-won. When news spread that Song Kang would appear as the male lead in “My Demon”, netizens’ reactions were mixed. While there was no disagreement about his surreal visuals matching the character perfectly, many had doubts about his acting skills.
Debuting with the 2017 tvN drama “The Liar and His Lover”, Song Kang rose to fame as a trending actor with consecutive hits such as Netflix’s web dramas “Love Alarm Season 1” (2019) and “Sweet Home” (2020).
However, it seemed like he had risen to stardom as a leading actor too quickly. Viewers criticized his pronunciation and vocalization, basics of acting. His line delivery was considered weak, making it difficult to follow the character’s emotions. Additionally, he received criticism for portraying characters in a too similar manner with dry facial expressions in every work.
However, it was different in “My Demon”. Compared to before, his pronunciation and vocalization improved significantly, and he heightened the romance index with deep eye expressions. Moreover, his sweet chemistry with Kim Yoo-jung and poignant crying acting stood out.
Having concluded “My Demon”, Song Kang is preparing to enlist in the military in the first half of this year. Anticipation is rising for Song Kang’s future as he will return more robustly after shedding controversies over his acting and gaining new experiences.
