Being a villain in a korean drama is no easy feat!

Especially when you are set to portray a character so maliciously tormenting the main character, that it hurts. While the main characters typically grab the spotlight at the beginning, it’s the vicious characters who steal the spotlight as time goes by. The popularity of “nice” characters has been on decline recently, giving way to malicious villains.

Such is the case for two actresses that are showing that its soo good to be soo bad, in two of currently airing korean dramas. In melodramatic epic drama Cinderella Unni, the typical plot of a downtrodden girl being tortured by her stepmother is twisted. In the series, veteran actress Lee Mi Sook plays Song Kang Sook… a manipulating golddigging mother to Song Eunjo (played by promising young actress Moon Geun Young), emotionally scarring her by flitting between husbands to survive. In one of her more sly undertakings, this monster mom managed to marry herself to makgulli millionaire Goo Dae Sung (brilliantly played to such kindness by another veteran actor, Kim Gab Soo) by passing herself as a kind and nurturing wife — all in the while for becoming flithy rich herself. Actress Lee Mi Sook is not a newcomer to playing such nefarious roles, after all she was the scheming Lady Cho in the film Untold Scandal in 2003. Her role in Cinderella Unni marks her first role where she deviants from a classy, sophisticated female character to a crass and tacky golddigger portrayal.

In another popular series of late, an upcoming actress takes on the role of Kim Inhee, the friend who ends up stealing her friend’s boyfriend. Selfish and seductive, actress Wang Ji Hye takes delight in portraying such a hateful character. In a recent interview, she relates that “They say that you have to be really mean when you play a villain in order to become famous. I would like viewers to take a lot of interest in me, even if means they are going to hate me.”  After mostly doing bit roles, mainly sweet female side characters the actress confessed that she even cut her hair in hopes of viewers recognizing her as her character first.

Credit: Personal Preference Press Conference Interview + Villians Rule the TV Scene