Actor Kang Tae-oh is provoking viewers' overidentification with a variety of performances that you can't take your eyes off.
In the Oct. 15 broadcast of the MBC Friday-Saturday drama Moon River, Kang Tae-oh portrayed Crown Prince Igang, who harbors inner wounds, and elevated the drama's immersion with an absorbing performance in which excitement and tension coexist, creating memorable scenes at every moment.
In the fourth episode, Igang's inner turmoil as he increasingly leans toward Park Dali (Kim Se-jeong) and the explosive emotional line in which suppressed truths burst out were portrayed deeply. Despite threats from ruffians, Igang stood his ground to protect Dali to the end, showing decisive courage that ignored danger, and his desperate efforts to save Dali from mortal peril fully revealed his earnest heart and captured viewers' attention.
Igang, who stayed by Dali's side as she repeatedly fell into danger and poured out emotions mixed with worry and anger, realized the depth of his feelings and unleashed emotions he had long tried to ignore when Dali spoke like a disgraced consort. Igang's heartfelt line, "Why do you take root in my heart again," paired with a desperate expression that seemed to mix anger, longing, hope and despair, moved viewers and left a strong, lingering impression.
Kang Tae-oh delivered an irreplaceable performance that drove the drama's narrative and projected a presence on another level. While his sincere romantic acting conveyed excitement, he also supplied thrilling tension in the process of rescuing Iwoon (Lee Shin-young) and blocking threats to Park Dali. His acting, which encompassed both emotion and atmosphere, added a distinctive genre variation throughout the drama's development, fueling the work's rising popularity and prompting enthusiastic responses from viewers.
In particular, by delicately navigating a range of emotions from worry and concern to tenderness for Park Dali, and showing chicness, attentiveness and poignancy, he captured all the elements of a surprise charm and completed the character Igang as everyone's "favorite character." At the end of the fourth episode, a dramatic development unfolded in which Igang's and Park Dali's souls were swapped. Attention and anticipation are focused on what new charms Kang Tae-oh will bring to Igang, who now has Park Dali's soul.
Meanwhile, Moon River, which showcases the commanding presence of the 'period drama craftsman' Kang Tae-oh, is a role-reversal (易地四肢) romance fantasy period drama about a crown prince who has lost his smile and a government official who has lost his memories, and it airs every Friday and Saturday.
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