Everyone’s favorite half-Korean Bean Pole boy is going Hollywood (Korea Times):
Hearthrob actor Daniel Henney, 28, will costar in the new X-men spin-off film “X-men Origins: Wolverine.”
Henney will star as Agent Zero of the Mutant Weapon X program, a mutant who can control electricity and has specialized tracking abilities, according to Twentieth Century Fox Korea.
Lest you you think this is just some B-movie knock, let the KT set you straight:
Hugh Jackman, also the producer of the film, will once again play Wolverine, while Liev Schreiber will star as his nemesis, Sabretooth. Danny Huston will be the young William Stryker, who was originally played by Brian Cox in the previous X-men movies.
Must… resist…. urge…. to write…. “Korean wave” reference.
45 Comments
Bean Pole.
Ack. It is the poli sci in me. It shall be fixed.
Gee, resist indeed. He’s an American cast in an American movie.
no but since he is half korean is the only reason he could acheieve a role in a hollywood movie
Wait till the KT finds out that Wolverine’s ‘Origin’ portions of the story takes place in nippon.
Liev Schrieber as Sabretooth? Are they going to give him digital muscles? Not that he isn’t a fantastic actor but he doesn’t exactly look the part.
#5,
Wait until they find out that Wolverine is Canadian.
Wait until nobody really gives a flying f***!
Wait until Jackman tries to bugger him.
The Korean wave is sweeping through Hollywood. This is the best evidence of it since Rick Yune starred in the classic Snowy Cedars… Falling…something in…1999?
In all fairness, though, I think Henney has the potential to be a great actor in the U.S., and I’ve never said that about any (half) Korean actor before.
I think if Daniel Henny is given a good romantic role, something light hearted and Korean-like, he could be a star. I don’t really see many Korean stars becoming that big in the United States because of the language barrier. What made the Korean “drama” wave possible, at least in the U.S. were the subtitles that were tacked onto the botton of everybodies t.v. here. The subtitles afforded the watcher the opportunity to bypass the language barrier and supply the watchers own emotions to what was being said. Thats why the Korean “drama” wave was sooo successful. But, if you make Korean movie stars speak english, it’s a huge distraction. If dramas were done in english and played in the states, the Korean wave would have been stopped dead in it’s tracks… And, I do love Korean dramas, with subtitles.
Can he actually act?
No he can’t act worth a lick. And the half-Korean had the nerve to compare his acting to Hugh Jackman. He’s been in Korea too long…he’s high off his own supply.
He missed the memo stating that he’s just a pretty face and a wooden actor.
And yes, he’s an American (born and raised) playing in an American film. Whoopdee-do.
As far as Korean wave is concerned, I’m still waiting for it. The ‘first’ one didn’t really catch on as big as folks make it out to be. It was wayyyyy bigger in Asia than it was in the US. As long as Asians are still stereotyped as action stars, quiet, unassuming, funny, not masculine, etc., they’ll be no Korean wave or any other wave coming out of Asia. We know how much Hollywood likes stereotypes…
When did this thread become about Tom Cruise? Or wait… are you talking about Arnold Schwartzeneggar? Lawrence Fishburn? Keanu Reeves?
Lawrence Fishburn can act… he carried the original Matrix on his wide shoulders because hell Keanu couldn’t have done it on his own…
My gut tells me that that Agent Zero isn’t gonna get a lot of screen time.
Three reasons…
1) He’s not Wolverine or Sabertooth.
2) He looks more Asian then White (unlike another hapa, Keanu Reeves who looks more white then Asian).
3) Daniel Henney is not as good looking as Rick Yune, but Rick is a much better actor.
another fat east asian, recruited to say,
“Hai-ya !”
i blame china.
I like Henney, hope he does well for himself.
Now that he’s acting in a Hollywood film he’s Korean again…that’s nice!
# 11,
It’s gonna take awhile for an Asian male character to be popular in Hollywodd. As Kevin & Bean (popular morning radio jockey’s in LA’s Kroq) said, “I would only want to see an asian guy on the screen if he’s beating somebody up with kung fu.”
That statement doesn’t bother me at all since they are only verbalizing what’s on most people’s minds (consciously or unconsciously) here in the states.
Lol.. Is John Cho literally the only Asian on the silver screen who’s not required to go “hai-ya!”?
Got nothing against Henney. Good luck to him in his endeavor towards Hollywood. Looks like Rain sure is going to need it. I’m looking forward to another Colbert skit on that.
I miss the days when certain part of Korean cinema was edgy, artistic, smart, and very complex (80% of that being works of Kim Ki Duk). At least the film students over here were going ape-shit about it….
#20,
“It’s gonna take awhile for an Asian male character to be popular in Hollywodd. As Kevin & Bean (popular morning radio jockey’s in LA’s Kroq) said, “I would only want to see an asian guy on the screen if he’s beating somebody up with kung fu.””
I guess you never saw Harold and Kumar, right? Oh, but that one doesn’t count because it’s a comedy, right? Nice. So, it’s okay to snob Asian actors who appear in comedies? Real nice.
Whether you like the genre or not, Harold and Kumar are certainly not the nerdy Asian exchange student that we used to see in similar movies in the 80’s.
#21,
Not really, but close. Either way, I certainly wouldn’t complain if I was pulling as much money as Jet Li or Jackie Chan.
Instead of complaining about that, maybe people should ask themselves why interviewers never ask these two guys if they consider themselves stereotypes? Well, if you researched their lives (as any good interviewer will do), you’d understand the hard work that they’ve put into their careers since they were kids.
Just another “straight to Netflix” video…
In any case, how’s Daniel Henney’s German? The character he’s playing was born in East Germany. I just hope they don’t make him North Korean. That would be incredibly tacky.
To borrow a little from South Park:
People love to see Asians in movies. SEE Asians in movies, not hear them. “Memoirs of a Geisha” is an excellent example, where the actors were nearly incomprehensible and the movie pretty much unwatchable. Subtitles are far preferable to forcing actors struggle miserably through English. Henney has that going for him.
And there’s no need to be faux-snarky about the “Korean Wave.” This is an American acting in an American movie, as others have pointed out.
# 22,
Yep, I saw Harold & Kumar. You know the writers (Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg) are two Jewish guys who just turned 30 (this year or last year). They grew up in a neighborhood that had a lot of Asians and all the protrays of Asians and South Asians (the PC term for Indians and Pakistanis) in Hollywood were so racially stereotypical and so different from their own personal experiences that they wrote Harold & Kumar in response.
You’ll also have to agree that H&K is the exception and not the norm…
A hilarious and awesome exception…
SomeguyinKorea, are there other Asian movie actors with exposures (aside from John Cho and Lucy Liu) who doesn’t have to go “Hai-ya!)? In TV, I can think of couple people (Masi Oka, Bobby Lee, Daniel Dae Kim)…
I can’t believe you’re all forgetting George Takei. For shame, sirs!
i meant “far”, not “fat”.
anyway, don’t try to bring up the star trek dude or harold and kumar. I think the star trek dude had at least one episode where he was dressed like he was in a Japanese spa, weilding around a sword and saying the H and Y word. I swear. I just don’t care to look up all episodes of STAR TREK, a dying franchise.
You know in your heart I am right.
Yo, the Academy Awards snubs comedy and action. All sorts of awards in cinema or television snubs comedy and action.
it’s not much saying, you took a racial, stereotype part in yet another action movie.
You know there is something fundamentally wrong about Americans not minding to see a Far East Asian girl playing a real part, while expecting to see the same race character flying around the screen.
I’m sorry, but Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, you are to blame.
I blame China.
Shit, I blame America.
“You’ll also have to agree that H&K is the exception and not the norm…”
What about “The Rise of Taj”?
Dude is gonna be lost on the red carpet. Cause as much as he wants to be, he’s no Hugh Jackman….Isn’t Agent Zero a minor character?
Lol.. Is John Cho literally the only Asian on the silver screen who’s not required to go “hai-ya!”?
No, there’s James Shigeta.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLw0D2CxcVI
“Dude is gonna be lost on the red carpet.”
There’s a red carpet for ’straight to Netflix’ video? You Henney haters need to get your story straight.
“He’s an American cast in an American movie.”
He’s an American star in Korea who was noticed by Hollywood because he’s in Korean dramas that have been popular in much of East Asia and a little bit in the US. For that, the Korean Wave deserves some credit.
Will Daniel Henney be the next James Shigeta (thanks, Netizen Kim), or fizzle like Rick Yune? We’ll have to wait and see.
Wow, I had no idea that James Shigeta’s acting career spanned that long back way into the 1950’s. What a great presentable voice. How ironic that those older films were actually more progressive than the stereotypical crap we have nowadays. I also had no idea that he played Takagi, the executive at the Nakatomi building in “Die Hard”.
Who is Daniel Henney again?
re: James Shigeta
It’s amazing that a film released in 1959 had a plot that centered around a blonde choosing an Asian guy over a white guy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052713/
You know what’s even more amazing? The fact that that type of plot would be hard to make into a film today, almost 50 years into the freak’in future…!
Regarding race and relations, sometimes I wonder how far the U.S. has really come.
“The fact that that type of plot would be hard to make into a film today, almost 50 years into the freak’in future…!”
It would be hard to make because there are few taboos or any novelty to interracial relations like there was in many quarters of the US in 1959.
I’m not a “Henney hater”, but I am suspicious about anyone that Korean newspapers annoint as the next big star. Aren’t some of us here inflating him considerably, when we trot out the James Shigeta, Rick Yune or Daniel Dae Kim comparisons? They are real-deal actors of proven talent and merit.
I wish him well, but Henney strikes me as a model/pinup who has lucked out in Korea, where after all, Djamilya has become a household name.
“He’s an American star in Korea who was noticed by Hollywood because he’s in Korean dramas that have been popular in much of East Asia and a little bit in the US. For that, the Korean Wave deserves some credit.”
Well, I wouldn’t be so fast to see this as a success of the Korean Wave if I were you. Casting him in that movie is a good way to make sure that it will sell tickets in Korea, isn’t it?
“Regarding race and relations, sometimes I wonder how far the U.S. has really come.”
Probably not far enough, but neither has Korea (yes, Korea. It’s of concern to me since I live here…besides, I’m not American.)
Yes, and whatever happened to what’s her name who appeared in that Jackie Chan film that mysteriously vanished, called whateveritwas? And that other guy who sold out a small theatre inside Madison Square Garden amid claims that he had sold out the Garden itself? Whatever happened to him?
But of course Daniel Henney is not Korean but a hyphenized American which gives him a great edge. It makes him relevent because, let’s face it, Koreans are the most irrelevent people in the world.
So I wish you well, Daniel, and hope that you do achieve stardom. And if you do, I hope some Koreans will sit up and take note, and suddently realize that you can’t become relevent without first losing the Korean attitude.
“Regarding race and relations, sometimes I wonder how far the U.S. has really come.”
Most advanced in the world, so stop whining.
Interesting guys, interesting. Especially “Lana” is it? haha. First of all Daniel “DOES” have acting ability. There is no way in Hell that Fox would gamble on someone that couldn’t at least hold his own on a movie with a budget like Wolverine. Regardless of what haters may say….you can’t sweep the top 3 award shows for best new actor in Korea this last year for “My Father” like Henney did, without some acting chops. He may have been wooden at times, but I’d like to see others attempt to react to another language that they’re just beginning to understand….it must be a nightmare for an actor’s timing. “My Father” was the reason for him being casted in the role. So, I definitely look forward to this, and the surprises that his role may bring.
And as far as Rick Yune being better looking than daniel? I don’t recall Mr. Yune walking the catwalk for Gucci, YSL, Armani, Cavalli, Ferragamo, and Kenneth Cole……Do YOU?? Rick is typical Korean, Daniel is both worlds in one.
Right on Allen at #43. Daniel has already earned his way to where he is today. He has worked very hard as an American (English is his first language) and asimilate into Korea and learn Korean. True he did start off as a model and actor in commercials, but he has become so much more than that. Hi role in My Father has won him the award of Best New Actor in Korea and he deserved it. Hold on America, the Daniel Henney wave has begun!
daniel henney is gorgeous. and is a good actor.
kinda sucked in seducing mr. perfect though. but i didn’t care i still watched it cuz he looked hott! lol