‘Brown-eyed Brad Pitt’ attacks TV screen
November 24, 2005As if one wasn’t enough, a second “Brad Pitt” with brown eyes and jet black hair has appeared without notice, luring viewers every Monday and Tuesday nights through the MBC primetime drama “Sweet Spy.”
Not only does this “new” heartthrob have everything of the original, he is younger, taller and broader.
For the 24-year-old Korean-American actor Dennis Joseph O’Neil, better known to viewers as Dennis O, his “predecessor” Daniel Henney’s overwhelming popularity was both a chance and a risk.
As a Korean actor carrying an exotic aura of the West, Henney, 26, had immediately grabbed the hearts of female viewers of the popular TV series “My Lovely Sam-soon,” which ended in July.
Although Henney’s successful start of an acting career broadened the chance for O’Neil to make his way through the Korean TV land - now familiar with these Korean-American Adonises - it also meant that he had to exceed Henney in some way to prove that he wasn’t a mere “copycat.” O’Neil seemed to have known from start that it would take twice as much effort for him to earn as much popularity and approval as Henney with people often comparing the two actors.
“Don’t compare me with Henney. My goal is not to follow someone else’s footsteps to earn popularity,” he said in a recent interview with a monthly magazine. “People are bound to compare me with Henney since we come from similar backgrounds. But watch and see. In a few years, he and I will have become so different that no one will remember the times when we were compared to each other.”
Apart from both being Korean-American actors quickly becoming the rising stars of Korean TV screens, O’Neil and Henney have a lot in common.
The two actors were both born of an American father and a Korean mother.
Despite the heavy stammers when they speak Korean, audiences immediately felt attached to these brown-eyed actors who claimed to love Kimchi from their mothers’ homeland.
The two actors seem to have grown up feeling their mothers’ homeland Korea as a close country to them. O’Neil once said in an interview that being able to eat Korean food everyday was what made him the happiest about starting an acting career in Korea.
Due to the language barrier and the risk of audience indifference, O’Neil and Henney started off their careers by first appearing on TV commercials. As audiences’ curiosity grew larger, they then moved on to TV dramas, aiming to broaden their territories to acting.
In “My Lovely Sam-soon,” Henney played the role of a Korean-American doctor who has a heart of gold to match his striking looks.
In the drama the doctor, who barely knew a few words of Korean, came to Korea not only to look after his love who was suffering from an illness, but also with hopes of seeing his mother’s homeland for the very first time.
O’Neil’s role in “Sweet Spy,” on the other hand, is kept pretty much in the shadows until the sixth episode, which aired Tuesday. But as the handsome millionaire later falls in love with the heroine, he is to play an important part as the story unfolds.
The public’s interest in O’Neil so far, is not due to his qualities as a good actor, but rather to his appealing mask. Because the actor does not have any Korean lines in the drama, speaking only in fluent English, it is hard for Korean viewers to evaluate his acting skills - which may even be beneficial for O’Neil under the circumstances.
But as seen in past cases of “pretty” celebrities who quickly disappeared after gaining an overwhelming popularity for a short while, good looks and temporary public interest do not let the actor hold fame through the end.
True, the boom for the Korean-American actors is going strong, and appears to have staying power.
But difficult tasks lie ahead for O’Neil - and also Henney - in becoming “permanent” stars in the Korean TV land. To pin their names down firmly, these actors must first overcome the language barrier to broaden acting territories and come up with a special tool to match the capricious tastes of today’s TV audiences.
Source: The Korea Herald 24th Nov 2005
RSS 2.0
Hello! HOw are you?
i Hope your reply me.
Comment by akyinnar — May 14, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
Dennis O,I like him so much@_@
Comment by Brad Pitt — July 21, 2007 @ 9:32 am
o gosh..i think my eyes are creeping me out…making me seeing doubles….damn..they do look alike….i swear they do..and they’re both cute too….hehehehe
Comment by zoua — August 12, 2007 @ 4:47 am
I like Dennis O very much. Wiz i cud met him just once before I die . WOW
Comment by Jamie — August 20, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
yah they do look alike i used 2 watch sweet spy thinking that it was Daniel till i went on wikapedia and they didnt have dat as 1 of his dramas…but they r both super sexy!!!!^_^ they should put them 2gether in a drama and have them play brothers in a luv triangle….that would B great
Comment by CLIMON — August 22, 2007 @ 7:24 am
i love sweet spy with dennis o i wish if i could met him just once in my life.
i hope i could see him in more korean drama
Comment by lisa — August 26, 2007 @ 12:52 am
omg 0_o
daniel is way hotter than da other dude
but hes still hot but not as hot has daniel lol
^_^
Comment by dramaholic — August 29, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
ur was the most handsome actor Ihave ever seen…Ihope that i can meet you oneday,,,
Comment by esya — October 30, 2007 @ 10:06 am
hi
u r my crazy.I hope u r going to hollywood !
bye , my crazy
Comment by jame wang — October 31, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
Hey. I saw the movie wif Daniel Hanny first and i thot he was prety hot. But i’m watchin “Sweet Spy” at th mo and Dennis- u r just damn sxc, man. And I just LURVE ur accent ae. Luky gurl!! - she gets kissed in episode 4.. u bum lol xo
Comment by Rowzy — November 7, 2007 @ 12:19 pm
oh and btw, Dennis acts waaay beta than Daniel.
DENNIS U ROK HIS SOKS MAN!
Comment by Rowzy — November 7, 2007 @ 12:21 pm
damn U ALL!! chAR! i MEan joke.. maybe they hVe that LOok but do they HAve a GOOD HEART?!! i mean when i read the article.. i don’t like what dennis said..so what if they were compared is that a big deal, NO!!! 8s not worth it.. i mean look?! u both came from a same background, that’s y people were comparing the two of U! hehehe.. CHAKA!! CHUHUCHU..
Comment by hena — November 22, 2007 @ 11:30 am
sorry.. beyani.. i didn’t mean to say it.
sORRY again!!DENNIS..
Comment by hena — November 22, 2007 @ 11:34 am
I am deniel Addict..and dennise O u make me can’t sleep tight..
u’re both very handsome…i hope i should met someone like u’re..
Comment by sasa — December 20, 2007 @ 4:33 pm
i don’t know much about dennis or the korean drama because i’m tunisian but i watch him in my lovely samsoon and i like him soooooo much he loocks like an angel !!!!
Comment by zara — January 22, 2008 @ 12:04 am
oops he ’s daniel i think!
Comment by zara — January 22, 2008 @ 12:07 am
Dennis, you are the best of the best! love and support you always and forever!
Comment by denise — January 26, 2008 @ 5:12 pm
Dennis’s smile can kill! He modelled for The Class - Basic House on 3rd Jan 2008 and wow, he is so charming! watch him from youtube. Dennis is always so cute, shy, sincere and humble in his interview, just can’t get enough of him! Hope to see him on TV drama soon….hope there is sweet spy II
Comment by denise — January 26, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
Actually I thought, Deniel was Dennis’s younger brother! So sorry to think like that! I watched “My name is Kim sam-soon” and I’m watching “Sweet spy” now. In my opinions, all boths are the good actors because their acts suit with them, they could make me feel, touch and understand their hearts! Unfortunately, Han Yu-il (Dennis) acts more harder than the another one especially the feelings, so I like Dennis because he could make me follow his feelings such as he is smiling, I’m also smiling. He hurts, I hurt too., etc.
Comment by Som — February 1, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
your so cute i like you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Comment by maricel navarez — February 4, 2008 @ 11:22 am