20-Something Male Actors + Older Female Actresses = Boys into Men?

This is how boys became men. With their baby face charms, 20-something male actors are partnering up with actresses who are significantly older and displaying romance that is more intense than anything we’ve imagined. Their sometimes innocent and sometimes reckless ways of expressing love cause female viewers to have butterflies in their stomachs.

One of the hottest “younger man” is Yoo Ah In in JTBC’s “Secret Love Affair.” He portrays a character named Lee Sun Jae who is a piano prodigy. He and actress Kim Hee Ae, who is 19 years his senior, portray a love story in the drama. Due to the fact that the set up in the drama is adultery and because the there is a big age gap between the characters, it seemed the couple would not seem well suited for each other. However, their exceptional acting skills connect the gap displaying an excellent chemistry.

Yoo Ah In has received much love from girl fans through his previous roles in “Punch,” “Tough As Iron,” “Sungkyunkwan Scandal,” “Fashion King,” and “Jang Ok Jung, Living by Love.” Not only in films and drams, the image of Yoo Ah In created through his appearances in variety programs also showed him as a pure boy and at times a reckless rebel.

His role in “Secret Love Affair” seems to be a continuum of this image. Nevertheless, his romance with an “older woman” in this drama adds to his manly charm. The delicate yet romantic scenes reveal the charm of a man.

Another “younger man” who clearly lets his presence known is actor Seo Kang Joon in MBC’s “Cunning Single Lady.” Before his role in the drama, he was merely a rookie actor with potential and idol star looks. However, playing Gook Seung Hyun who has a crush on Na Ae Ra (played by Lee Min Jung) in the drama earned him the title of “the nation’s younger man” as well as the love of many female fans.

Actor Park Seo Joon, who starred in “Pots of Gold,” and “One Warm Word” received much attention with his youngest son image is demonstrating his charms after partnering with an older woman who is 19 years his senior: singer and actress Um Jung Hwa. The couple is starring in the hot romantic comedy in tvN’s “A Witch’s Love.” He displayed his masculinity from the get-go of the drama through a driven kissing scene in episode 1.

Actors in their early and mid twenties usually have a difficult time finding their places as actors. Stuck between the stability of actors in their thirties and the freshness of actors in their teens, actors in their twenties put a lot of time and effort into expanding their presence. One way to achieve this is through taking on a romantic role. These roles play a significant part in allowing the actors to demonstrate their manly charms that make female viewers go gaga over them. The number of younger men and older women couples in films and dramas has increased over time. Will this trend continue? 

Source