The Baeksang Art Awards, one of Korean entertainment's biggest award-giving bodies, is expected to be a tight race this year with heavyweight dramas like Crash Landing On You, Kingdom Season 2, Stove League When the Camelia Blooms and Hyena vying for top honors.
The Best Actor category is stacked with the nomination of veterans like Hyun Bin (Crash Landing On You), Ju Ji Hoon (Hyena), Park Seo Joon (Itaewon Class), Nam Goong Min (Stove League) and Kang Ha Neul for his first major lead role in When The Camellia Blooms, Forbes reported.
The Best Actress category is equally anticipated with the entry of breakout star Kim Hee Ae from The World of the Married, which is currently the highest-rated cable drama in history. Kim Hee Ae is also nominated in the Best Actress category for the Film Moonlit Winter.
Other contenders for Best Actress in a Drama are not to be dismissed. They include Kim Hye Soo for Hyena, Gong Hyo Jin for When The Camellia Blooms, IU for Hotel del Luna, and Son Ye Jin for Crash Landing On You.
The Best Supporting Actor for a Drama category is also loaded with actors who portrayed memorable roles from sidekicks to villains. Among them is Kim Young Min for The World of the Married, Yang Kyoung Won for Crash Landing On You, Oh Jung Se for When The Camellia Blooms, Yoo Jae Myung for Itaewon Class, and Jun Suk Ho for Hyena.
For the Best Supporting Actress category, impressive portrayals from Kwon Nara (Itaewon Class), Kim Sun Young and Seo Ji Hye (Crash Landing On You), Son Dam Bi (When The Camellia Blooms), and Yum Hye Ron (When The Camellia Blooms) were recognized by the Baeksang Art Awards.
Newcomers Kim Da Mi, Jeon Mi Do, Jeon Yeo Bin, Jung Ji So, and Han Seo Hee were nominated for the Best New Actress category while Kim Kang Hoon, Ahn Bo Hyun, Ahn Hyo Seop, Ong Seung, and Lee Jae-Wook received nods for Best New Actors in a drama.
Parasite, The Man Standing Next Door, House of Hummingbird, Exit, and Kim Ji-Young: Born 1982 also dominated the nominations for the film categories.
The Baeksang Art Awards will be held on June 5 at Kintex in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Because of concerns about COVID-19, the show will proceed without any live audience and will be aired over JTBC, Korea Times reported.
