Thanks, @Her_Fan. That does look like a real kiss. We'll see. I will probably wait until people confirm that there are actual convincing, realistic looking kissing, especially in the bed scene, before I start it.
It may seem weird for me to refuse to support actors who take romantic roles and then refuse to kiss their co-stars, but I do so for two reasons.
First, I think acting is a lucrative profession that only a privileged few get to enjoy, and so I expect actors to work hard preparing for and delivering the roles they take on. The idea of writers and directors having to work around an actor's refusal to perform the role as it is envisioned, so that they have to use their creative energy to try to get around the restrictions, just sits wrong with me. I can't admire someone like that, If you take the job, then DO the job. If you can't, don't 'take it and force the writer/director to accommodate your quirks, and risk disappointing the audience, who have expectations, especially in the adaptation of a much beloved novel.
And second, there is already far too much government censorship in Cdramas, sometimes to the extent that the drama becomes something other than what was envisioned by the writers/director. We see this all the time - no time travel, no reincarnation, no LGBT characters, etc. It's tiresome and annoying, especially when the drama is based on a novel that I've read and loved. The screenwriters and directors already have to keep this in mind, so I absolutely will not support actors who add yet ANOTHER layer of censorship on the drama, by their contractual demands. A romance is a specific genre. Viewers expect ROMANCE. We already have enough popular BL and time travel/reincarnation novels that have to substantially alter the interactions between characters, and the dialogue, to get by the censors. It's often done very well (ie: Joy of Life, Word of Honor, The Untamed) and sometimes not so well (Loved Guardian, but the ending was so screwed up that I read the novel writer wrote added an extra "epilogue" type chapter to "correct" it! And Silent Reading doesn't look like it's going to follow Priest's excellent novel very well, as t hat drama has to not only pass regular censorship, but also a special police censorship board). So, I refuse to support any actors who add more censorship to what I get to see on screen. I feel like it's a slippery slope, and before you know it, only young single actors will be doing kiss scenes in dramas.
To those who say they have to kiss to be able to show affection ....If you have seen a good amount of decent series…
In the trailer, they even have a bed scene together, which makes a “no real kiss scene” even more ridiculous. Camera tri, like fade outs and a sudden close up of stand-on actors’ lips is a cheap, unconvincing trick. Fake kisses are worse than no kisses.
i think this drama will have an actual kiss scene since i’ve seen some leaked bts pics where both main leads…
Thank you for the link. It’s a little hard to tell, as this looks a lot like one of the scenes in the trailer where it REALLY looks like he’s going to kiss her, but it turns into a hug at the critical moment. I hope you are right. The idea of them doing a bed scene, with no kids, is just sad. And still sad if they use camera tricks to try to make it look like they’re kissing when they aren’t. I really wish it were some other actor.
i think this drama will have an actual kiss scene since i’ve seen some leaked bts pics where both main leads…
I'd like to see the links, also, because I saw a trailer for the drama, and all it was scene after scene of aborted kisses - long, lingering, loving stare, moving faces towards each other, and then - BAM - a fade out just as the lips are about to meet, or either ye olde last minute switcharoo to a forehead kiss or a hug. Every single time.
But if this actor is actually going to do his job, and deliver a convincing performance as a romantic ML, then I would definitely watch the drama. Otherwise, forget it. (And again, let me be clear that I have no issue with actors exercising their privilege to have no-kiss clauses. My objection and disgust is when they accept roles in romantic dramas or comedies that require some credible romantic scenes, which includes at least one or two kisses. Especially if - as in this drama - the two people are MARRIED and supposedly deeply in love).
What dumb PD decided to cast an actor with a "no kiss" policy in a drama that is PURE romance? Chalk up another show I'll never watch. If an actor wants to have a no kiss clause, then that is his/her right. But if they take that position, then they should NEVER agree to do a romance or romcom, because they can't deliver the role they are being hired to do.
It may seem weird for me to refuse to support actors who take romantic roles and then refuse to kiss their co-stars, but I do so for two reasons.
First, I think acting is a lucrative profession that only a privileged few get to enjoy, and so I expect actors to work hard preparing for and delivering the roles they take on. The idea of writers and directors having to work around an actor's refusal to perform the role as it is envisioned, so that they have to use their creative energy to try to get around the restrictions, just sits wrong with me. I can't admire someone like that, If you take the job, then DO the job. If you can't, don't 'take it and force the writer/director to accommodate your quirks, and risk disappointing the audience, who have expectations, especially in the adaptation of a much beloved novel.
And second, there is already far too much government censorship in Cdramas, sometimes to the extent that the drama becomes something other than what was envisioned by the writers/director. We see this all the time - no time travel, no reincarnation, no LGBT characters, etc. It's tiresome and annoying, especially when the drama is based on a novel that I've read and loved. The screenwriters and directors already have to keep this in mind, so I absolutely will not support actors who add yet ANOTHER layer of censorship on the drama, by their contractual demands. A romance is a specific genre. Viewers expect ROMANCE. We already have enough popular BL and time travel/reincarnation novels that have to substantially alter the interactions between characters, and the dialogue, to get by the censors. It's often done very well (ie: Joy of Life, Word of Honor, The Untamed) and sometimes not so well (Loved Guardian, but the ending was so screwed up that I read the novel writer wrote added an extra "epilogue" type chapter to "correct" it! And Silent Reading doesn't look like it's going to follow Priest's excellent novel very well, as t hat drama has to not only pass regular censorship, but also a special police censorship board). So, I refuse to support any actors who add more censorship to what I get to see on screen. I feel like it's a slippery slope, and before you know it, only young single actors will be doing kiss scenes in dramas.
My views. YMMV.
But if this actor is actually going to do his job, and deliver a convincing performance as a romantic ML, then I would definitely watch the drama. Otherwise, forget it. (And again, let me be clear that I have no issue with actors exercising their privilege to have no-kiss clauses. My objection and disgust is when they accept roles in romantic dramas or comedies that require some credible romantic scenes, which includes at least one or two kisses. Especially if - as in this drama - the two people are MARRIED and supposedly deeply in love).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGymduZZhqg
If an actor wants to have a no kiss clause, then that is his/her right. But if they take that position, then they should NEVER agree to do a romance or romcom, because they can't deliver the role they are being hired to do.