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NCT Jaehyun's acting in 'Dear M' dubbed 'awkward', fans say 'he did well for his first role'

Users claim that Jaehyun’s acting seemed awkward in ‘Dear M’ but fans defend saying it's only his first acting role

After a lot of back and forth, the K-drama, ‘Dear M’ aka ‘Dear.M’, was finally released internationally for fans to enjoy as it marks the acting debut of NCT’s visual king, Jeong Jaehyun. Ever since the drama was announced, fans were really anticipating and manifesting an actor Jaehyun but just as the fate of fans and the actor would have it, the KBS drama was halted from its release due to a controversy. Back in 2021, when the drama was initially set to release in South Korea, the shows main lead, Park Hye-soo, was embroiled in a school bullying rumor. As the issue of bullying is far graver in South Korea than in the rest of the world, despite Hye-soo not being proven guilty, the release of ‘Dear.M’ was inevitably halted.

Soon after that it was announced that Jaehyun would be making his acting debut with the remake of a 2001 BL film, ‘Bungee Jumping Of Their Own’, the show was scrapped after the director of the original hit did not agree to a remake. With so many hurdles in the start of Jaehyun’s acting career, fans’ requests for the release of his debut drama, ‘Dear.M’ were finally heard. ‘Dear M’ released first in Japan and in the rest of the world outside South Korea on June 29 but it seems like Japanese fans are giving their two cents on Jaehyun’s acting but his international fans have mixed opinions.

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Japanese fan discusses NCT Jaehyun’s acting in ‘Dear M’

Soon after the first six episodes of the K-drama ‘Dear M’ starring NCT’s Jaehyun in the lead role were released in Japan and the rest of the world outside South Korea, a post went online on the platform NatePann. In the post, a Japanese fan talked about their experience watching the Jaehyun starrer drama so far calling being a part of the project a ‘huge shame’ for the NCT member. The user said, “His acting isn't that bad and he got positive feedback in Japan for his acting. Even if it was aired in Korea, there's no way he'd get hated for his visuals and acting.”

The user then continued the post by saying how the drama was marred by the scandal around Hye-soo but it was Jaehyun’s popularity that made the show see the light of day. Moreover, the post stated how Jaehyun seemed like he was draining himself out to show fans a good image of himself from his debut drama as he stated that he didn't even drink water with the fear of looking bloated on screen.

The user said, “He slept 3 hours per day and almost didn't eat in order to shoot the drama. So he was looking the best in terms of his visuals.” They added, “This happened at the same time as NCT 2020 and 127's comeback so he went around the country while barely sleeping and eating while he was on the verge of collapsing.”

‘He’s a little awkward’

The post was met with fans pointing out that the idol seemed awkward as one fan said, “Jaehyun's exceeding my expectations. He's still a lil awkward but he's not the worst.” Another fan said, “So I just watched the first episode of #DearM it was cute!!! I’m even more in  love with jaehyun than before but that’s nothing new and his acting is actually ok(still awkward) but, this has the potential to be a good drama. What’s do you guys think?” One more fan said, “He's a bit awkward but it was good for his first role i hope he plays more interesting characters in the future.” One more fan said, “His acting is seriously not even that bad. he’s a little too restrained/self conscious/ awkward especially when acting across from phs who is over the top, but that’s something he can easily improve with more webdramas.”

Some fans are defending that his acting seemed that way because it was his first show as one fan said, “I’m watching it rn and he’s not bad a little awkward at times but he did well for his first role much better than some idols, i can see him improve as the time goes. i just hope he stays away from main roles for his next projects.” One more fan said, “I watch 2 episodes and he's not bad at all, his acting is ok but for the first drama that's great. I think he can be a really good actor in the future!” Another fan defended, “I started watching his drama and i think hes doing ok for his first time acting.” One more fan said, “no but this drama is so fun to watch even on it’s first episode, none of the scenes bore me tbh&jaehyun’s acting doesn’t look awkward AT ALL, to finally be able to watch his hard work that postponed for 1year+ &him being THIS GOOD for his first acting gig I’m beyond proud of him.”