Queen of Tears turns 1: How Kim Soo Hyun's iconic ‘40 crying scenes' backfired after a 40-minute press conference tear fest
Imagine it's 2024. tvN delivers its biggest hit of the season, or perhaps even of its history. Queen of Tears, its new show, shatters records, even historical ones, surpassing legends like Crash Landing on You, Reply 1988, Vincenzo, and others to claim the top spot. Kim Soo Hyun rockets to the pinnacle of his career, a career that was already legendary. His iconic crying scenes in the show had the entire K-drama fandom sobbing along with him, feeling his pain, a huge factor in the show's immense success. Netflix, riding high on the global success of securing the international rights, watched as viewership soared through the roof. Kim Ji Won delivered her career-best performance. Soo Hyun's popularity crossed borders.
Fast forward to today: Kim Soo Hyun is now one of the most scrutinised stars in K-drama history, his popularity drowning. Ironically, those same crying scenes have backfired. His real-life, tearful 40-minute speech, meant to be heartfelt, is far from convincing for many fans. Instead, netizens are drawing uncomfortable parallels between his tearful moments in the Netflix series and his press conference.
From King of Tears to King of Fake Tears
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO
Queen of Tears is celebrating its one-year anniversary. If things had gone right, Kim Soo Hyun's house and agency Gold Medalist would have been flooded with support trucks, fan letters, postcards, gifts — you name it. Today. it's protest trucks, wreaths, haters, accusers, and fans-turned-antis. Soo Hyun's life flipped upside down, and so did his career, when he was accused of dating the late Bloodhounds star Kim Sae Ron while she was allegedly underage. The bereaved family teamed up with a controversial YouTube channel and dropped a series of alleged pieces of evidence. Soo Hyun kept losing it all, first fans, then friends, then brand endorsements. Even Prada, the same brand that once proudly rallied behind him, quietly took ten steps back and dropped him from their ambassador list. Watching the situation slip out of control, Soo Hyun held a press conference, broke down in tears, and tried to set the record straight. He acknowledged being in a relationship with Sae Ron but insisted it was only after she had turned an adult.
But fans weren't buying it, not the heartfelt story, not the threatening lawsuits, and definitely not the tears. What stuck with many was how he referred to Kim Sae Ron as 'deceased,' almost in passing. Some were left shaking their heads in disbelief, when he called himself a 'star' while dropping Queen of Tears mid-speech. Reading the whole thing off a paper didn't help either, it only made the moment feel even more rehearsed. And as for the tears, well, many said he cried better on screen.
When Kim Soo Hyun made the whole K-drama fandom cry
When it came to crying, Baek Hyun Woo didn't just act, he practically set a world record. Kim Soo Hyun's character wept, bawled, and sobbed his way through Queen of Tears, until even Hong Hae In, his chaebol heiress wife (and part-time estranged roommate for 14 out of 16 episodes), had no choice but to give him a passing grade. It was a marriage drama built on three years of silent treatment, a heartbreaking loss, and a husband who got treated like furniture at family dinners. Meanwhile, Hong Hae In, played by Kim Ji Won, our boss lady CEO, pulled off 166 outfit changes in the entire show — because what's a K-drama without some serious fashion goals?
Soo Hyun's tears showed up 40 times, which is like 2.5 times per episode, and some became straight-up cult moments. Like the scene where he sobbed in relief thinking Hong Hae In had been in a car crash, or when he teared up begging her before her surgery, scenes that were recreated over a thousand times on TikTok and Reels. And then came the grandmaster of all crying scenes, Baek Hyun Woo smashing a car with his bare hands, thinking Hae In was trapped inside. Talk about art coming back to bite. Kim Soo Hyun's real-life 40-minute tearfest at the press conference, but all netizens could see was Baek Hyun woo 2.0. From 'King of Tears' to 'Was he acting again?'
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