Joo Ji Hoon is currently the most notable Korean actor in early 2025, with the leading role in the Netflix medical drama "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call" (Vietnamese title: "Trauma Care Center").
In its second week, “Trauma Care Center” saw a whopping 11.9 million views, surpassing “Squid Game 2” to become the most watched non-English TV show of the week (January 27 to February 2) on Netflix globally.
However, recently, netizens have "dug up" articles with information that Joo Ji Hoon was on the list of worst Korean movie actors of 2024. Notably, this list was announced just about 1 month before the movie "Trauma Care Center" was released on Netflix.
Specifically, the media outlet Sports Kyunghyang has held the annual “Sanddalki Awards” since 2017, similar to the American “Golden Raspberry Awards”, selecting the worst works and actors in Korean cinema every year.
At the 8th Sanddalki Awards - 2024, 51 film and entertainment reporters from leading Korean media agencies participated in the vote.
Finally, the worst actor of the year category went to Kang Dong Won (11 votes), Joo Ji Hoon (8 votes), Song Joong Ki and Song Seung Hun (7 votes each).
In the movie “Project Silence” directed by Kim Tae Gon, Joo Ji Hoon plays Joe Park - a tractor-trailer driver stuck in a dangerous survival situation, when thick fog causes a series of car crashes on the bridge to the airport.
Joo Ji Hoon had many witty interactions with the late actor Lee Sun Kyun. Some viewers said that this role had humorous moments that made the disaster, survival drama less tense.
However, Joo Ji Hoon's acting was criticized by reporters as terrible and his character was bland, with comments such as: "Joo Ji Hoon's acting was so bad that I wanted to run away from the theater", "He ruined the work by overacting", "Every time Joe Park appeared, I wondered what was wrong with this character?"...
Additionally, an account on the online community theqoo reshared a YTN reporter's review of the drama "Trauma Care Center" before its global release on Netflix on January 24 (journalists got a preview of the first four episodes).
YTN wrote: “Juo Ji Hoon’s unchanged acting style quickly made the work boring and uninteresting. His acting was no different from before, even his tone was a bit too much, making viewers consider leaving the drama halfway through.
... Joo Ji Hoon portrayed the character of Baek Kang Hyuk with his characteristic witty and relaxed acting. This can be considered the actor's strength. But he has shown this acting style so much that it is no longer new. In fact, it is more exaggerated than before, as if reminding the audience: "Joo Ji Hoon is acting."
However, despite being named as the worst actor in 2024 and negative articles about the movie "Trauma Care Center" before its release, Joo Ji Hoon still made an explosive comeback.
His role as genius surgeon Baek Kang Hyuk has become a hit on forums. Many of the 1982-born actor's acting scenes have been spread.
Audiences praised the character Baek Kang Hyuk for his masculine appearance and charming "craziness". He is hot-tempered, swears a lot but is devoted to his patients and protects his colleagues.
“Trauma Care Center” is currently expected to produce season 2.
