The leads may light up a drama, but some actors quietly steal the spotlight right beside them. Lately, the supporting casts in the Netflix series Teach You a Lesson and the film Colony have made an especially bold impression at the center of the buzz.
Released on the 21st of last month, Colony follows survivors trapped in a sealed-off building after a mysterious infection outbreak, battling infected beings that evolve in unpredictable ways. According to the Korean Film Council’s box office data on the 10th, the film drew 44,403 moviegoers the previous day to top the box office. Its cumulative audience has hit 4,823,944, with the 5-million mark now squarely in sight.
The film’s explosive run owes a lot to the powerhouse performances of its supporting actors. First, Lee Joong-ok, as anti-terror unit chief Lee Bong-seok, sets the plot in motion by insisting that only vaccine carrier Seo Young-chul (played by Koo Kyo-hwan) can save them, pushing survivors to hunt for Seo inside the Dunguri Building. Driven solely by the mission to capture Seo, his cold-blooded willingness to sacrifice others stoked viewers’ fury.
Kim Jong-tae portrays Kang Woo-cheol, the CEO of Chains Bio and someone with past ties to Seo Young-chul, who becomes the first infected. Kim’s visceral transformation into an infected figure left a striking early impression and drew rave reviews.
Elsewhere, Hwang Jae-yeol captured raw human instinct under extreme pressure, sparking both empathy and anger. As the bullied teen, Lee Dam-hee showed humanity by repeatedly saving the delinquent girl who tormented her, even in danger. Playing that delinquent, Chae Seo-eun convincingly charted her remorse and change — only to deliver an unexpected twist that left a deep mark on audiences. Kim Jae-rok fully embodied a courageous, agile man in his 60s, while Lee Hyun-kyun, as special investigation team advisor Joo Cheol-min working outside the Dunguri Building with Gong Seol-hee (played by Shin Hyun-bin), further amped up the immersion as they fight to resolve the outbreak.
If seven scene-stealers powered Colony, Teach You a Lesson boasts three — if not more — who supercharged the series.
Recently released on Netflix, Teach You a Lesson spotlights the Teacher Rights Protection Bureau, founded to defend Korea’s crumbling classrooms from boundary-crossing students, teachers, and parents — delivering a cathartic brand of “real education.” Led by the punchy one-two of Kim Mu-yeol and Lee Sung-min, the show serves up a fizzy, crowd-pleasing narrative that viewers can’t get enough of.
The supporting cast shines here, too. Kim Chae-eun heightens the tension as Yoon Jin, the key to the case among a crew of juveniles shielded by the Juvenile Act who steal cars and drive without licenses. Kim Jae-seon adds layers to Lee Chi-ho, from his calculating moves that upend the board amid crisis to his collapse as he’s ruthlessly exploited by Jo Gyu-cheol (played by Lee Bong-jun) within the blind spots of a sprawling crime ring.
The runaway villain drawing viewers’ ire is Park Ji-yeon as Woo-jin’s overprotective mom, who leans on teachers with relentless pressure. From her prickly entrance during a class observation to surveilling a teacher’s private life and spreading falsehoods on a moms’ forum, Park escalates the character’s rampage step by step — and critics are applauding.
With multiple standout turns across the board, audiences are calling them “next-level scene-stealers.”