Netizens Upset At “The Glory” Director For Having Cha Joo Young Wear The Iconic White Dress Without Discussion

Actress Cha Joo Young played Choi Hye Jeong in the hit Netflix K-Drama, The Glory. As the “lackey” in the bully clique she was in, Hye Jeong often was made the butt of jokes amongst the clique itself. She was humiliated when she strutted up to a gathering in a white dress purposely entrusted to her family’s laundry shop by bully Sa Ra.

But the actress herself made headlines for her perfect figure in the tight dress.

While the dress suited the character’s image and story perfectly, it was not originally part of the plan. Cha Joo Young revealed in an interview with Allure that her stylist team had actually prepared a less tight-fitting Chanel tweed number for the scene.

The director later requested for her outfit to go in a different direction. Cha Joo Young was worried that the white dress would show more skin than she intended, as white clothing tends to be a little see-through. But the scene was given the go-ahead in the end.

Actually, our stylist team had prepared an outfit for this. It’s Chanel…oh, can I not say [the brand]? It was made of tweed, shorter but less tight-fitting. It was leaning towards a cutesy image. The director wanted me to try wearing the [white dress] that was shown [in the drama]. At first, I said no because it would look too vulgar if it appeared see-through on camera. But I ended up filming it wearing the dress as I got caught up, and I didn’t know that it would become such a hot topic.

— Cha Joo Young

The way that it was filmed seemed to have audiences conflicted. While the white dress was indeed perfect for showing the type of character Choi Hye Jeong was supposed to be, the current generation is not one where directors can get away with forcing exposure.

• “I know why the director asked her to wear the white dress, but I think it’s wrong of him to inform her of a decision on the day itself without discussion. I bet the director himself also would have experienced grumbling about a forced request from his boss before, so I hope that he would be more respectful of actors with that in mind.”
• “What generation are we in now… Putting aside the thought that the dress suits the character or not, making her wear a revealing outfit on the day itself… And she already rejected it, but she said she got caught up in it and filmed the scene wearing the dress… What consideration do you have for your actors, Mr. Director? Don’t you know what is ‘pre-discussion’? Ugh, anyway, the character was so life-like. Hoping for more great works from you.”
• “The director who made her wear exposing outfits the day of LOL.”

Watch the tell-all clip for yourself.