Actor Nam Goong Min will not be included as a Best Actor (Daesang) candidate at this year’s SBS Drama Awards.
The actor, known for winning the Daesang three times for dramas like Hot Stove League, The Veil, and The Veil, faced a difficult year as the lead of SBS’s Friday–Saturday drama Our Movie, which had the lowest ratings among its peers.
On December 15, SBS released a teaser for the 2025 SBS Drama Awards, showing the five Daesang candidates: Han Ji Min for Love Scout, Park Hyung Sik for Buried Hearts, Yoon Kye Sang for The Winning Try, Go Hyun Jung for Queen Mantis, and Lee Je Hoon for Taxi Driver 3.
This year’s SBS dramas all showed strong performance in ratings. Park Hyung Sik starred in a series that reached a peak rating of 15.4%, Go Hyun Jung earned praise for her role as a serial killer, and Lee Je Hoon led a series that consistently hit double-digit ratings.
Nam Goong Min was among several actors not nominated for the Daesang this year, along with Yook Sung Jae (The Haunted Palace), Choi Woo Sik (Would You Marry Me), and Jung So Min. For Nam Goong Min, who won the Daesang in 2020 for Hot Stove League and was a nominee in 2022 for One Dollar Lawyer, missing the nominee list was a notable disappointment.
Our Movie is a melodrama about a struggling director Lee Je Ha (Nam Goong Min) and an actress on her last day, Lee Da Eum (Jeon Yeo Bin), whose love cannot wait for tomorrow.
The drama started with a 4.2% rating in its first episode, dropped to 3.0% by episode two, and stayed around 3% until the finale, marking the lowest ratings for SBS Friday–Saturday dramas this year.
Viewer reactions were mixed. Some felt the slow pacing and melodramatic story made it hard to stay engaged, while others pointed to Jeon Yeo Bin’s acting as awkward and distracting. Reviews ranged from “calm and healing” to “dull and uninteresting.”
After the first episode aired, Nam Goong Min commented, “Even though the ratings are low, I am very confident. Please watch with interest until episode 5. If there is no significant rebound then, punish me with words for being last, humiliated, and responsible. That will be my responsibility.”
Netizens praised his confidence, but as the ratings did not rebound, some said, “Nam Goong Min looks frustrated by the low ratings.”
Nam Goong Min was also not nominated for the Best Couple award. Fans are now watching to see whether he will attend the SBS Drama Awards for recognition or appear at next year’s KBS Drama Awards as a presenter for his upcoming drama Completion of Marriage.
Source: [1]
