In 2005, a drama called "The Savage Princess" became popular all over the country.
The popularity of this drama can be said to have reached its peak: not only did the major TV stations take turns to **, but even the merchants who sell CDs have taken the opportunity to make a lot of money.
Jang Nara, a South Korean actress, also became popular with this drama.
Zhang Nara's glory back then can be described as the sky, and her fame spread quickly in China and South Korea.
Not only was she invited by Jackie Chan to attend the concert himself, but she was the only foreign participant in the chorus of "Beijing Welcomes You" at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and also served as a torchbearer, which was considered the highest honor at the time.
Until now, because of her similar appearance, some people still compare her with Zhao Liying.
Some even believe that if Zhang Nara had remained in China, perhaps Zhao Liying would not have become what she is today.
Zhang Nara, a once smash hit star, has now disappeared in China, what kind of ups and downs has she experienced over the years?
Jang Nara was born in 1981 in Seoul, South Korea, and her family is an actor family.
In South Korea, her father, Jang Ranjiao, is a well-known stage actor.
Under the guidance and encouragement of her father, Zhang Nara began to get in touch with acting work at a very young age, and even followed her father to perform on stage when she was in the fifth grade of primary school.
She has been cute and beautiful since she was a child, and she is loved by the audience, and she will attract warm applause at the end of each performance, which has gradually made her feel confident in acting.
In high school, she got a recommendation from her father and started shooting commercials for some school supplies and products such as chocolate.
While filming the commercial, Jang Nara showed her passion for acting and at the same time showed her talent in acting, which deepened her determination to enter the entertainment industry.
South Korea's "idol culture" has risen rapidly since 2000, and Zhang Nara's father, with years of experience in the entertainment industry, keenly discovered this craze, and hopes to send his daughter into the entertainment industry and become an idol.
In that year, Jang Nara was successfully admitted to the Drama Department of Seoul University in South Korea with excellent results, showing her excellent qualities.
She didn't start out as a theater actress, but as a singer.
When she was just in college, she released her first ** "First Story", and won the SBS Song Award for Best Female Singer Newcomer Award and Best CD Award.
Her sweet voice and cute appearance have also won the love of many fans.
Since then, her career has been booming.
She was only 19 years old.
Obviously, the singer is not the ultimate goal of his father and Zhang Nara.
After receiving guidance from her father, she embarked on a journey into the film and television industry.
The first TV series "The Success of a Cheerful Girl" was filmed in only two months, and it was widely loved by Korean audiences, with a rating of 426%。Subsequently, the drama was also successfully sold to China, and the response was good.
Subsequently, she filmed a TV series with a similar theme, "Red Bean Girl's Love", which tells a love story like a fairy tale.
The heroine Red Bean Girl played by Zhang Nara is brutal and willful on the outside, but she is simple and kind on the inside, and finally gets love.
The show seems to be tailor-made specifically for her.
"Sweet Dream" sung by Jang Nara is the theme song of this drama, and it has achieved amazing sales as soon as it was released.
In the first few weeks of its release, it sold more than 400,000 copies.
This song became a popular song for a while because of its lively melody and crisp voice.
This drama has also gained a very high amount in China, and has become the memory of many post-90s nostalgic youth.
Zhang Nara seems to have stood at the peak of the boom and has become the focus of the entertainment industry.
She completed her own ** work in 2003 and filmed the movie "Naughty Girl Courtship".
As soon as it was released, it immediately won the title of the Korean box office champion.
With the performance of Kong Ji Zhiyi in this movie, she was directly nominated for two awards at the Daejong Awards: Best Newcomer and Best Actress.
Jang Nara's popularity is booming at this time and she has become a high-profile new generation of female stars in South Korea.
At this moment, it can be said that Zhang Nara has become an all-round diva who has outstanding performance in the fields of film and television and songs.
Her sweet and lovely appearance adds to her charm loved by Korean audiences, and she is even known as the "little Korean princess".
She was only 21 years old.
Although Jang Nara is being loved by Korean netizens and has a thriving career, at the same time, her father has set his sights on a broader field and plans to take her out of South Korea and into Asia.
In my father's opinion, South Korea has been able to produce many stars, and they are constantly emerging with new faces. If you don't have a longer-term vision, you are likely to be eliminated by newcomers.
Father Zhang Ran originally planned to take his daughter to Japan, and eventually held a successful concert in Japan.
However, after a few performances, it did not cause much of a sensation, and the response was lackluster.
Zhang Ran did not intend to give up, but decided to come to China to give it a try.
Although South Korea's entertainment industry is much more developed than China's, the Chinese entertainment industry has a fresher atmosphere and a broader market.
After careful consideration, I decided to let my daughter enter the Chinese entertainment industry.
In 2004, accompanied by their father, the father and daughter sailed across the ocean for 25 hours before finally arriving in China.
This time, the father's bet finally paid off.
No one could have imagined that Zhang Nara, who had just arrived in China, would be able to appear on the stage of CCTV.
After arriving in China, she first worked with the crew of "Silver Years" and worked at the Beijing Film Academy for nearly two months.
Soon after, he was invited to participate in the performance of CCTV's "The Same Song".
At that time, there were many well-known stars such as Jay Chou, Yanzi Sun, Faye Wong and many other well-known stars on the same stage with her, which needs to be known.
Jang Nara made her debut and, despite her fame in South Korea, looked unfamiliar to Chinese audiences.
She tried her best to run all over the first ** "One" promoted in China, and it did not attract much attention in China. Even.
The pressure suddenly made her feel doubly heavy.
Fortunately, she was soon taken by the crew of "The Savage Princess" and was invited to play the heroine.
Jang Nara is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate, with a narrative style like "Huanzhu Gege" and a blend of the character tones of the Korean drama "Sassy Girlfriend".
The Savage Princess was released in 2005 and quickly became popular, becoming a phenomenal work that is popular with all ages.
Zhang Nara's role as Situ Jingjing in the play became famous in China with her eccentric, lively and cute image.
She herself was also influenced by the audience's love for her role, and her cute appearance coupled with her playful personality won great popularity in China, and she once became the most popular female star.
Zhang Nara also seized the opportunity to release her new ** "Kung Fu" in China, showing the talent of the actress and singer.
Not only that, Zhang Nara also shoulders a charitable mission.
In 2004, she was appointed as a Chinese ambassador and donated up to 300,000 RMB.
Zhang Nara is thriving because of her superb acting skills, outstanding ability, and love for public welfare.
How hot was she at the time?
Zhang Nara was invited to participate in Jackie Chan's concert in 2006 and sang the song "Myth" with Jackie Chan hand in hand.
In 2007, Zhang Nara was appointed as the cultural ambassador for China-South Korea exchanges due to the period of friendly exchanges between China and South Korea.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Jang Nara was honored to be the torchbearer representing Seoul, South Korea, carrying the flame and participating in this grand sporting event.
This shows the honor of a country and speaks of her immense influence.
In the promotion of the Olympic song "Beijing Welcomes You", she was the only foreigner who sang on the same stage with Liu Huan, Faye Wong, Sun Yanzi and others and participated in the recording.
"Beijing Welcomes You" has a prominent position in the hearts of the Chinese people, and the reason why Zhang Nara is qualified to participate shows that her fame is indeed not small.
At that time in China, Zhang Nara can be said to be the star with the highest national popularity, even if she is placed in China now, no foreign star can compare with her national degree at that time.
Maybe it's because the road to fame is too smooth, or maybe there are competitors in the industry who are deliberately making trouble behind the scenes, causing Zhang Nara to fall into the abyss in an instant with just one sentence when she gradually reached the peak of the Chinese entertainment industry.
Jang Nara, the star of the fire, returned to South Korea in 2009 and participated in the variety show "Strong Heart" to promote the public welfare film "Sky and Ocean".
She shared her experience of filming in China on the show, mentioning that her father couldn't turn around because he invested too much, so he put all her salary into making the show.
At this time, it coincided with the invitation of the Chinese side, so he decided to go to China to film.
It seems like a prosaic thing, but when the show actually aired, the program team intended to provide subtitles, but in the end it became "whenever the production budget is tight, go to China to make money".
The show caused an uproar among Chinese audiences, and one sentence stirred up a thousand waves.
Some viewers thought that Zhang Nara's remarks contained a derogatory connotation, as if in her view, Chinese money was easy to obtain, and when there was no money, she ran to China to make money.
To a certain extent, this kind of rhetoric has also deeply hurt the emotions of Chinese audiences.
At that time, the Internet was just getting started, and the people who spoke online were very active.
Zhang Nara's remarks gave those people the best topic, just in time.
Zhang Nara's rhetoric began to be spread more and more exaggerated soon after the show was broadcast.
Then, a series of remarks appeared, "As long as Zhang Nara has no money on hand, she will come to China to make money." ”
This event is also nicknamed "Circle Money Gate".
She finally realizes that her unintentional actions have led to troublesome results. That's when she realized that her unintentional actions had caused trouble.
She hastily held a press conference, hoping to personally apologize to the audience and clarify that it was a misunderstanding, but by this time it was too late.
According to statistics, Zhang Nara apologized a total of five times, but Chinese netizens did not forgive this. No matter what explanation she makes, no one believes it, and some even question her motive for apologizing to continue to engage in money-collecting behavior.
A journalist posed her with the question: "Why apologize when you don't think you've made a mistake?"”
For a moment, Zhang Nara didn't know what to say.
However, she has not given up on developing in China.
In order to restore her image, she then collaborated with Lu Yi on "The Singer in the Iron Mask", and filmed a series of works, including the sister TV series "The Cruel Princess" and the movie "Fly Together" with Lin Zhiying.
However, after two years of struggle, the situation has not improved in any way.
She and her father had no choice but to appear on Guo Degang's show, hoping to explain one last time.
In order to show their sincerity, they also specially performed the sketch "Learn Chinese", hoping to improve the image in the minds of Chinese audiences in this way.
However, their wishes did not come true.
More and more newcomers with more beautiful appearances and stronger strength have emerged in the Chinese entertainment industry, and Zhang Nara has long lost her status.
After 2014, Jang gradually withdrew from the Chinese market and returned to South Korea to develop her business.
After she returned to South Korea again, she was not discouraged by this, but insisted on developing her acting career. She appears in one or two plays almost every year, but due to limited resources, her career has been in a flat state.
Since then, South Korea's "girl group era" has been quietly emerging, making it difficult for Jang Nara and her father's weak team to resist the coming wave of girl groups, so they have difficulty accessing quality resources.
In 2014, she collaborated with Jang Hyuk in "Fate Loves You Like Destiny", and with Shin Ha-gyun in "Mrblack》。
Subsequently, he appeared at the WTUF China Night, one of the series of activities to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea.
Later, she also starred in film and television works such as "Childlike Beauty" and "School 2013", which gradually won the love of more audiences.
Although he is no longer at his peak, he is not in a downtrod situation.
Her influence in China is waning, and at the same time, netizens are still struggling to let go of what happened back then, and even full of mockery when her name is mentioned.
A few years ago, she endorsed an advertisement that was filmed at the counter. **After it was spread to China, she was ridiculed by netizens and said that she was "reduced to being a **clerk at the counter".
Subsequently, the news of her fake marriage to Kim Nam-gil was supposed to make headlines in the entertainment industry, but it didn't seem to have attracted the attention of netizens.
Zhang Nara also deliberately posted an explanation on Weibo, but fewer than 400 people responded to her comments.
In 2018, Zhang Nara played the heroine Wu Shanni in the romantic drama "The Queen's Character", transforming from a pure ** drama actor to a queen who bravely destroyed power and became a "national Cinderella".
Jang Nara graced the role with her outstanding performance, which not only achieved great success in the show, but also won the 14th Seoul International TV Drama Women's Acting Award.
She was so excited at the award ceremony that tears rained down her eyes.
Standing in front of the camera and constantly expressing gratitude:
Thank you, I will try to be an actor who struggles desperately.
After attracting the attention of netizens again and recalling the events of the year, it was discovered that the so-called "circle money gate" was a big oolong incident, which was also the situation after the award.
Many years have passed, and no matter how hard Zhang Nara tries, she can't go back to the old days.
In the "VIP" TV series, she then played the heroine, playing the role of the deputy head of the VIP customer group of the department store. In this drama, she plays a character who looks like a winner in life on the outside, but in fact carries unknown pain inside.
With the improvement of her acting skills and the broadening of her acting path, she began to constantly challenge her roles, no longer limited to playing a pure and innocent girl.
In 2020, 39-year-old Jang Nara starred in "Oh My Baby," which tells the story of an older single woman who doesn't want to get married but longs to have children.
This character is very similar to Zhang Nara in reality.
She is over 40 years old, and she admits that she is often urged to get married by her father, but she is not moved by this, emphasizing that she will never marry casually because she is about to settle.
She also said that she wanted to marry a Chinese male artist, just like Choo Ja Hyun.
Her acting skills continue to attract people's attention, and at the same time, her youthful appearance has also attracted attention, and she is known as "ageless and childlike".
Now 41 years old, Zhang Nara still looks as young as a girl, **delicate and full.
Her childlike appearance is not only related to her natural baby-faced facial features, but also to her mentality.
If we hadn't experienced that "money-trapping" setback, we probably wouldn't have achieved such an achievement now.
Zhang Nara's era has gone with time, and it is irretrievable no matter what.
In China, its position has long ceased to exist.
At present, while some foreign celebrities are seeking benefits in China, they frequently make insulting remarks, which is in stark contrast to the Zhang Nara incident.
Despite their lack of concealment, their activities in the Chinese market have not been affected by the complaints of netizens.
As a public figure, with the increase in the ** rate, every sentence and every step needs to be cautious, and the slightest negligence may be irreparable.
The audience behind the screen also needs to be cautious, because the power of the network can ruin a person.
With the rapid development of China, the self-confidence of Chinese netizens has also grown.
It is hoped that foreign entertainment stars who come to the mainland can be strict with themselves, and at the same time, it is also expected that some foreign brands will maintain due respect for China.