Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Behind Every Star’ On Netflix, A Korean ‘Call My Agent!’ Remake About Talent Agents And Their Celebrity Clients

The reason why the French dramedy Call My Agent! was such a hit for Netflix is because it showed that the agent-actor relationship, built on trust and lies at the same time, is the same overseas as it is in Hollywood. Now a version of the series has been created in South Korea. How will the show translate?

BEHIND EVERY STAR: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A man riding on a scooter, a toy propeller on top of his helmet.

The Gist: Method Entertainment is one of the top talent agencies in Seoul, with top clients. The man on the scooter, agent Kim Jung-don (Seo Hyun-woo), is trying to get to a photo shoot for his longtime client Cho Yeo-jeong (playing herself). She’s excited to be in the final stages of a contract for a new Quentin Tarantino film; she’s even learning how to ride a horse. During the photo shoot, though, Jung-don gets a text saying that the film is dropping Yeo-jeong because she’s too old for the new direction they’re going in. Now he has to tell her the deal has fallen through without telling her why.

Back at the office, a despondent Jung-don trudges to his office, avoiding calls from his main client. Another agent, Chun Jae-in (Kwak Sun-young), is burning through yet another assistant. And a young woman named So Hyun-joo (Joo Hyun-young) drops by unannounced to see the office’s director, Ma Tae-oh (Lee Seo-jin); the two have a personal relationship, and Hyun-joo wants to work for him and learn how to be an agent. He tells her to work elsewhere, even when she says she’ll keep their relationship secret.

After an explosive staff meeting where Jung-don reveals that Yeo-jeong lost the role, Jae-in fires her assistant in front of Hyun-joo. Seeing an opening, Hyun-joo tells the veteran agent she’ll do the job. But on her first day, when Yeo-jeong walks into the office looking for her suddenly incommunicado agent, a starstruck Hyun-joo accidentally lets slip why she lost the part in the Tarantino film.

That sets off a series of events where Yeo-jeong fires Jung-don, Tae-oh steps in to get Yeo-jeong the role back and poaches her as a client, Yeo-jeong has to face being an over-40 actress, and Hyun-joo tries to get her job back after Jae-in finds out about her accidental loose lips.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Behind Every Star is based on Netflix’s French hit Call My Agent!, though with some of the usual romantic and fantastical touches we see in K-dramas.

Our Take: The structure of Behind Every Star lends itself to some fun stories involving the main characters and the people who play the supporting staff. In every episode, a new client — which will be a well-known Korean actor playing him/herself — will have an issue that their particular agent has to solve, but the ongoing stories are very prevalent, showing how messy these agents’ lives are because they spend all their time supporting their clients.

It does seem that the characters are well-established at the end of the first hour. We have a good idea of what the relationship between Tae-oh and Hyun-joo is, but it’s frustratingly not fully revealed in the first episode. But there will be interesting interactions between the two, especially after Tae-oh takes over the chairmanship of the agency. Jae-in constantly has to prove herself, because she’s a woman in a male-dominated industry; she’s tough and hard on assistants, but has to be in order to succeed. Jung-don gets emotionally close to his clients, which helps and hurts in equal measure.

The comedic parts of the series are more goofy than funny, like Jung-don and PR manager Choi Jin-hyuk (Kim Tae-oh) screaming at the fact that they keep hanging up on Yeo-jeong when she calls. But it’s a tone that helps lighten the more dramatic moments, along with the moments that are romantic, like when Jung-don and Yeo-jeong reconcile (yes, a relationship between actor and agent can be romantic).

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: The team finds out over the phone that the company’s chairman, Wang Tae-ja, has passed away on holiday in Brazil.

Sleeper Star: Kim Tae-oh has some of the funniest lines and physical takes as PR manager Choi Jin-hyuk.

Most Pilot-y Line: While at a bar consoling Jung-don over Yeo-jeong firing him, Jae-in hits on a handsome man sitting to Jung-don’s right. “Are you made of magnets or something? You draw men everywhere you go.” We get what he’s trying to say, but it’s certainly a clumsy way to say it.

Our Call: STREAM IT. While Behind Every Star has some of the treacly aspects of romantic-oriented K-dramedies, it’s got enough fun moments to keep the show grounded.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.