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Guide for classifying a role

The following is a guide to help classifying the kind of role an actor is playing:

• Main Cast (Leads): These are the primary characters of the show, appearing in most episodes and central to the main storyline.
• Supporting Cast: These characters appear in multiple episodes and have significant roles, often with their own subplots or backgrounds that tie into the main storyline.
• Special Appearances: These roles feature very high-profile actors who have longer segments, though not always crucial to the storyline. Their celebrity status often elevates their role to a special appearance, even if they would otherwise be considered cameos.
• Cameos: Brief appearances by high-profile actors, typically with no impact on the storyline and usually appearing in just one or two episodes. The key difference from special appearances is the duration and involvement; however, a cameo can be considered a special appearance if the actor’s celebrity status is exceptionally high.
• Extended Cast:

This includes guest roles and bit parts where the characters have at least one spoken line. These roles are generally less central to the plot and may only appear in a few episodes.

They can also be the focus of a section of episodes, dealing with a specific topic, such as:

• the victim in a crime series that deals with different cases
• A patient in a hospital series
• A defense attorney in a courtroom series

If the information is available, these roles should be listed with the episodes they appear in.

Note: The celebrity status of the actor should be evaluated at the airing time of the TV show, not their current status. This applies both to rising stars, who were still building their career at the time of airing, or stars that have fallen out of favour, for example due to scandals.

Topic sections

Supporting roles can be grouped by topic, such as "People around Main Character". If a role can belong in such a section but is a guest role, either put it in Extended Cast if there is no episode information available, or list the episodes they appear in behind the role.

Character Actors

Character actors only play guest roles and bit parts, sometimes a supporting role. Good examples are Jung Hyun Suk and Park Jung Eon. They can't be cameos or special appearances, because their celebrity status isn't high enough. You may recognise them at some point, but they don't do variety shows, lots of interviews, MV's and CF's.