Winners Of The 2021 MBC Drama Awards

Dec 30, 2021

On December 30, MBC awarded some of their best dramas this year at the 2021 MBC Drama Awards. The show was hosted by Kim Sung Joo and held without an audience to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Grand Prize (Daesang) went to Namgoong Min for his spectacular performance as a former intelligence agent searching for vengeance in MBC’s blockbuster drama “The Veil.” At a time when MBC drama ratings were stagnating in the single digits, Namgoong Min received critical and popular acclaim for his acting skills and range, bringing the ratings of “The Veil” close to 10 percent (9.8 percent).

Coming in under the wire in 2021 (airing from November 12 to January 1) was “The Red Sleeve,” a historical romance drama that has dominated the ratings and buzz at the end of the year. The drama took home the most trophies at the 2021 MBC Drama Awards, including Top Excellence Awards for stars Lee Junho and Lee Se Young, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Lee Deok Hwa, the Best Couple Award, the Best Supporting Actor Award for Jang Hye Jin, the Best New Actor award for Kang Hoon, and the Best Screenwriter Award.

In his speech, Namgoong Min said, “It always feels strange to receive an award at the end of the year. It’s been a long time, but I have been at the MBC Drama Awards before. I was happy just to be attending the awards at the time, but when I went home and laid down alone in bed, I felt somehow numb. It wasn’t a negative feeling. I don’t know what the feeling was. A lot of time has passed since then, and I’m sincerely grateful to be receiving such a big award.

“Starting two months before the drama began filming, I called the director every day. I think the director led us well and energetically on set with his brightly smiling face. From a technical perspective, it was a drama that took a lot of time to make. As we passed the halfway point, I remember thinking that I wished we had more time. But the reason we were able to wrap it up well was because of the cast and crew.

“I’m the type to prepare in detail in advance, but there was so much to prepare for ‘The Veil’ that that didn’t go well. I was under a lot of stress. But whenever I went to set, the lovable actors of ‘The Veil’ would appear as their actual characters, and it would really give me strength. I was mentally and physically exhausted, but I was able to stay strong until the end.”

He added his thanks to Jin Ah Reum, his girlfriend, saying, “Ah Reum, thank you for always being by my side, I love you.”

Check out the full list of winners below!

Daesang (Grand Prize): Namgoong Min (“The Veil”)

Drama of the Year: “The Red Sleeve”

Top Excellence Award for a Mini-Series (Actor): Lee Junho, Lee Se Young (“The Red Sleeve”)

Top Excellence Award for a Daily Drama: Cha Seo Won, Uhm Hyun Kyung (“The Second Husband”)

Excellence Award for a Mini-Series: Lee Sang Yeob (“On the Verge of Insanity”), Jang Young Nam (“The Veil”)

Excellence Award for a Short-Form Drama: Jung Moon Sung (“Moebius: The Veil”), Kim Hwan Hee (“Here’s My Plan”)

Best Couple: Lee Junho and Lee Se Young (“The Red Sleeve”)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Lee Deok Hwa (“The Red Sleeve”)

Best Supporting Actor: Jang Hye Jin (“The Red Sleeve”), Kim Do Hyun (“The Veil”)

Best Screenwriter: Jung Hae Ri (“The Red Sleeve”)