When it comes to BL dramas one of the major selling points is the “ship” between the two main actors. Not as their characters in the series, but of the actors as real-life individuals. While some actors seem fine with it, and some (such as the case of Filipino actor Paul Cervantes who met his real-life partner John Kennedy Nakar on the short series I Love You, Bro) do legitimately fall in love. However, they are the exception. Not the rule.
Earlier this week, Thai entertainment conglomerate GMMTV announced a new series called Kidnap at their Up&Above event that would air in 2024. The series will star Pawat Chittsawangdee (Ohm) and Thanaphon Usinsap (Leng) as the main couple. The official synopsis: In need of money for his brother’s medicaiton, Min (Ohm) takes work as a kidnapper. When his employer asks him to kill the rich kid (Leng) he’s kidnapped, Min cannot bring himself to pull the trigger. Instead, he tells them the job’s complete and takes him home to hide him away.
This was official confirmation, after months of speculation Ohm’s previous ship with fellow GMMTV Actor Korapat Kirdpan (Nanon) had sunk. Earlier in October, when new “Ship Merch” was announced from the company, fans noticed OhmNanon was missing. Later, Nanon himself tweeted.
In 2021 the two actors starred in the worldwide smash Bad Buddy. A college comedy of enemies turned lovers, it wasn’t just a popular series, it was incredibly well done. One of the things it did was turn a lot of the old BL tropes on their head. Though the couple revived the characters for the 2023 anthology series Our Skyy 2, for the most part, they’ve both been doing their own thing.
While both have continued acting, Nanon has started focusing more on his music. After signing with Riser, he released “Unidentified Wonder” which was used as the theme to his drama UMG (Unidentified Mysterious Girlfriend).
To be fair, Ohm has never been in more than one series with a romantic partner ever – and honestly, I think he’s a better actor for it. While I do love the idea of ships (team EarthMix4Ever) as someone who’s been in the business myself, working with new people brings new experiences and ways to develop your craft. And while both actors seem to want to explore new opportunities some fans have become so toxic, it’s embarrassing.
On 18 October a group of Chinese fans rented a protest truck and sent it to GMMTV headquarters in Bangkok.
This Toxic behavior is beyond disgusting and shows how entitled some of these people have come to be. I don’t even want to call them fans. They’re not. They’re delusional. Viewing themselves as the “gatekeepers” of this ship, they’ve even gone as far as saying GMMTV intentionally broke up the couple. For reference, no company would EVER intentionally break up a revenue stream as lucrative as OhmNanon. They would go out of their way to ensure the couple stayed together.
However, what GMMTV did was, instead of only viewing their talent as dollar signs, they saw them as human beings and allowed them to do what was best for their mental health, and also what would benefit them most as actors. If you are a fan of Ohm and Nanon you’d be relieved that GMMTV puts their actor’s own personal desires ahead of what the company wants.
We’ve all seen what happens when an actor is forced to continuously do things they do not want to. So take a beat and check your privilege.
I will not post on this topic again, but will continue to support Ohm, Nanon, and GMMTV as a whole so…
Stay Tuned
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