Moon Geun-young’s first villain role
Interesting! I love the description already. Moon Geun-young is following her Daesang-winning role in last year’s sageuk Painter of the Wind with a return to television — this time as a villain. She has been cast in KBS’s upcoming Cinderella Unni (a working title), and contracts are currently being drawn up.
Cinderella Unni — which really ought to change its title, if only to avoid comparison to Cinderella Man — will be written by Kim Kyu-wan of Piano and Spring Days, and directed by Kim Young-jo of The Vineyard Man. The title may very well change, but the meaning comes from a “fascinating twist” on the Cinderella story. In this version, Cinderella endures abuse at the hands of her stepmother and stepsister, as in the familiar fairy tale — but then plots revenge upon her tormentor sister.
Moon Geun-young will play Cinderella’s older sister, which ought to show us a stark contrast to Moon’s angelic image. The part is described as a villain, but the reasons for her behavior will become apparent gradually. The actress for Cinderella’s part will be confirmed soon and will be played by a newcomer. (I’m rooting for Shin Se-kyung, who is in High Kick Through the Roof and played Park Ye-jin’s younger role in Queen Seon-deok.) Since I cannot conceive of Moon playing a second lead at this point in her career, I’m going to assume that this twisted Cinderella story will actually center around the “evil” stepsister while Cinderella plays her foil. (It’s just a hunch, but there’s no way that A-lister Moon would take a backseat to a newcomer.)
Moon has been offered multiple roles over the past year (notably Dong Yi, which went to Han Hyo-joo), but has chosen to keep her focus on her studies, as she’s studying classical Korean literature at university. Cinderella Unni will premiere in March.
Via Star News
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Tags: Moon Geun-young
Interesting! Although I can’t quite imagine her sweet girl image acting as a villain. It will sure be a challenge to her as well and maybe that’s why she chose this drama. I love her in Painter of the Wind. I’ll definately watch!
omg! I loved seondeoks younger version! I’m rooting for her too. Didn’t Moon geun-young play a bad character in Brilliant Legacy? or is that just me…..
I love it already! Moon Geun Young is amazing.
Apparently MGY is going the Mishil route. Love it.
(Could be another My Lovely Pattzi?)
^ thats moon chae won but they were both in painter in the wind.
oooh it will be awesome if it’s somewhat like what WICKED was for WIZARD of OZ. that’d be interesting!
i hope she is the main character! she would be the best anti-heroine! there definitely needs to be more anit-heroes in korean dramas.
just can’t imagine how Moon would play a villain role! maybe this would be a golden chance for her to show us her brilliant acting.
I really like her but I can’t really see her as a villain. Will see…
I agree with you. I was actually surprised to see that she didn’t play the main role. After all, she had been playing mainly the main roles…
Wah, it seems like there’s going to be plenty of interesting dramas in the spring. I’m excited!
I think she’ll play the villainess role to the hilt. She’s very talented. I will have to check this out.
And I agree with you on your assumption — she’s the lead on this one; the working title suggests it. Doesn’t “unni” mean older sister? Then yup, it revolves around her.
Moon Geun-young is personally distasteful in my eyes and definetly NOT an A-list actress…
By the sounds of it her “antagonist” role seems to be supported by a durable reason-thus making her, once again the sympathetic tragic character.
Her roles never change -___- and here I was expecting some pizaaz from this lass.
Hopefully she’ll suprise me with at least her acting skill..
Shin Sekyung already got a lead drama role? good for her!
@april, you may not like MGY but she is most certainly an A-list actress. she’s in a clear class above other stars her age. don’t let your personal dislike get in the way of accuracy.
(at) greyskies
examples of an A-list actor/actress is Ahn Sungki, Song Kangho, Lee YoungAe, Choi Minshik
a young girl who still acts in kdramas is far from an A-list entertainer.
@april, well she has been labeled “Koreas little sister” and quite frankly has carried many heavy roles and has headlined a movie or two for her young age…. You’re putting her up against veteran actors so obviously that isn’t very balanced.
Anyways, I’m looking forward to seeing this story… could be a very interesting drama with lots of drama.
Like someone else said up there, the concept definitely reminds me of Wicked, which is a good thing!
And woah! Moon Geun Young has an anti!! Right here at dramabeans! LOL!
Comparing Moon Geun-young to Song Kang-ho is like comparing Dakota Fanning to Robert DeNiro. She has nowhere near the filmography, but she’s still pretty A-list. I’m actually surprised that this would be a matter in dispute; she’s probably the most well-regarded actor of her generation, and has the cachet to carry a project on her name alone.
Moon Geun Young is definitely an A-lister, a young Jodie Foster of her generation.
OOoh.. what are the chances of JGS playing the “prince” in the story?? I would love to see him and MGY acting together, wouldn’t they be amazing as a duo? And like others I hope it will be “villainess” similar to Wicked!
I’m not a huge fan of hers (something about her look just bugs the hell outta me) however, I will not let that overshadow the fact that she is very well reputed, her name itself pulls in viewers to a drama and judging by her awards and fan following, she’s a very good actress….however, she still annoys the crap outta me XD….
Hmm, you know, while I can totally buy her playing a villain and doing it well, from the summary it doesn’t really seem like she’ll end up being the villain. I mean, it really sounds like she’ll be a tormentor at first, but if the plot is going to be centered around her and if she has reasons to behave the way she behaves, then how is that different from the popular “cold-hearted person -but not really bad- shows their true colors/reveals how good they are by [insert cause: love, tragic past revealed, etc] trope?
Is this a drama or a movie? Either way, I’ll probably tune in ^^
YAY! I’m definitely watching this! I’ve been waiting for her next drama after Painter of the wind~
I think the villain role will fit her. I mean, she’s a good actress. She can pull it off. And she’s played sort of a villain character in one of her movies. I just can’t remember the name. It was about her and her sister and how they despise their stepmother. They think she’s evil and crazy things happen but it turns out it was just her imagination.
Fantastic actress! Beautiful young lady! Accomplished and rich! … now only if she would gain more weight…
@ rockee
the movie’s title is ‘a tale of two sisters’
it might end up being sort of a confessions of an ugly stepsister sort of thing… I do believe that moon will end up being the main or a milsil?? the QSD actress that sorta drove the show…
JB, you mentioned two of my most anticipated young actresses. I think Shin Se-Kyung is definitely a potential – I am impressed with the diversity of her roles so far. I don’t know if I should credit her mgmt, her, or both. lols.
Definitely keeping my eye out for this project. Love young potentials!
P.S. If there is ANY news of Moon Chae Won, please share? I’m totally loving this capable and versatile actress.
If Shin Se-Kyung gets the role, it will be the second time that they will be working together. They previously worked together on “My Little Bride”.
@ YABaddicd
JGS and MGY in a project together… that would be pretty epic….
@ april
Javabeans already pretty much addressed it… but I think most everyone would agree that MGS is one of the most versatile actresses in her generation and is definitely an A-Lister… I mean wasn’t she only like 13/14 when she starred with Kim Raewon in “My Little Bride”? She was already acting with heavyweight actors even before she was legal.
I thought her next drama was about a figure skater? But then again, if it was, the story didn’t sound that interesting to me. This one, on the other hand, sounds interesting … like My Love Pattzi where the “evil” girl is actually the one who’s kindhearted while Cinderella is the cunning one.
Moon Geun Young is my favorite Korean actress ever since Autumn Tale. She can definitely pull off any role given to her. Hopefully this drama does her talent well. She did an amazing job on Painter of the Wind. Can’t wait for this drama.
Moon Geun Young would be great, and it’d be even better if Shin Se Kyung is cast as well! She was awesome as young Princess Cheonmyung, and I’d like to see her try something a little more challenging than the slightly cardboard character she’s playing in High Kick Through The Roof.
It’s a shame that Moon Geun Young didn’t take the lead role in Dong Yi, actually. I had looked forward to watching that until I heard Han Hyo Joo was cast as Choi sookbin. As much as I like HHJ, her acting skills are nowhere near the level of MGY’s.
is it that hard to envision moon geun young taking a “backseat,” so to speak?? go hyun jung is A list and i’m not sure, but isn’t mishil a supporting character? i heard that she was supposed to play princess deok man, but she preferred mishil. and in the end her performance vastly outshone lee yo won, and i think a lot of people forgot (well, i did) that deok man is supposed to be the main character here hahaha
but since the title is cinderella’s unni, i think you are right in thinking that moon geun young will be the lead role. or it might be two girls in two leading roles, depending on the writing. since cinderella is taking revenge on her stepsister, it seems like the two girls will have roughly important characters in terms of weight.
i am SO glad that she’s doing a drama. i haven’t seen any of moon geun young’s work except her turn in autumn fairytale and some of her films. i can never get into sageuks, so i can’t comment on her most recent drama. hopefully this will be a contemporary role =]
“It’s a shame that Moon Geun Young didn’t take the lead role in Dong Yi, actually.”
She’d have to give up nearly a whole year for the role though. School beckons.
Now, I’ll tell ya what would be cool. A Hong Sisters drama with Moon Geun Young. That writes itself.
“is it that hard to envision moon geun young taking a “backseat,” so to speak?? go hyun jung is A list and i’m not sure, but isn’t mishil a supporting character?”
Yeah, that’s basically my train of thought. MGY would play the “rival” or “support” character, but she’ll be this show’s Mishil (who, technically, was a support character. thus, the debate whether Go Hyung Jung will/should win MBC Daesang for a “non-lead” character.)
Interesting but when you think about not surprising. While she shone in many works her character does tend to be all the same, its of course can not be helped as she the heroine and that just how it works. But type casting even unfairly called, is always a danger, just look at Jang Nara, who has been heavily attacked for all her roles being the same, again unfairly. So it a smart move to try a new character role for herself, even with the large risk of her fans not accepting her as the ‘baddie’ .
Never understood the ‘A list’ thing myself, seem more to do with who got the best promotional team and money behind them than anything to do with talent, so I take no notice of it. But that Korea for you talent always seem to take a back seat.
oh i am liking this. i’ve always loved fairy tales so i am quite intrigued about how this will turn out.
i am pretty neutral about MGY, i haven’t seen alot of her dramas, but it’s hard to see her as a villain with that sweet, baby face. that aside, i am more curious about the setting and genre of this drama…hoping for a dark twisted comedy, but it’s more likely to be a melodrama…
now we will see if she’s also as effectvie as a villain…
@4…
…
hahaha…reincarnation of Go Mi-shil…:D we don’t know, but for sure, maybe MGY as a villain might turn out as versatile and as femme fatale-ish as GMS…
you’re right, I noticed that also, it might be another “My Love Pat-jwi”, but this time it’s more centered on the original and well-known version, with the added nice bonus of the evil stepsister’s side of the story (along with Cinderella)…like Jang Hui-bin and Inhyeon
@19…
like your username…:) (still has YAB withdrawal…)
I don’t know about my inner something, but JGS doesn’t fit in “my” (…meaning only in my opinion, not others…) description of Cinderella’s “Prince Charming”…
Speaking of which, I didn’t know she was offered the role for Choi sook-bin!!! Even though Han Hyo-joo got the title role, I hope she the management cast her as a different character; I would’ve wanted her to play the young Queen Inhyeon (if possible; it’s like what she did in “Empress Myeongseong”, where she played the young Queen; nice thing to happen, though, since both Queens were clan relatives…)
So , if MGY is Cinderella’s eonni, at the end, won’t she be given a nice ending at all (knowing that the Cinderella & Prince Charming characters get their “lived happily ever after” ending)???
Which other young actors or actresses are good?
“Cinderella with a twist” sounds quirky. Since the contracts are being drawn up, i guess we will definitely see her on-screen soon. Moon’s talent should bring something interesting to the role. Looking forward to it.
WOOOOOO~!!!! There… I said it. I am so psyched for this drama. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I loved confessions of an ugly step-sister and my love patzzi because I seriously despise un-spunky/depthless female leads. And yes Cinderella was wonderful and angelic and all that but I hated her for not just standing up for herself. lol.
I hope she is the female lead… It’d be kind of confusing that she wasn’t. I’m sure the plot would be good too since in she (un-like KSW) has a rep of picking interesting, solid dramas.
Now all that’s left to worry about is that the male lead is not a female and was born after the advent of windscreen wipers…
I wanna see kim soohyun
Ooh, this could be fun! I’ll look forward to hearing more. (:
LOL, Shin Sekyung would fit a poor tortured Cinderella to a TEE!
I don’t care about whose the lead or whose the true heroine or the villain; I just want to see how the story unfolds! Just because a character is a “villain”, you don’t exactly have to hate that character.
Like Saranga mentioned, Mishil was so fascinating even if she was a supporting character.
But this years favorite “villain” for me goes to Kim Kang Woo as Chae Do Woo!
As long as Moon’s character isn’t a mere side character that’s always (EXTREMELY) annoying in most dramas, than I think Moon will rock this role. She’s an excellent actress, and I think this will broaden Moon’s experience in performing different roles.
Picking roles other than the “angelic lead” (acting as a boy whose lesbian got her a Daesang
)and picking different roles will surely help her be a better actress.
@Rovi:
Oh, I won’t mind if MGY didn’t get the “happily ever after” ending. Sometimes always having the “everyone becomes friends and lives happily ever after” bores me to death, and I’d prefer a more exciting and satisfying ending.
Perhaps like in Story of a Man, theres really no winner (right…?).
We got to see Do Woo’s reasons behind his lunatic personality (perhaps this will be how we get to see the reasons behinds Moon’s character being so villainous), and yet they don’t change from being a villain to a completely pitiful person (although I was on team Do Woo….). They still remain the villain (a fascinating one), but they add so much suspense!
That’s right, her movie is called “A tale of two sisters”. Thanks ana hae! But I was wrong, it’s actually the sister who imagines things and not MGY’s character. My bad. lol.
OMG! I love her!! I can’t wait for this show.. I hope she is a hard core villaness or a main heroine with major flaws… that would be totally cool to watch!! I loved all her shows and her acting is phenomenal! Looking forward to this!
@6.. Interesting thing is that Gregory Maguire actually also wrote a book called Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister! Haven’t been able to read that one yet.. but Wicked (as everyone knows) is simply amazing, so hopefully this too has just as brilliant! (:
..But of course, who knows- this drama may be completely different from the novel!
I agree with you!!! I can’t wait either!
Whether villain or the main lead…MGY will still shine….because she is a versatile young actress…very brilliant in acting that’s why she can always experiment and tackle on varying roles and characterization. Love you MGY! You are the best.
is she going to be an out and out villain or a character who was a villain at first, but became a victim when her bad deeds catch up to her? glad to see MGY take on a darker role!
Of course MGY will be the main lead of the drama… the title does speak for itself no?
I’m for one REALLY excited that MGY’s again taking up another challenging role. She was amazing in POTW and really deserved all the credit, accolades and appraisals. I personally think she has the chops to pull of a villain role.. In POTW, her role Shin Yun Bok wasn’t all out angelic or nice also… it was marred with flaws and had this inner rage inside her. So I guess if MGY pushes it further, the villain in her will definitely come out.
The downside of this is that the writer’s more of a melodrama writer (eg. Piano, Robbers)… so it may not be a fluffy or lighthearted drama for us to savor. But in the end, it all boils down to whether MGY’s good enough for us. And I 100% believe she is!
I think it’s going to be interesting; like most people, I do think MGY is an A-lister (for a person of her age, and experience). She does carry off most of her roles really well and she tends to engage the audience as much as (if not more than) her adult counterpart during her younger years (Autumn Fairytale being my case in point).
I do think she’ll end up being the lead here as mentioned above by several others, but I’m looking forward to seeing how the storyline pans out. I’m hoping more that it’ll be a villianeous character much like Moon Chae Won did hers in Shining Inheritance (I ended up liking MCW’s character Seung Mi more than the original lead), and I’m rather hoping for a no-one really wins at the end finish (or perhaps I’m just in the mood for a great tragedy the likes of King Lear).
[...] Drama Beans [...]
as of the acting… i could imagine that she will be more likely UEE’s character role in YB drama, she also possesses that same facial features, that with her sweet and innocent look and used it to play people around her palm. hehe hope she will nail the acting.
Oh very interesting~~ I’m looking forward to this drama. MGY is an excellent actress. I’m eager to see her play a villain; if it’s anything like Kim Ji Soo’s character in The Women in the Sun, wow… that would be awesome. I really like that MGY always tries to play new and different characters in her projects (sports dancer with NK accent, blind heiress, girl disguised as a male painter in a sageuk, etc); it makes me respect her a lot more. Like others mentioned above, it sounds like it’ll be an interesting fairytale twist, sort of like how Wicked was to the Wizard of Oz.
Thanks JB for the update!
By the way, JB if you didn’t know, MGY and SSK are both in the same company, Namoo Actors. They both appeared together in the film My Little Bride too. From a recent SSK interview, she was asked which entertainer she’s closest to and she said MGY. I think it’d be nice to see them act in another project together; however, I think the odds are low since SSK is filming High Kick now.
She looks ugly to me! Never like her!
Not one of my fave actresses per se. BUT! MGY is really one-of-a-kind, for an actress who reached stardom and recognition so young…I’m impressed with her mature career decisions. I hope her villain role is a hit, that’d be so awesome!
lanlan/ That’s your individual opinion. If you’re not fond of her, there’s no need for you to read and comment on her post?
Also, it’s not exactly a “villain” role like in other dramas.
Here’s a recent article: ‘신데렐라 언니’ 문근영 “악역 아니에요”
http://news.nate.com/view/20091225n02666
“악역이라고 속단하기엔 잘못 알려진 부분이 너무 많다. 매우 입체적인 인물”이라고 설명했다.
그는 “1~2부 대본만 보면 언니가 가정환경 때문에 비뚤어져 보이지만 일방적으로 동생(서우)을 괴롭히는 내용은 없다”고 선을 그었다.
@april fck you!!!! hope i can meet you and torture your fucking @ss!!!! fck you u piece of sh!t such a bullShit for telling that!!!!!!
JB, just wanted to give you the latest update on MGY’s character in Cinderella’s Sister; she’s not playing a typical 악역 (evil/villain character). The character she’s playing, Song Eun-Jo, is neither fully evil nor stupid. Eun-Jo will have the scent of a human.. 사람 냄새나는 역할. Just wanted to keep you informed. Thanks again for all your updates and hard work!!
JB, you should read this also ~~
It’s from an insider.. might be the writer herself..
http://gall.dcinside.com/list.php?id=hwawon&no=308015&page=1&bbs=
“참 태녀의 김지수는 이해되는 악녀지만 신언니의 은조는 나쁜 짓을 아예 안합니다^^”
“휴 ㅠㅠ 악역이 아니라구요 기자들이 아무것도 모르고 걍 쓴거에요 악역이라고 ㅠㅠ 환경적으로 거칠고 공주같지는 않지만 악역은 절대 아니에요 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
UGHHH. Moon Geun Young! I just cannot stand her.
Even though she’s supposed to be the villain in this drama, she’s still obviously the pitiful main character. Her roles never ever change. She said she was going for a new image. She also said she doesn’t want to be considered Korea’s younger sister anymore and that title should belong to Kim Yuna.
What pisses me off when she said that was that her words contradict her actions. Why does she pick roles that never change? She’s hardly the villain in Cinderella’s sister.
She’s not even that good of an actress. I cringed when I saw her crying seen in the drama. I felt no sympathy at all.
I’m more into Seo Woo.
She was soooo good in Tamna the Island, and Crush and Blush.
I don’t care if she’s plastic. At least she can act.