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Mnet’s new youth music drama begins casting


Jinyoung, Henry

It’s been a while since cable station Mnet announced that it would be following up its high school music drama Monstar with a new series in the same mold, but it looks like casting has finally begun on the project, called Persevere, Gu Hae-ra. (In Korean, the title is a turn of phrase that means literally, Fail seven times, succeed on the eighth, meaning to be dogged and persevere. They stuck a gu for “nine” into the phrase to get a 7-8-9 pun, which also turns the last bit of the phrase into the heroine’s name.)

Monstar was filled with idols too, so it comes as no surprise that they’re looking to idol singers and reality audition program contestants as their talent pool, though we’ll likely see some rookie actors joining the mix as well. First up is Jinyoung of idol group B1A4, who has been cast as one of the drama’s leads. He made his acting debut in the short tvN miniseries Elegant You, and then scored a role opposite Shim Eun-kyung in the movie Miss Granny (where he was pretty adorable as the hapless rocker grandson who didn’t know he was crushing on his own grandma).

He’ll play one of two twin brothers who are caught in a love triangle with the heroine, and neither his twin brother nor their leading lady has been cast yet. The drama will be about the heroine who doesn’t have the right qualifications to make it into a talent agency, who dreams of letting her father’s posthumous work be known to the world. The drama will begin with all three leads’ entry into the reality audition program Superstar K2, and follow their coming-of-age stories.

The audition setting would explain the production team, mostly from variety shows: Directing are the PDs of Superstar K and Dancing 9, and the writers are from variety shows like Real Men and Music Bank, and the sitcom Nonstop.

Secondary cast members will include: idol Henry of Super Junior-M playing a cute and quirky genius musician, Park Kwang-sun of the band Ulala Session (winner of Superstar K3) as the sixteenth-generation only son of a house of generals, and Yoo Sung-eun (of Voice of Korea) as a shy singer with a complex about her looks.

Persevere, Gu Hae-ra plans to premiere in January.


Yoo Sung-eun, Park Kwang-sun

Via Joy News

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Henry!!

Love that kid, thought he was the lead for a second.

Anyway, can any one tell me if Monstar was worth watching? I checked out the first 2 episodes but it wasn't that engaging, wondering if it got any good later on - that and I'm on a Kang Ha Neul high at the moment lol

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Monstar is actually a very very good drama..the leads r adorable

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Drama is good but the ending sucked big time! I hate open endings.. I find them much worse than a sad ending!

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I would say the first half is definitely worth watching. It reaches it climax half way through, then didn't really know what to do with the second half.

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I would say not to waste your time with Monstar. The pacing was incredible at times but then nearing the second half/end of the series the writers seriously left so many unanswered questions it's ridiculous...there was no conclusion to the drama however the performances by Yong Jun-hyung, Ha Yeon-soo, and Kang Ha-neul were all very good.

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I thought it was worth watching - esp if you really like one of the main actors like Kang Ha Neul. Just don't have too much expectation.

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I will be watching it just for him...but the reviews have me rather unexcited.

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the drama was good only i hate the ending since i went cuckoo for kang ha neul haha

totally recommended! :))

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the first 7 episodes until the first battle is great.

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I see they casted a real genius to play the role of a genius lol

Looking forward to it, monstar was a guilty pleasure of mine

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Woa i was thinking exactly the same when i saw the picture and i new he would be a genius more than sure jaja
On other note,i was very exited from the first moment i read about the show starting the casting and curious about who will join the final round up of cast..loved Monstar and was waiting for the new project they said way back they will release..and now i also found out what the name was meaning...i guess we are for a many rounds of rejection for our heroine...hope the girl cast will be a good choice,maybe a newbie...also the twins i guess they are fraternal...

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Disjointed thoughts:
haha the boy who just wants to sing as the odd one out in a military family? That should be a drama in and of itself.

This girl better have a superiority complex 'cause otherwise I call bull. And is it just me or could she and Yoo Inna play sisters?

Is he wearing a hoop earing?!?! ... *facepalm* I dunno who he is but I like his face otherwise.

While we're casting idol singers who won SuperstarK: *chants* "Almeng! Almeng! Almeng!" ...but in their own drama. A miniseries perhaps? Because I'm not watching this.

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I thought it was an earpiece (headphone) rather than an earring that he had?

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I don't know one of those people but I guess that because I don't follow k pop but I did love monster and I didn't know any of that cast at the time.

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jin young! he was great in She Is WOW...

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Henry!! He's a real music genius!! And I'm sure they'll make him speak English for the "cool" factor :D

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For Jinyoung and Henry, I'm tuning into this for sure

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Lol at "casting genius for genius role".

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I'll watch this for Henry. He's so adorable. But I didn't know he could act, I thought his Korean was still improving. But, I hope he does well!

Why do these types of shows about young people wanting to become singers always seem to cast competition winners with no acting experience? Just to fill roles? Why not just cast idols?

Still, I do like these types of shows. Looking forward to it!

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It's definitely cheaper to cast newbies and MBC is probably trying to promote their variety shows through this as well.

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Henry's already got a movie in which he was the lead under his belt, I didn't watch it but I remember reading somewhere that he received praise from his costar for his acting or something so he should do fine :)

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I love Henry soo watching this good or Bad <3

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Jinyoung and Henry....will tune in to see if they can act. I haven't seen them do anything before and I haven't seen Monstar but I'm curious enough to tune in.

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for Jinyoung I would say Yes he can :D saw "Mrs. Granny" (Movie) with him and I was positive surprised :D so later I checked ou "She is wow" .. sadly the Drama wasn´t for me .. but what I saw in clicking through it JY wasn´t bad there either.. but for Henry I´m also really curious XD

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Jinyoung <3 can´t wait to see him in a Drama again <3 (wonder who they will cast as the twin) XDand Henry .. so cool .. I´m really curious about his acting :D

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Ms. Granny was super good and I recommend everyone to watch it, gives me hope for more actordols and this drama!

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They should consider casting at least 1 high-profile idol. Monstar had JunHyung from Beast. And Kang Haneul has a musical-actor background, so we could count on his acting. I'll probably wait for it to finish airing and see what the general consensus is before committing to it.

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Jinyoung is in B1A4. And Henry is widely respected as a member of Super Junior - M. It's high profile already.

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Henry's the current darling of the Korean public who generally don't care about Super Junior, so he's pretty high profile as is.

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Kim Ji Won has a musical background!!!

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Honestly she probably has the chops and reputation to move on to bigger projects than something like this.

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Finally Jinyoung! Im happy to see him again in a drama. He is quite talented. Good at acting and I think he is also composing music for his own group. So a full package.

Henry and violin. Enough said.

Kwangsun is a great singer.

So far they brought some really talented people to the drama. Hope they will continue with this and crossing my fingers that the drama is watchable.

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heck yeah I'm watching this... of course it's because of Henry, saying otherwise would be lying. I don't know jinyoung and anybody else so can't say it's for them, and the story isn't ALL THAT innovative so it's not entirely that either. Henry is what I'm hoping to see and I hope he pulls through for me with acceptable acting, jajaja I <3 him but I don't know if asking him to be an acting genius when a lot of people consider him to be a musical one is wise xD people have to have some failing to be human otherwise they are robots. I am hoping that he is decent so that he can get more jobs and then with time and experience become a great actor.

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Yeah, Jinyoung! I'll check this one out. Haven't gotten around to watching Jinyoung's previous short drama and movie yet and really happy that he's in this. The guy is talented in his field - he composes many songs for his group B1A4 and his song came in second in a variety program where they get some really reputable composers to make a song where it's sung by the same singer.

His looks remind me a little of Lee Jong Suk (small face pretty cheekbones and all) so would be convincing to me if they play brothers. Not twins though. I'm pretty familiar with B1A4 since their debut and my observation is there are instances when he is reminding me more and more of LJS - looks and mannerisms wise.

And Henry, that guy's face seems to belong to dramaland. Not as a lead but certainly fits in a drama comfortably. The way he talks and his expressions give me confidence that he'll likely do well acting. Hope my guess is right though.

So yeah, this drama is in my radar.

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Yay for Henry and Jinyoung! Love them both ❤

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Yoo Sung Eun looks like she could be related to Uhm Tae Woong.

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Lol it wouldn't be a drama without the GEEEEENNNIIUUUSSS talent in there somewhere. I swear - if reality was legitimately based off korean dramas, i would have a complex as to why I'm not a genius too :P

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I could be a genius at being as "ungenius" as possible hahaha

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I think jinwoon of 2am would be good in this role :D

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Yes for Jinyoung, i'm expecting him to compose some of the songs that will be use in the drama as he's a composer and producer himself
and he's pretty decent at acting

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i was more excited by the fact that the writers also did Nonstop...haha...that show was awesomeness...

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Anyone notice that the heroine's dad in Monstar was deceased too?

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yes for Jinyoung! for those who didn't know him, he had some acting experience acting in Miss Granny and She Is Wow. i didn't watch Miss Granny yet but he really surprised me in SIW . first because i didn't expect him to choose drama with that kind of storyline(but i really enjoyed the script hehe) and second because his character was 180 degree different from his real life personality. Gong Mingyu was the total opposite of Jung Jinyoung yet he managed to pull it off.

and don't let his idol title fool you, he is actually a composer and producer. he has wrote a lot of songs for his group B1A4 and he is a good singer too. i hope they will get him to write OST for the drama. if you are reading this, you would have know that i am a BANA, B1A4 fan Jinyoung is my bias(not sorry hehe) i hope that the drama would do well.

p/s- today is Jinyoung's birthday. happy birthday to you halbae leader-nim ^^

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I wish dramabeans would recap this show. I haven't really watched Monstar but I enjoyed the recaps. I love both Henry and Jinyoung oppa though I haven't seen them acting yet. Both are great musicians and I am expecting them to be good actors as well. So I am all ready to welcome the show with open arms. Bring it on.

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I love Jinyoung and his acting is solid so I'm looking forward to him. Henry hasn't acted before but i swear that guy knows how to do EVERYTHING so i'm sure he'll do great.
"the heroine who doesn’t have the right qualifications to make it into a talent agency, who dreams of letting her father’s posthumous work be known to the world."
As soon as I read this i immediately thought of the Taiwanese drama 'Rock n' Road" (love that drama). maybe a slight rip-off form there? except in RnR, the male lead is a music producer!

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Ahh..it's random but i like high school love on,so i think sung yeol of infinite will fit any role in this musical drama because his acting in his webtoon-love potential and high school love on is good,beyond my expectation.

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pls recap this.. the drama is good

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