I haven’t had a chance to see the newly aired drama Friend, Our Legend [친구, 우리들의 전설], but perhaps you have. It premiered this past weekend on MBC, and has been the source of a lot of curiosity, given its cast (Hyun Bin, Kim Min-joon), director (Kwak Kyung-taek of the film), and high-profile source material (the movie Friend) which starred one of Korea’s most famous and well-liked movie actors, Jang Dong-gun. Naturally people have been prepared to draw comparisons between the two versions (and two lead actors in the main role of Dong-soo).

On the drama’s upside, the entire series has been produced in its entirety, meaning that the actors are now done filming and the production won’t be in a race to beat the clock to get the episodes on air. Furthermore, having the same director behind both projects pre-empts some of the comments that the drama is merely aping the style of its film predecessor.

Here’s an interview with Hyun Bin from last week, published just a few days before the drama’s premiere.

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This interview was released just prior to the airing of Episode 5 last Wednesday. Each cast member is featured, and while nobody goes terribly in depth, one gets a sense of the camaraderie between the actors, which is always fun to see (and read about).

There are a few super-mild spoiler-ish details, for hardcore spoilerphobes. (Nothing specific, but hints are made about the direction some relationships will take. Just a warning!)

 
“I don’t know. I just want to steal her away!”

The weather is hot enough to make one sweat even while standing still, but the view is beautiful outside the large window of Shin Hwal’s home and Bond Factory office. Youth is like that, too. Once that time passes, everything becomes difficult and painful, but watching on television, there is no more beautiful or brilliant time. Episode 5 hasn’t yet aired for MBC’s Triple, which is directed by Lee Yoon-jung, who knows better than anyone how to capture the brightest moments of youth with respect. The public’s reaction isn’t that hot yet, but mania fans are already showing a deep interest in the PD’s particular sensitive directing and unique characters. The six actors of this drama met in front of the Hongdae set location on June 24. Their careers and ages are all different, but the passion inside their hearts bubbles over in the same way; here is a new interview with the three couples.

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Are you excited for the new drama Friend, Our Legend?

If you’re not, that’s okay. I’m not, either, despite (or perhaps because of) all the hype. But there are a lot of dramas that I didn’t expect to like initially that I did in the end, so I won’t make a call until it’s aired. And that’ll be soon — with the weekend drama Strike Love meeting an ignominious end, Friend, Our Legend will be airing a little sooner than originally planned; it premieres on Saturday, June 27, on MBC.

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SBS’s Style is a fashion drama, but somehow they’ve managed to shoehorn in lead actor Ryu Shi-won’s well-known penchant for all things racing and cars.

These photos were shot on June 23 in the city of Seogwipo in Jeju Island, in which Ryu’s character goes to cover an ATV event. Originally, he was to be a skilled equestrian, but the producers decided to incorporate Ryu’s personal interest in ATV racing instead.

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Ohhhhhh! This was not expected! Queen of Housewives hottie Yoon Sang-hyun (the “thirtysomething Gu Jun-pyo”) has scored big with his follow-up project: acting opposite Yoon Eun-hye in the upcoming romantic comedy series Lady Castle.

A lot of name actors had been mentioned as possibilities for this role — I’d heard murmurs of Kang Dong-won and Won Bin, as well as Lee Dong-gun or Kim Rae-won — but in the end it’s a fresher face (although he’s the oldest out of the bunch). I’m actually really pleased with this — Yoon Sang-hyun isn’t just a pretty face, he can do both comedy and drama, and although he’s a relatively green actor, he’s got tons of charisma.

Yoon Sang-hyun is a last-minute hire; he met with producers on June 23 and after coming to an agreement, they are heading into final contract negotiations. As soon as those are finalized, he’ll enter into filming immediately. He had actually been a strong contender to head Magazine Allo — which would have also been hunky-dory with me — but because of the plagiarism accusations and subsequent scheduling delays, he chose Lady Castle. (Maybe that’s why Magazine Allo producers were particularly peeved with Style for ruining their production.)

The story of Lady Castle situates Yoon Eun-hye as as the “princess-like” middle daughter in a rich household. She crosses paths with a poor man who becomes the household manager (who secretly aims to get at the family’s hidden slush fund), and is involved in a love triangle with him and a rich man from an aristocratic family. Yoon Sang-hyun is currently in discussions over which of these two characters he will play. (Just as long as he doesn’t pull a Kwon Sang-woo and play them both!)

Writers are Yoon Eun-kyung and Kim Eun-hee (When Night Comes, Winter Sonata — meh); director is PD Ji Young-soo (Flowers For My Life — yes!).

Lady Castle will air on Wednesdays and Thursdays on KBS after Partner ends at the end of August.

Via OSEN

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