Dramabeans » Drama Casting & News

Kim Kang-woo to join Dong Yi

javabeans — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:35:09 +0000

Ooh. Kim Kang-woo is about to join the cast of sageuk drama Dong Yi, which stars Ji Jin-hee as Joseon’s King Sook-jong and Han Hyo-joo as water maid (Dong-yi) turned concubine (later named Sook-bin).

A production source confirmed that he has been offered the role, and the decision is 90% of the way to finalization. They expect his casting to be made official within a week’s time. Kim Kang-woo’s side gave a more cautious answer that Kim wants to do the role and is looking on it favorably, but given how both sides have responded, I think it’s looking likely.

The role would have Kim in the role of Cha Chun-soo, who is by day a coroner with the police but a core member of an underground group by night. He’s a childhood friend of Dong-yi’s older brother Dong-joo, and when the latter is killed, he promises to take care of Dong-yi and devotes his life to protecting her.

As you know, I was blown away by Kim’s performance as an ice-cold, calculating, brilliant psycho financial genius in this year’s Story of a Man. I would LOVE to see him doing a sageuk — I think his first? — in what looks like another intense role. I confess I was only half-interested in Dong Yi, but now it’s got my attention.

Dong Yi is scheduled to air in March 2010.

Via OSEN

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Han Hyo-joo, Ji Jin-hee, Kim Kang-woo

Chuno’s Lee Da-hae and Oh Ji-ho spend first night together

javabeans — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:14:18 +0000

How is it that all the stills from Chuno look so intriguing? I just hope the actual drama itself doesn’t disappoint, because I’m going to be expecting a pretty high level of quality.

These newest stills feature Lee Da-hae with runaway slave Oh Ji-ho, and are described as a “heartbreaking love scene,” although without the context, it’s a little hard to tell.

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Read the rest of Chuno’s Lee Da-hae and Oh Ji-ho spend first night together (145 words)

Smile extended to 46 episodes

soyjoy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:02:46 +0000

With its ratings approaching 20%, Smile’s run has been extended by 16 episodes from its original 30. It will air 46 episodes and wrap at the end of February.

An article announcing the extension attributes the steadily increasing ratings and popularity of Smile to its ability to provide comic relief among the many “makjang” dramas that are currently on the air. Makjang dramas such as Angel’s Temptation, which is currently airing, use sensationalist, over-the-top storylines to hook viewers—a far cry from the realistic, homey charm of Smile. The burgeoning feelings between Jung-in and Hyun-soo, as well as the comic family scenes, have given viewers “wholesome” laughs.

The series’ writer Moon Hee Jung, whose last work was on Last Scandal, has done an exceptional job so far. The plot has taken longer to develop in this series than in a 16- or 20-episode series, but there have been plenty of giggle-worthy moments to keep the pacing tight.

And there are quite a few leads that have been hinted at, but have yet to be fleshed out—ownership of the Seo house; Han-se vs. Hyun-soo; Sung-joon and Ji-soo; Ji-soo’s backstory; even Jung-in’s backstory, which we still know very little about; among others. I’ve also got a soft spot for Kyung-soo and hope he gets a chance to shine. Hopefully this gives the drama plenty of material to work through in the remaining 30 episodes, without getting draggy or detracting from its main draw, the relationship between Jung-in and Hyun-soo.

Plus, I’m an optimist at heart, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that Smile will be able to keep up its momentum–the laughs, character development and romantic tension–without having to revert to maudlin/angsty plot twists. Angst has its place, but Jung-in and Hyun-soo are such refreshing characters that I’d hate to see them fall prey to cliche!

Via Nate News

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Angel’s Temptation picks up in its timeslot

javabeans — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:31:00 +0000

After a lukewarm beginning, SBS is seeing an upswing for its makjang melodrama Angel’s Temptation, which has risen from an initial 10% to nearly double that with this week’s episodes. As a result, it has been given an extension — albeit for only one more episode. It will now end with Episode 21.

SBS tried some schedule experimentation with this drama, whose original assignment to the prime-time Monday-Tuesday hour all but consigned it to ratings hell, since rival series Queen Seon-deok has been consistently crushing its competition. SBS therefore moved Angel’s Temptation up an hour — which has never been done before — to air uncontested by other dramatic fare, instead going up against news and documentary programming. At first, results were disappointing, but thanks to quick-moving revenge plots, the drama has been steadily rising in the ratings.

This week, Angel’s Temptation finally beat KBS News, which regularly pulls in about 18% ratings, with a 19.6% to the news hour’s 18.1%. Of course, it’s difficult to compare news to dramas when the ratings as we understand them are always relative to other drama series. In comparison, Mi-shil made her big exit in Queen Seon-deok an hour later to 42.3% ratings.

Following Angel’s run will be the medical sageuk series Jejoongwon (starring Park Yong-woo, Han Hye-jin, and Yeon Jung-hoon), on January 4. No definite word is out yet about which hour Jejoongwon will air in, but its staff is anticipating a return to the normal prime-time schedule, as Seon-deok will be over by year’s end.

Via SBS, Sports Khan

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Post tags: Angel's Temptation, drama ratings

First stills for Will It Snow On Christmas

javabeans — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:15:41 +0000

First stills are out for the upcoming SBS series Will It Snow On Christmas, which feature star Han Ye-seul dressed up to attend her character’s engagement party.

In the drama, she is the first love to Go Soo’s character, but the two separate in their youths and she becomes engaged in this scene to Song Jong-ho. Go Soo attends the ceremony to take the place of a sick friend and sees her there, shocked to recognize his childhood friend. These scenes were filmed on October 26 at an outdoor cafe in Yangju, Kyeonggi-do.

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Read the rest of First stills for Will It Snow On Christmas (137 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 31 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Go Soo, Han Ye-seul, Will It Snow On Christmas

Overseas fans surprise Lee Junki with good-luck cranes

javabeans — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:57:53 +0000

This is sweet (and yay for overseas fans, yet again): in anticipation of Hero’s broadcast premiere tomorrow, overseas fans have shown their support for lead actor Lee Junki in the form of 30,000 origami cranes.

The fan gifts arrived on November 17 at Hero’s Seoul filming location in a truckload containing fifteen boxes. Lee Junki had been taking a brief break from filming at the time of arrival, and hearing that they’d come from his overseas fans, he opened the boxes himself to confirm the sight.

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Read the rest of Overseas fans surprise Lee Junki with good-luck cranes (141 words)

Ji Jin-hee and Han Hyo-joo pair up in Dong Yi

javabeans — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:42 +0000

Ji Jin-hee, most recently of KBS’s j-drama adaptation The Man Who Can’t Get Married, has been cast to be Han Hyo-joo’s leading man in the upcoming MBC sageuk drama Dong Yi [동이].

This’ll be the second time Ji teams up with PD Lee Byung-hoon, with whom he first worked in the hugely successful Dae Jang Geum. PD Lee also directed several other hit sageuk series such as Heo Jun and Yi San.

Ji Jin-hee will play Joseon-era King Sook-jong, portraying both the leadership skills of the king as well as the pure heart and affection of the man. Han Hyo-joo is to play Sook-bin, a water maid who becomes the king’s concubine and bears him a son, a future Joseon king.

Han has been playing more mature roles as she transitions from rookie actress to leading lady, but this is still a pretty wide age gap — 16 years, as Han is 22 and Ji is 38. I tend to find age gaps less of an issue with sageuk dramas, so I’m keeping my mind open for the pairing, although the thought of Han taking on another sageuk makes me nervous. (She’s improved a lot in her short career, but I don’t think sageuk is her thing, and I thought her turn in Iljimae was one of her weaker performances.) Of course, as we know, his role in Dae Jang Geum makes Ji no stranger to the historical epic.

Dong Yi will air next March on MBC.

Via Joy News

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 30 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dong Yi, Han Hyo-joo, Ji Jin-hee