With only nine days left till its premiere, MBC’s Hero finds itself in a precarious position: It’s looking likely that lead actress Kim Min-jung will have to drop out due to injury.

According to a production representative on November 2, Kim Min-jung expressed her intention to drop out to producers on October 31, forcing the production team to convene over the weekend for a last-minute strategy session in order to figure out how to handle the situation.

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We’ve seen the cast of upcoming Wednesday-Thursday drama Hero posing separately (Kim Min-jung, Lee Junki, Eom Ki-joon), and now they pose together as three newspapermen and one police officer.

The new cast promo photos feature, from left to right, Eom Ki-joon (Job Well Done), Baek Yoon-shik (Jeon Woo Chi), Lee Junki (Iljimae), and Kim Min-jung (Strike Love). The one below also includes actress Shin Joo-ah (Hey Hey Hey 2).

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Actress Kim Min-jung (New Heart), who came onboard Hero after Han Ji-min dropped out, has a new look for the drama, one meant to draw out her professional side as a female cop. On the one hand, I think Kim is a talented actress who looks cute with the short style, but on the other, I don’t know why dramas think that an unflattering short haircut is the best way to make a woman look “serious.” It didn’t really work for Song Hye-gyo in The World They Live In, who adopted a similarly blunt bowl cut in the name of “professionalism.”

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Hero, MBC’s upcoming drama and Lee Junki’s next television role, has lost Han Ji-min as its leading lady and picked up Kim Min-jung (New Heart) in her place. It has also cast Ji Chang-wook, newly famous from his role as youngest brother Mi-pung in KBS’s Sons of Sol Pharmacy.

This’ll be a great opportunity for Ji Chang-wook to jump from one high-profile project to another, and change his image as well. In Sol Pharmacy, he’s a tender-hearted nice guy, but in Hero, he’ll play a “spiteful” and “opportunistic” reporter with a chip on his shoulder and a propensity for lying. (This probably sets him up as a natural rival to Lee Junki’s character, who works as a reporter at a third-rate newspaper. And then there’s also the “elite” reporter played by Eom Ki-joon…) Ji said, “In order to gain respect for my acting, I have to take on diverse characters and broaden my acting spectrum.”

Hero (the articles note that “Hero” is still a working title) will enter filming once it has completed casting its supporting actors. It will follow Heading to the Ground on MBC in November. Its cast has me curious (also listed on the roster is Bbaek Ga) more than the plot, but this could be an interesting series.

Via Sports Khan, OSEN

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• Strike Love (MBC)

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I haven’t written (yet?) about the latest episodes of MBC’s baseball drama Strike Love [2009 외인구단], but I’m still watching, and I’m still enjoying it. This couple — Yoon Tae-young and Kim Min-jung — is probably the biggest reason I’m sticking with it, because they are so sweet and adorable together, in addition to both being good actors.

The drama isn’t really new or incredibly original, but it’s kind of like really well-cooked comfort food. The romantic pairing is obvious from the start, but acted with chemistry and sweetness, while the athletic match-up is also a little predictable but still enjoyable to watch. The antagonist tends to be one-dimensional — but he’s the kind you love to hate, because our hero will have his day and when that happens, it will be so satisfying to watch.

The production opened up its Kyeonggi province set on May 22 while it filmed “training hell” sequences for the drama.

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