Dramabeans » Lee Seung-gi

Brilliant Legacy gets extended

javabeans — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:01:44 +0000

A drama that performs well right out of the gate is a drama the broadcast station wants to hold on to, so it’s no surprise that SBS’s Brilliant Legacy has confirmed a two-episode extension. Currently halfway through its run, the series is closing in on 30% ratings.

Furthermore, a source from the production team said on the 4th that talks are still ongoing to add another two episodes on top of that. The drama was originally planned for a 24-episode broadcast, which means that it will now end with Episode 26, and possibly Episode 28 pending the additional extension.

The drama stars young actors (in order of photo) Bae Soo-bin, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Seung-gi, and Moon Chae-won and airs on SBS on weekends.

Via Star News

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Post tags: Bae Soo-bin, Brilliant Legacy, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Seung-gi, Moon Chae-won

Idol stars struggle with acting debuts

javabeans — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:37:46 +0000

Yoon-ah, Park Su-jin

The following article looks at pop singers who make the jump to acting and kind of falls into the “No duh” category with its statement of the obvious. But I think the topic is interesting, even if the article is overly simplistic. (It could have been a more persuasive piece if it had looked at more examples, for instance.) As a jumping-off point, it does the job, given how many idol stars are trying to make the leap into acting careers these days, some with more success than others.

(...)
Read the rest of Idol stars struggle with acting debuts (647 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 44 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brilliant Legacy, Cinderella Man, Kim Hyun-joong, Lee Seung-gi, Park Su-jin, Queen Seon-deok, Yoon-ah

Brilliant Legacy leads the weekend pack

javabeans — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:29:39 +0000

Moon Chae-won, Bae Soo-bin, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Seung-gi

SBS’s Saturday-Sunday drama Brilliant Legacy [찬란한 유산, aka Shining Inheritance] is pulling in the highest ratings among the weekend dramas, with yesterday’s episode recording a 26.8%. It airs against KBS’s historical series Iron Empress (13.3%) and MBC’s Strike Love (4.1%, ouch).

Meanwhile, at an earlier hour (weekends air two hours of dramas), the lively and enjoyable Sons of Sol Pharmacy House (aka My Too Perfect Sons) on KBS is holding strong with a 21%, over SBS’s Does Anybody Love (11.3%) and MBC’s Job Well Done (aka Good Job, Good Job; this Saturday canceled its broadcast due to an hour on ex-President Roh Moo-hyun’s death, but last Sunday’s episode brought in a 10.2%).

I’m not following Brilliant Legacy/Shining Inheritance, but I know a bunch of you are, and are enjoying it. (I’m sure the good-looking young cast doesn’t hurt! Moon Chae-won and Han Hyo-joo are both improving as actors and lovely ladies — even with Han’s hair resembling a mushroom cap, although she’s cute enough that she can pull it off. Meanwhile, Lee Seung-gi is playing against type as the bad boy, while Bae Soo-bin is always handsome, isn’t he?)

I caught the first episode and thought it was okay, but it just didn’t speak to me, I suppose. I am following two other weekend shows, however, and enjoying both Strike Love for the sweet romance and Sons of Sol Pharmacy House for its hilarious comedy.

What say you about the weekend dramas?

Via My Daily, Asia Economy

Moon Chae-won’s Life is Beautiful

javabeans — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:07:44 +0000

Don’t know this face? You’ll probably be seeing a lot more of it in the future. Moon Chae-won is following up her breakthrough role as Moon Geun-young’s same-sex love interest in last year’s Painter of the Wind with a new leading role in an SBS drama, Life is Beautiful [인생은 아름다워].

Although this is a weekend series, which are typically aimed more for an older or family crowd (as opposed to the trendier fare on Monday through Thursday), Life Is Beautiful depicts the love lives of young twentysomethings and focuses its main love triangle around Moon (who plays a resilient young woman who grew up in difficult circumstances with a stepmother), singer-actor Lee Seung-gi (Happy Sunday), and Han Hyo-joo (Iljimae).

Moon Chae-won is the newest face of the main cast but, as with fellow newcomers Lee Min-ho and Park Bo-young (both of whom she’s co-starred with, in Run! Mackerel and Our School E.T.), she has experienced a sharp rise in visibility in the last half-year. I don’t think she’s as solid an actor as the other two yet, but expect Moon, Lee, and Park to form the vanguard of the new wave of rising stars.

Life Is Beautiful premieres at the end of April following Family Honor.

Via No Cut News

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Han Hyo-joo, Lee Seung-gi, Moon Chae-won

Lee Seung-gi in a four-way car accident

javabeans — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:24:49 +0000

Singer-actor Lee Seung-gi was in an auto accident on the evening of October 7 in the city of Goyang (Kyeonggi Province). When the vehicle Lee Seung-gi was riding in collided with another at an intersection, a bus was also hit along with another car, bringing the total collisions to four.

Lee was not seriously injured and went to the police station directly afterward to give his report. The cause of the crash(es) is still being investigated by police.

Lee is currently appearing on the program 1 Night 2 Days, part of KBS2’s variety program Happy Sunday. First a broken finger, now a car accident. Keep safe, dude.

Via Star News

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Casting roll call: Iljimae, Triple

javabeans — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:53:22 +0000

Lee Seung-gi has left the cast of MBC’s upcoming Iljimae, only to be replaced by… Jung Il-woo?

On July 9, his management issued the reason: “Because Iljimae kept being pushed back and will film in China for a month, it will add difficulty to his shooting for 1 Night 2 Days. His departure from the drama was achieved through mutual agreement on both sides.”

Now the two Iljimae leads will be played by Jung Il-woo and Yoon Jin-seo (Beastie Boys), which MBC plans to air in November.

I call BS, since he seemed willing enough to leave 1 Night 2 Days (which is, after all, merely a stint on a variety program versus headlining his own big-name drama) before SBS’s Iljimae came out starring Lee Junki. Perhaps they’d held out hope that SBS’s drama would flop and are now using 1 Night as their excuse to back out. MBC’s drama, directed by Goong PD Hwang In-roi, had originally boasted an advantage over SBS, securing the licensing rights to the books upon which the story of Iljimae is based, but now it’ll face an uphill battle trailing such successful competition.

That means Jung Il-woo will leave his role in MBC’s upcoming ice-skating drama Triple, directed by Coffee Prince PD Lee Yoon-jung and co-starring “luxury nose” possessor and rookie singer Min Hyo-rin (he as a speed-skater, she as a figure-skater). Triple has now been pushed back to next year.

And… I no longer care to watch Iljimae. I’d been hoping that MBC’s version would provide an interesting variation, particularly since I didn’t love the SBS version. And yet, while I would happily watch Jung Il-woo in a cast of young trendy actors doing a fluffy ice-skating drama, I really don’t think he’s gonna be able to pull off a sageuk hero.

In other casting news, Moon Sori (Legend, Forever the Moment) has been selected to lead MBC’s new weekend family drama Golden Years of My Life, also starring Lee So-yeon (Why Did You Come To Our House?). The drama is drawing attention with its writer-director combo: Surgeon Bong Dal-hee writer Lee Jung-seok and Trap of Youth PD Kwan Rok-eui. It follows the currently airing Woman of Matchless Beauty, Park Jung-geum.

Meanwhile, Seo Hyo-rim (little sis from Insoon is Pretty) has been cast with Song Hye-gyo and Hyun Bin in their upcoming KBS2 series The World They Live In, directed by Full House (and Insoon) PD Pyo Min-soo. The drama starts filming at the end of July and plans to air in November.

Finally, Moon Jung-hee, currently in SBS’s Friday drama My Sweet Seoul, has lined up her next project as SBS’s new morning drama Daughter-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law, to follow Aquarius. She’s the daughter-in-law who works through issues with the new in-laws in this “warm” family drama, starting July 21.

Via OSEN, Star News, My Daily, Sports Chosun, No Cut News

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Seung-gi – “미련한 사랑” (love that won’t let go) [ Download ]

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Post tags: Iljimae, Jung Il-woo, Lee Seung-gi, Lee Yoon-jung, Min Hyo-rin, Moon Jung-hee, Triple

News bites: May 11, 2008

javabeans — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:00:39 +0000

Jang Dong Gun recently revealed in an entertainment program segment that he’d taken a minimum fee for acting in art-house director Kim Ki-duk’s The Coast Guard in 2002. At the time (and now too) Jang commanded top dollar — several million dollars per film — but gave it up because he felt it was part of an actor’s job to appear in such films (as in, lower-budget, artistic focus). And it sure paid off.
Kim Rae Won is scheduled to appear in upcoming drama Gourmet, but is cramming in a ton of CF jobs first: aside from advertising for Chung Jung Won (food), Hang Ten (clothing) and Rinnai (appliances), he’s also in talks for apartments and telecom contracts. Capitalizing on Gourmet’s buzz, I see. The series premieres June 16.
With Lee Seung Gi cast in MBC’s Iljimae (not to be confused with Lee Junki’s drama on SBS), rumors are swirling that he’ll quit his current role on KBS’s variety show 1 Night 2 Days. Producers are saying talk of his departure is premature; facts are as yet unknown with Iljimae’s production schedule still unreleased.
Clazziquai’s Alex is taking on a radio DJ spot for MBC FM4U program Blue Night, hosted for the past two and a half years by singer Sung Shi Kyung. Alex has been busy working on his solo album, and takes over the show at the end of the month. Sung Shi Kyung leaves his spot on the show to begin activities for his upcoming sixth album, to go on sale late May or June.
Looks like The Sweet Life (La Dolce Vita) starring Lee Dong Wook and Oh Yeon Soo is headed into mania drama territory. The new drama dropped significantly from its predecessor Last Scandal of My Life’s healthy ratings and is fighting to stay afloat despite its promoted “racy” bed scene between the two leads (episode 3 posted 6.9% ratings against First Wives’ Club’s hefty 27.8%). With the drama’s dark tone, that doesn’t surprise me.
Apparently recording while rapping causes extraneous rustling noises, leading Tablo to develop a habit of recording “almost totally unclothed.” I’ll let you think about that some more on your own.

SONG OF THE DAY

MC Mong – “내 맘속 사랑을 죽이다” (Killing love in my heart) [ Download ]

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© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2008. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alex, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Rae-won, La Dolce Vita, Lee Seung-gi, mania dramas, Tablo