I’m a little surprised at this, but not in a bad way: Rumors are swirling that Moon Geun-young will take the lead in a new figure-skating-themed drama series, Can’t Lose [질 수 없다]. (Her management confirmed that she is considering the role but hasn’t made a final decision yet.)

I’d heard about Can’t Lose back at the beginning of the year as part of the crop of sports dramas this year, but at that point it had been another skating-related drama, Triple, that drew more attention. But it seems that Can’t Lose may be more sports-focused than Triple (which I find charming, but not particularly keen on the sports angle). Can’t Lose is prepping for a late 2009 broadcast and is sure to experience a sharp rise in visibility as it heads into pre-production. It will be directed by Hwang Jini’s (drama, not film) PD Kim Chul-kyu.

I’m curious to see how well Moon can pull off a skating character. Min Hyo-rin spent nearly a year of intense skating training (up to 9-10 hours a day) to pull off her role in Triple (which I think she does a pretty good job at), but I haven’t heard anything about Moon’s skill level. It’s also known that she is taking acting roles sparingly and filming only during breaks from school (she’s studying Korean literature at university), which is how she filmed last year’s period drama Painter of the Wind, for which she took home a Daesang Award (the grand acting prize) at the SBS drama awards.

Can’t Lose has been in the works for a while; the writer Kim Byung-sae (not the actor) had begun meeting with figure skaters two years ago and studied the sport in depth. The drama doesn’t yet have a slot on a broadcasting station schedule, but with these names attached (if Moon confirms, that is), I’m sure it’ll find one in no time.

Via Star News

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Moon Geun-young (Tale of Two Sisters, Painter of the Wind) celebrated her 22nd birthday with a group of 700 fans, and it sure looked like she had a good time.

The birthday fanmeeting took place on May 2 in Seoul at Moon’s current school, Sungkyunkwan University, where she studies Korean literature. Moon Chae-won, with whom Moon Geun-young acted in Painter of the Wind, was also a special guest at the fanmeeting.

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New Actress winner Park Bo-young

Awards!

The 45th Baeksang Arts Awards were held on the evening of February 27, which means: lots of awards for film and television stars, and lots of clothes to gawk at.

There were no real surprises in the winners list; they’re mostly a variation of the same lists we’ve been seeing from the other ceremonies in the winter awards season. Some film winners include A Movie is a Movie and My Dear Enemy, while acting honors went to many of the Daesang winners from earlier awards, like Kim Myung-min, Moon Geun-young, and Sohn Ye-jin. Oh, and a little actor going by the name of Lee Min-ho took home one of the newcomer awards — but a stumble on the red carpet keeps him humble.

Check out all the winners (and the clothes!) beyond the jump:

Yeah, this page might take a while to load >>

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“Teacher Moon Geun-young”

Painter of the Wind actress and “Korea’s Little Sister” Moon Geun-young has once again donated money (100 million won), this time toward a library serving the Korean community in Sydney, Australia.

The Han Geul Library provides Korean-language books for Korean children, and Moon has been involved in personally sending the library books for the past four years, but the news is just coming to light now.

She sent so many books over the years that the library actually ran out of room in the small private garage from which it had been operating. Hearing this, Moon got in contact with her uncle, who lives in Sydney, and last November a building was constructed using her 100 million won donation.

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Lee Min-ho and Kim Bum of “Boys Before Flowers”

Wow, that’s kind of fast — only three weeks into the drama and already a Baeksang nomination.

Both Kim Bum and Lee Min-ho of KBS’s Boys Before Flowers are up for the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards in the same category (new actor). (Kim Bum’s nomination, however, comes for his four-episode turn playing young Dong-chul in MBC’s East of Eden.) They’re also nominated in the popularity award category.

As much as I like Lee Min-ho’s portrayal of Jun-pyo, I think Kim Bum’s performance in East of Eden was more award-worthy — but they’ve got pretty good competition: Eom Ki-joon (The World They Live In), Lee Sang-woo (First Wives Club), and Jung Kyeo-woon (Women in the Sun).

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