Sung Yuri squares off with Go Hyun-jung

by javabeans

Hm, this strikes me as weird casting. (Anyone else think so?)

Go Hyun-jung has already been cast as one of the two main female leads in next year’s large-scale sageuk production of Queen Seon-deok. She’d originally been cast as Queen Seon-deok (or rather, Princess Deok-man who becomes Queen Seon-deok), but her role was shifted over to the other female lead. And now Seon-deok goes to… Sung Yuri??

I have not been a fan of Sung Yuri’s acting in the past (Snow Queen, Prince’s First Love), but she did do a good job as lovable, goofy Enok in Hong Gil Dong. However, that was a fusion sageuk and a comedy, so off-kilter acting actually suited her, because it covered up her weak spots and allowed her to get a few good crying scenes (without maintaining that level of intensity throughout). It was a good fit for her. Plus she had chemistry with Kang Ji-hwan, which always helps.

Despite Sung’s improvements, however, nobody — and I mean nobody — could confuse her for Go Hyun-jung, and this sets up the role for some obvious comparisons. (It means somebody thought, “Well, Go Hyun-jung was going to be Queen Seon-deok. Who can we cast instead? Oh, I know! Sung Yuri!”) Only you can’t compare Sung to Go, no way. Had Go retired for good, like, say, her ’90s contemporary Shim Eun-ha, she’d probably currently have a similar reputation as one of Korea’s best actresses of recent years. (Well, she already has that rep, but retiring early always adds a little sheen to fame.)

Well, I won’t rule Sung Yuri out completely. But I think Chae Shi-ra‘s Empress Cheon-chu just edged ahead of Seon-deok and Princess Ja-myung in the “sageuks starring famous actresses in ass-kicking rulership roles” category.

Queen Seon-deok is being planned for 50 episodes and will broadcast early next year.

Via Star News

RELATED POSTS

• Go Hyun-jung to take on her first sageuk
• Bye-bye, Daemul
• Sung Yuri does European retro chic
• One Fine Day with Sung Yuri
• Hong Gil Dong: Episode 1