A few more brains for Brain
by javabeans
KBS medical drama Brain is finally locking in its cast (again), and has finalized the casting of one male lead in Shin Ha-kyun and its female lead in Choi Jung-won. They’ve got no time to spare, with the drama set to premiere in early November, leaving them with just one month to begin filming.
The production’s earlier excuse that its first cast seemed “too young” still rings false to me; I think what they meant was more that they wanted more starpower, more heft. Which, we know, doesn’t always come with age. Because with Shin Ha-kyun onboard (The Front Line, Thirst, Cafe Noir), they’re clearly going for more gravitas, and now the White Tower comparisons are starting to be bandied about. If you want someone on par with Kim Myung-min, you’ve gotta go after the heavy hitters.
Shin Ha-kyun will play Lee Kang-hoon, who graduated from the top medical school, works at the top hospital, and is the top neurosurgeon around. Basically, he’s Brain No. 1. (And he works on brains, too!) He’s motivated not by a devotion to his work but an ambition for success, which is probably both his greatest flaw and strength, since it makes him steely and fierce.
Choi Jung-won is only two years older than Yoon Seung-ah and I wouldn’t call her a more serious actress, but she’s certainly much more known, having starred in a number of popular dramas (Infamous Chil Sisters, Kingdom of the Wind, Wish Upon a Star). I’m actually rather wary of her taking on a role like this, since I’d found her kind of bland until she burst out of her prior image in Wish Upon a Star, where she showed her bubbly, endearing rom-com side. Having just reinvented her image, I hope she doesn’t recede into her former role as Pretty Cardboard Character.
Choi’s Yoon Ji-hye character grew up in an ordinary family, and since she’s the eldest daughter, I’m guessing she grew up pretty self-sufficient. She’s extremely strict in matters of work and study, but has a warm bedside manner with her patients.
Brain still has a number of empty slots needing to be cast, which includes Shin Ha-kyun’s rival as well the sunbae who starts him on his new, warmer and fuzzier path. That is, if the drama didn’t totally throw out the baby with the bathwater and ditch its own plot along with its first cast.
Funny enough, it takes the airwaves after another drama that lost its initial cast (though under less questionable circumstances), Poseidon. It’ll air on Mondays and Tuesdays on KBS.
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- A day on the set with Choi Jung-won
Tags: Choi Jung-won, Shin Ha-kyun
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1 Ahjummoni
September 29, 2011 at 5:23 AM
Too much BTS!!!!
ohh well.....
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2 Arhazivory
September 29, 2011 at 5:42 AM
And if it follows on the heels of the last two Mon/Tues KBS dramas, it'll have a ratings slump. I guess they want it to be as much of a heavy-hitter as possible, to rescue it from the slot's current demise.
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3 etee7114
September 29, 2011 at 6:05 AM
I don't know what it is but I'm still not motivated to give this drama try.
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4 Sly
September 29, 2011 at 6:21 AM
Yoh! It's Shin Ha-kyun! This drama is saved! =D
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Quti
September 29, 2011 at 9:19 AM
And I like CJW, too.
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5 Diaz
September 29, 2011 at 6:24 AM
A cool-perfect man vs warm-ordinary girl. . .actually I'm too bored w/ the concept like this. . But, bcz it is a medical drama, i will try it then :)
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6 biankoy
September 29, 2011 at 6:27 AM
I Love Choi Jung Won! I hope after all the negative things that took place this drama would still end up well.
Choi Jung Won Fighting!!
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7 fionnula
September 29, 2011 at 7:37 AM
I can't stand Choi Jung-won. She wasn't too bad in Wish Upon a Star but she was actually the most depressing character in Kingdom of Winds. Sorry but Brains is out for me.
I think I'll stick with my three Korean dramas of the season - Gye Baek, King Gwanggaeto the Great and A Thousand Kisses. Brilliant dramas! But each about 50 episodes long. That should be enough, shouldn't it?
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Shiku
September 29, 2011 at 11:01 AM
Gye Baek is sadly only 32 eps and I agree she was the most depressing character in KOW.
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8 lovepark
September 29, 2011 at 7:38 AM
My hopes have exponentially shot up. Shin Ha-kyun and Jung Jin-young in the same drama, I'm sold in the acting department! I really hope the pd and writer don't waste the talents they finally got and flounder with such amazing actors.
After all that behind the scene fiasco the production team created, I hope things stick and click!
Fighting to Shin, Jung, Choi, and all the others soon to come onboard!
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9 diorama
September 29, 2011 at 7:53 AM
Ummm...cold, ambitious brilliant surgeon, warmer caring counterpart...it sounds waaay too much like White Tower. And White Tower was brilliant, so I don't think this drama can come close unless it takes a different angle on the story.
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MJ
September 29, 2011 at 9:36 AM
I agree with you on your comment.
Maybe the drama title should be change to White Tower 2: the continuation and kill the drama title BRAIN.
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10 ck1Oz
September 29, 2011 at 7:57 AM
Err...excuse me I can Google White Tower but why is that being bandied around?
I am only asking as it's my viki drama and I am contemplating whether to have this drama or not for softsubs. I mean it doesn't seem as if anyone is interested and I haven't watched any of the cast so far in any of their previous dramas.
You guys are making me afraid.
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ck1Oz
September 29, 2011 at 8:05 AM
NVM ignore what I said..I've just read the cast bio.Unless some of the adult subbers like this drama..this isn't going to be subbed no idol power :-(
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Shiku
September 29, 2011 at 11:03 AM
I guess Idols makes the k-drama world go round. Sad for the unknowns.
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11 Cynthia
September 29, 2011 at 8:59 AM
I really loved CJW in Wish Upon a Star - but this casting for her worries me.
It's fairly obvious that her niche is rom/com genre, and I'm pretty sure Brains isn't gonna have much laughing or fun in the plot, but perhaps her acting has developed over the past few years and she'll do well in this?
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12 MJ
September 29, 2011 at 9:51 AM
In my opinion KBS medical drama Brain (start date: 14-NOV-2011) will be pulling single-digit ratings once its starts to air after Poseidon ends on 08-NOV-2011.
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13 Carinne
September 29, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Neurologists are busy people, I know 'cos my sister requires visits semi-annually since the day she was born, and every visit is packed full of out-patients.
If it's anything dynamic as OBGYN then I'll get hooked right away. I'm very interested in seeing what kind of patients will get treatment and how amazing those patient actors shine through their challenges. This must be one of those shows where you think the M.D.s are stars or gods however I believe the patients are more great.
We'll see?...
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14 Princess61
September 29, 2011 at 11:25 AM
I have to admit, I had to do a quick double take when I first saw the photo on this post--I thought it was Kang Ji Hwan (Lie To Me). I'll probably tune in on the first episode, more out of curiousity. I haven't watched a K-medical drama yet but I do like them (i.e., Grey's Anatomy). So hopefully, despite all the drama surrounding it, it's a good one.
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Princess61
September 29, 2011 at 11:30 AM
By the way, anyone watching A Thousand Kisses? I've never watched a 50-ep drama but this one, I really like and was hooked early on. The pairing of Kim So Eun and Ryu Jin was pure brilliance. I love their chemistry and seeing how sweet they are towards each other as they slowly start to express their love for one another. Eps 13-14 air this weekend but the subbed eps are up to Ep 9. Does anyone know of another site where subbed eps are up to date? Thanks! :)
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aznative
September 29, 2011 at 3:54 PM
I replied to your post (for the 3rd time now) hope it goes through this time. Try Drama Crazy for A Thousand Kisses.
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MJ
September 29, 2011 at 9:54 PM
Try the following:
1. MySoju.com Feeding your drama addiction...
http://www.mysoju.com/
Note for mysoju.com: Simply just click the quick links, the drama list will load right away.
Example: click on Korean Dramas and scroll down until you find A Thousand Kisses
2. Dramacrazy.net - Watch Asian Drama Online
http://www.dramacrazy.net/drama-index/
See Quick Links. Click on Korean Drama. See the letter "A" under this letter you will find A Thousand Kisses
3. The DramaStyle - watch drama & movie
http://www.dramastyle.com/drama/
4. Drama Fever - Watch popular Korean dramas for free, the best of kdramas
http://www.dramafever.com/
dramafever does not have A Thousand Kisses yet. However, you can watch other kdrama titles.
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MJ
September 29, 2011 at 10:18 PM
I forgot to mention Viki See the best of world TV, movies and pop culture in your language. ViKi is now the world's biggest and fastest 'fan-subbing' collaboration hub!
http://www.viki.com/
Click on TV. Click on Korea (357). See Feature click on More that is underlined.
Scroll down to the end of the page. You will see numbers inside the individual squares those are page #'s that you can click on. Or, you can also click on the retangular box that has the word NEXT with a right arrow that will take you to the next page.
You can also do a search just type in TV or Movie in the box were you see the magnifier symbol.
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MJ
September 29, 2011 at 10:27 PM
I also forgot to mention AsianCinematic.com
Home ... At AsianCinematic.com, we hope to share our rabid fascination and enjoyment of Asian films and dramas with everyone.
http://www.asiancinematic.com/
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Princess61
September 29, 2011 at 11:04 PM
Thanks everyone for the info! Most helpful! :)
MJ
September 30, 2011 at 10:03 AM
If you are interested detailed information on movies & tv-shows from the Asian region including China, Japan, and South Korea. Also, detailed information on the actors, actresses, and directors that take part in those productions.
Look at the following:
1. Main Page - Asian Media Wiki
South Korean TV Shows in the Spotlight "Poseidon". The Musical" "Ojakgyo Family" "
http://asianmediawiki.com/Main_Page
2. DramaWiki - The purpose of this site is to provide English readers a reference repository for Asian television entertainment that use the following Eastern Asian languages: Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Japanese and Korean. TV dramas, artists, singers, directors and screenwriters related to Eastern Asian language TV drama series are included.
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Main_Page
PS: I use the two websites to look up the actors and upcoming television drama
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15 Ace
September 29, 2011 at 1:33 PM
At first I was kinda happy that SSH turned down this drama, but now that Choi Jung-won's onboard, I would have liked to see them together. I think they would've been cute together. Since I'm not really into the plot of this drama, maybe the pretty would induce me to watch (not that it's working with Poseidon. And I'm trying so hard to like it for Siwon & LSY) ;)
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Biscuit
October 2, 2011 at 5:06 PM
Both found their places in Rom-com so I don't think neither of them should be in this drama. It would've been cute if it was something lighter, but I doubt if this drama is going serious, there won't be any more cute then yawns.
OT: Funny that recently a good group of Hallyu stars (Kim Tae Hee, Choi Ji Woo, SSH, etc) that had mega hit dramas happened to be serious melodramas, yet they were somewhat bland in the acting department. But when they turned to Rom-coms, it's like their acting took a shot up and only then did they get good reviews on their acting :/
Their hits were melos, but they were totally meant for rom-coms.
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16 ar_arguably romantic
September 29, 2011 at 3:35 PM
I feel bad for the actors/actresses and crew already. It's going to be like an hour of sleep a night from episode 3 onwards. And I also feel like scripts abt the medical profession are harder to turn out since you would need to have someone on board to verify whether the disorder illness is plausible, how the patients should be treated, etc.
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17 aznative
September 29, 2011 at 3:48 PM
I really love Shin Ha-kyun in "Harvest Villa", which I'm watching now on Drama Fever (the only thing I've seen him in). I've only seen Choi Jung-won on "Wish Upon a Star", she was ok as I recall. Plan to watch "Brain" if DF or Viki air it.
I watched "Wish..." mainly for Sin Dong-wook. Speaking of whom, does anyone know how his health is? He was discharged early from the Army because of diagnosis of CRPS according to HanCinema in late August.
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18 Biscuit
October 2, 2011 at 4:58 PM
If there's any thing good out of this, at least he isn't a genius?
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