News bites: April 17, 2013

by javabeans

Casting news galore! And do I mean galore:

• Lee Soo-hyuk (Vampire Idol, Tree With Deep Roots) joins the cast of KBS’s revenge melodrama Shark. It’s the show that stars Kim Nam-gil as a man on a revenge mission against the family that destroyed his own. Again, I mean, since we’ve already seen Bad Guy. Lee Soo-hyuk helps out our heroine, Sohn Ye-jin, as they work on cases together; she’s a prosecutor, he’s a cop. He’s a nice guy and an eom-chin-ah, a word meaning the guy you want to bring home to mom. In a world full of vengeful plotters and anti-heroes, that means he’s headed for a world of hurt, right? [Source: Chosun]
• Also cast in Shark: Moon/Sun’s Nam Bora, playing Kim Nam-gil’s younger sister. The drama had previously considered casting KARA idol Gu Hara; the role is of a pure-hearted and aegyo-filled character with a bright personality… until the drama crushes the joy out of her life, I expect. Okay, the description doesn’t specify doom in her future, but we’ve all seen dark revenge melos, right? Nobody leaves unscathed. [Source: My Daily]
• It’s back to Hollywood for Bae Doo-na: Having worked with the Wachowski siblings once before in Cloud Atlas, she has signed on to another project with them, Jupiter Ascending. It’s a sci-fi flick starring Mila Kunis in the lead and co-starring Channing Tatum: “In a universe where humans are near the bottom of the evolutionary ladder, a young destitute human woman is targeted for assassination by the Queen of the Universe because her very existence threatens to end the Queen’s reign.” I can’t decide if that sounds awesome or terrible. [Source: Star News, IMDB]


Shin So-yool, Lee Sang-yoon, Yoon Seung-ah

• Confirmed: Lee Sang-yoon (My Daughter Seo-young) will be joining MBC sageuk Goddess of Fire Jung-yi alongside Moon Geun-young, as was rumored. She plays Joseon’s first potter, he plays Gwanghae-gun, 15th king of Joseon. [Source: Chosun]
• Maybe Yoon Seung-ah (Panda and Hedgehog) will have better luck with her newly announced role in SBS’s Empire of Gold. Brought to you by the same writer-PD combo as the hit drama The Chaser, the drama has already locked in several cast members from that show (such as Sohn Hyun-joo) and has been courting Lee Yo-won and Go Soo for the leads. While they have yet to confirm, everybody’s already labeling Yoon Seung-ah’s role as “Go Soo’s younger sister,” so either he’s really, really close to signing or we’re all jumping the gun. But Go Soo in another dramatic thriller? My favorite kind of Go Soo. Sadly, Yoon Seung-ah’s character does not share my love for him, because although oppa sent her to college and she pursued the life he wanted for her, “an incident” causes her to hate him. Sadness. [Source: Osen]
• Good news: Im Joo-hwan (Tamra the Island) has a comeback project after completing military service! Bad news: It’s a daily drama. Boo. Slated for SBS, the project is Bravo My Life and as befits its daily-family genre, it’s all about understanding, healing, and warm family love. He plays a lonely guy with a mother who ran away and a con artist father who’s been in and out of prison. I love him, but a daily? Sigh. [Source: Hankook Ilbo]


Kang So-ra, Im Joo-hwan

• Cast as Im’s co-star is Kang So-ra (Dream High 2). Huh. That’s an interesting choice for her, to go daily. No descriptions are out on her character, though it seems like she and Im Joo-hwan will be paired as leads. The PD did Rooftop Prince and the writer did Family Honor, so they’ve got a good handle on the genre. And I do understand the choice to do a show like this — Im Joo-hwan’s fresh outta army duty with two years of lost name recognition to make up for, and dailies get you in people’s living rooms and recognized by the public at large. But with their pacing and looser story-telling format, they just aren’t my bag. [Source: My Daily]
• Also cast in Bravo My Life is Shin So-yool, who played the best friend in Answer Me, 1997. She’ll play the second daughter in a chaebol family and manager of publicity at the fashion company. It sounds like she’ll be the love interest of Im Joo-hwan’s stepbrother character, played by Choi Tae-jun (The Great Seer, Pace Maker). [Source: TV Report]
• One more casting for Bravo My Life: child actor Kang Yi-seok (pictured below), who will play Im Joo-hwan’s childhood counterpart. Y’know, with the old guard of child actors growing into adulthood (Yoo Seung-ho, Lee Hyun-woo), it’ll be interesting to see who emerges with the new class, and I think Kang Yi-seok will be among them. At fourteen, he’s been in a bunch of dramas already (Five Fingers, Life Is Beautiful, Gourmet), and he’s always got a sassy charm. [Source: SBS E!]


Kim Sae-ron, Lee Young-yoo, Kang Yi-seok

• Meanwhile, we can expect to see a crop of rising young stars in MBC’s upcoming Wednesday-Thursday drama Queen of the Classroom, starring Go Hyun-jung as a schoolteacher. And if you’ve gotta get a child actress, why not get the best? Anybody’s who’s ever seen Kim Sae-ron in action (Ajusshi, Can You Hear My Heart) knows how good she is, and she joins Seo Shin-ae and Kim Hyang-gi (two other precocious young actors) as a bookwormy model student in the rebellious sixth-grade class that defies their teacher. They cast Go Hyun-jung for her starpower, but this is a strong child cast; they just may run away with it.
  [Source: FN News]
• Another classmate will be played by Lee Young-yoo (Swallow the Sun, More Charming By the Day), who plays the only daughter who grew up in a rich family and got spoiled rotten. No surprise, then that she’s grown up thinking everything has to be about her. Queen of the Classroom premieres in June, after When A Man Loves. [Source: Newsen]
• Song Il-kook (A Man Called God) may be headed to the big screen: He’s received the offer for a movie titled Come Back to Busan Harbor and is reportedly considering it. It’s about twin brothers who live separate lives for many years, and one becomes a gangster while the other becomes a cop. Naturally, they fall for the same woman. Um, I already saw Sandglass, along with about 60% of the viewing public. [Source: Mk.co.kr]
• Last but not least, here’s our latest look at Lee Jong-seok in sageukwear, as he’s filming the star-laden movie The Face Reader. Why couldn’t Sung Joon’s mane of not-quite-glory in Gu Family Book be this pretty? [Source: Review Star]

 
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