Revenge drama Shark completes casting
by javabeans
KBS’s revenge thriller Shark — the so-called third in the revenge trilogy by the Resurrection and Devil team — must’ve gone on a casting spree, because after a while of hinting at possible casting leads, now the show has announced a whole slew of confirmed castings. Sohn Ye-jin (Personal Taste) was the first main lead to sign on, and Kim Nam-gil (Bad Guy) recently also confirmed.
So now it’s time to turn to secondary leads, which we have in Ha Suk-jin (Childless Good Fortune, Standby), whose recent work has rekindled my old love for him, and former Miss Korea and Seoul National University graduate Honey Lee (Pasta). The drama features a heroine who’s the only daughter to a hotel chairman, who gets approached by our hero to be used as a pawn in his revenge mission against her family, with whom he falls in love, naturally.
Basically, think Bad Guy meets Nice Guy, which you’d think should result in Essentially Decent But Sometimes Jerky Guy. I’m gonna go with mostly jerky, though, given that he goes to extreme lengths to shed his old identity, take on a new one, and enact his vengeance scheme.
Ha Suk-jin will play Sohn Ye-jin’s fiancé, which positions him nicely with regards to her family’s Gaya Hotel Group. It also makes him prime rival material, since our hero Kim Nam-gil is the president of Giant Hotel; Honey Lee plays his secretary.
You’ll probably recognize one of the other supporting actors, Lee Shi-un, as the goofy chatterbox Sung-jae from last year’s Answer Me, 1997. He was great as the talky sidekick and sixth wheel in that show, and some of those characteristics will carry over into his role here. He plays a “simple and tactless but loyal” guy who lacks smooth verbal skills. Yup, spot-on casting there.
He’s also described as “wanting to pick fights with [Kim Nam-gil] for no reason because he appears to be the guy who has everything.” But that seems to change once he gets to know him, and he becomes “like a brother” to our hero. Every broody revenge-minded hero needs his bumbling sidekick, right?
Park Won-sang (OCN’s Hero, Warrior Baek Dong-soo) rounds out the cast as a detective in the violent crimes unit. When Kim Nam-gil’s father died 12 years ago, he investigated and found circumstances suspicious. But our hero disappeared and left behind a little sister, so our cop adopted her and continued living his life, until one day he receives a suspicious phone message. He works with our heroine, who despite her hotel riches chooses to earn her own living as a prosecutor.
Sounds like there’s a lot of stuff going on, with multiple mysteries and plots unraveling simultaneously. I have to admit that the descriptions are bordering on amusingly over-the-top for me right now, but I do think that this writer-PD team has the goods to keep from going too absurd and are capable of drawing Shark as a dark thriller.
Shark will follow God of the Workplace as a Monday-Tuesday drama premiering on May 27.
Via My Daily
RELATED POSTS
Tags: Ha Suk-jin, Honey Lee, Kim Nam-gil, Lee Shi-un, Sohn Ye-jin
![[Drama Chat] I’ll stick around dramaland in 2025 because…](https://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mmh78_5-scaled.jpg)
![[Beanie Review] Light Shop](https://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LightShop_reviewb.jpg)
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
1 MsB
April 9, 2013 at 12:53 PM
Oh yes! Loving this cast!! I'm a new fan of Ha Suk-jin! So this will be the first time seeing in in this type of drama as he tends to do family ones.
Required fields are marked *
2 Dee
April 9, 2013 at 12:59 PM
Hell yes! Ha Suk Jin! Back on a big miniseries drama and not a weekend or cable drama (though I've loved him on those, especially Once Upon a Time in Saengchori still).
Required fields are marked *
3 snow
April 9, 2013 at 1:02 PM
i like ha suk-jin, but i kinda think he'll look like sohn ye-jin's kid brother instead of her fiancé...
Required fields are marked *
Annie
April 9, 2013 at 3:19 PM
So many Korean actors have a serious case of babyface... but I think Son Ye Jin is pretty young looking herself.
Required fields are marked *
djeedjes
April 10, 2013 at 9:11 AM
At least Ha Sukjin looks more mature than Lee Minho, no?
Required fields are marked *
4 pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉
April 9, 2013 at 1:17 PM
Yay, Sohn Ye-jin returns to dramaland! I'd been hoping she'd confirm, and I have even higher hopes of this now (please let the writing be good, too)
Required fields are marked *
Tulipsaki
April 9, 2013 at 2:41 PM
Yeah, no killing off male leads and sending people glass masks or whatever stupid plot device was used in the last KNM (Kim. Nam. Gil. Baby, it's been too long.) show.
Required fields are marked *
5 christy
April 9, 2013 at 1:42 PM
So...basically a rehash of Queen of the Game? Regardless, my interest has definitely been piqued by our lead cast.
Required fields are marked *
Dominique
April 9, 2013 at 4:02 PM
Or a derivative of Prosecutor Princess?
Required fields are marked *
anotherfan
April 9, 2013 at 10:58 PM
This is exactly the drama that I was thinking about. Queen of the game minus the brutal murder.
Required fields are marked *
anotherfan
April 9, 2013 at 10:59 PM
Or I mean Queen of the Game plus the brutal murder = Shark.
Required fields are marked *
6 Rashell
April 9, 2013 at 1:46 PM
This cast is enough for me to start watching at the very least. I love the two leads and the second lead male. And the rest aren't too shabby either. I'll check it out for sure.
Required fields are marked *
7 Mehkko
April 9, 2013 at 1:51 PM
So excited about Kim Nam-gil! I totally fell in love with him in Queen Seondeok. <3
Required fields are marked *
Tulipsaki
April 9, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Me too. Can you tell?
Required fields are marked *
Mehkko
April 9, 2013 at 3:47 PM
It was hard to discern, but I got there eventually.
Required fields are marked *
Kiara
April 9, 2013 at 5:39 PM
I dont like any of his modern dramas or movies. If it wasn't for QSD he would remain on the C actor list. If this drama doesn't work I hope he would consider a sageuk for his next project.
Required fields are marked *
Shiku
April 9, 2013 at 6:56 PM
I thought he was cute in Lovers.
Required fields are marked *
8 Tulipsaki
April 9, 2013 at 1:59 PM
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! KIM NAM GIL KIM NAM GIL KIM NAM GIL KIM NAM GIL KIM NAM GIL KIM NAM GIL KIM NAM GIIIIIIIILLLLLLL!!!!!
(Fans self.)
Required fields are marked *
9 beggar1015
April 9, 2013 at 2:02 PM
I join with all the AAAAAHHHHHHH's. Finally my man is back to work.
Required fields are marked *
10 pasta
April 9, 2013 at 2:07 PM
SON YE JIN + KIM NAM GIL!! YES YES YES! i think this will be my OTP of the year! :D
Required fields are marked *
dramapotatoe
April 9, 2013 at 9:34 PM
A+
Required fields are marked *
11 ida
April 9, 2013 at 2:24 PM
Sohn yeh jin!!!
Lee shi un!!!
Team behind devil, resurrection!!!
Yeah. Those are the only reasons why my curiosity has been piqued.
By the by- lee shi un without smooth verbal skills?! Jokes on me but he's a smooth talker that one. Explosive.
He remains most vividly in my memory out of all the supporting cast in answer me 1997 (by supporting I mean the young lot excepting eun ji, seo in guk)
Required fields are marked *
12 Ann
April 9, 2013 at 2:57 PM
I wish they could have used Uhm Tae Woong somehow since he was so good in the previous two dramas.
Required fields are marked *
Shiku
April 9, 2013 at 7:02 PM
Really! I think I'm the only girl in the world who prefers KNG over Uhmforce acting wise. And I have seen him in the Devil and other movies.
Required fields are marked *
Kiara
April 9, 2013 at 8:00 PM
For me it depends, I can see KNG outshining Uhmforce in sageuks. I prefer Uhmforce in melodramas. I think they can both do rom.com well but I'll give KNG the edge when it comes to smooching.
Required fields are marked *
Tulipsaki
April 9, 2013 at 8:15 PM
Oh yes, I can totally feel it when I see KNG smooch. ::blushes AND fans self::
Required fields are marked *
Rach ^^
April 10, 2013 at 9:33 AM
Me too. How good will he be with SYJ??
Required fields are marked *
13 DayDreamer
April 9, 2013 at 3:13 PM
I must have a penchant for revenge stories...they automatically pique my interest no matter what. Hence why I'll be keeping an eye on this drama despite the unfamiliar cast.
Required fields are marked *
14 jomo143
April 9, 2013 at 3:28 PM
This is a good cast. A good mix of faces we don't see a lot...I think this will be a watcher for me especially Ha Suk-jin.
I love him with all my heart.
Required fields are marked *
Annie
April 9, 2013 at 3:29 PM
Me too.
Saengchori + Unstoppable Marriage = undying devotion
Required fields are marked *
15 Lyn
April 9, 2013 at 3:36 PM
Awww ha suk jin really needs some rest..
Anyway hope this drama will be as good as the other two ;)
Required fields are marked *
16 Irene
April 9, 2013 at 4:18 PM
I feel like I've seen this drama before. Korean Dramas and movies seem derivative after a while. White Night (also staring Son Ye Jin) was about a boy shedding his identity because of the murder of his father.
The revenge plot of this drama seems too close to that of Nice Guy and the accidentally falling in love with a false identity is derivative of almost every contemporary korean melodrama (most recently That Winter, the wind blows).
I love this cast. I have been following Son Ye Jin's work for years and look forward to any drama where I can swoon over Ha Suk Jin since Hello! Miss (2007) but the plot has me running out the door. Let's hope the plot dips in another direction as with the previous revenge dramas in this trilogy. I really want to have faith but it's been difficult to find an engaging korean drama in recent years. Here's to persistence and hoping this one is gonna be good.
Required fields are marked *
17 sparks121
April 9, 2013 at 4:21 PM
Honey Lee! am i the only one excited for her?
Required fields are marked *
eny
April 9, 2013 at 7:10 PM
i'm excited for her n Kim Nam gil
Required fields are marked *
Tulipsaki
April 9, 2013 at 8:21 PM
I suppose he'll be a sister-dummy like Kang Maru.
Required fields are marked *
Tulipsaki
April 9, 2013 at 8:19 PM
I just looked her up. Her mother is Human Cultural Asset No. 23 in South Korea. Wiki said nothing about Honey herself. But she looked pretty sweet (nyuk nyuk) in that gisaeng outfit plus traditional drum she wore for the Miss Korea pageant.
Required fields are marked *
18 kaka
April 9, 2013 at 5:20 PM
Wow! I like the casts and I am big fan of mawang and resurrection. But don't you think they reveal too much from the plotline? It's borderline spoiler right now. I hope they have a lot left to give to us when we watch the drama. Please be awesome!
Required fields are marked *
Tulipsaki
April 9, 2013 at 8:20 PM
Don't worry, it'll change with the filming.
Required fields are marked *
19 zsa
April 9, 2013 at 6:19 PM
Kim Nam Gil...Sohn Ye Jin...IS ALL...and I'm IN!!
Required fields are marked *
20 canxi
April 9, 2013 at 6:47 PM
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS! Kim Nam Gil!!!!
I'm so happy he's finally taken something on. And Sohn Ye Jin, too! And Ha Suk Jin! And Honey Lee! I like all these people!
Please don't die!
I didn't watch the other dramas in the series (and probably won't) but I am here for this :D *confetti*
Required fields are marked *
21 Shiku
April 9, 2013 at 7:00 PM
KIM NAM GIL!!!!! The man wholly responsible for my k-drama addiction!!!!! I'm happy I get to see him again after a long 3 years! I hope the end product of the drama is good since its unnecessarily twisty.
Required fields are marked *
22 Abbie
April 9, 2013 at 7:03 PM
Finally, Kim Nam-gil in something! I liked him in Great Queen Seondeok, and he was good in Bad Guy (although that show kinda sucked) so I like him well enough. I'm gonna watch this at some point. I like revengey dramas.
Required fields are marked *
23 snow_white
April 9, 2013 at 7:06 PM
things surely sound over the top like every other melodrama, but still I'm a bit excited for this one.....thanks to the team and the actors.....
Required fields are marked *
24 susan sia
April 9, 2013 at 7:19 PM
yes, SYJ at long last!!
Required fields are marked *
25 altair
April 10, 2013 at 3:41 AM
I.am.so.watching.this!
Required fields are marked *
26 kooriyuki
April 10, 2013 at 7:45 AM
Wasn't interested initially, but HA! SUK! JIN!
Am torn now.
Required fields are marked *
27 Tracy
April 10, 2013 at 11:50 PM
Kim Nam Gil!! ♡
Required fields are marked *
28 pazpranz
April 14, 2013 at 7:58 AM
The plot of this movie are common, but what I am looking for this is how the cast of this movie, make this movie more interesting and what is the impact to the viewers. I watched Kim Nam Gil previous drama and I know how good an actor he is. Let's see if there is a changes after more than 2 years not in the showbiz and I hope this ending is not tragic like his previous Kdrama that he always died at the end.
Required fields are marked *