Many more cast additions to Playful Kiss
by javabeans
After all those rumors and teases about possible cast additions, it’s good to know this drama is actually making decisions now. Some make me happy, others I have no opinion on, and others are decidedly meh.
Let’s start with one that makes me happy: Jung Hye-young, the actress married to former k-popper Sean, whose casting makes sense given that she starred in director Hwang In-roi‘s last project, Return of Iljimae. This role will allow her to show a much lighter side, as she plays a cheery matchmaker who helps along the main loveline between Kim Hyun-joong and Jung So-min‘s characters.
I’m not getting hopes up that Jung Hye-young’s role here will be too significant, which would be too bad because I loved her acting in Return of Iljimae. She was brilliant in it, as luminous as she was melancholy, and was a tremendous source of pathos and heart as Iljimae’s mother.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the story, in the original manga the lead female Kotoko (Oh Ha-ni in this drama) is a bad student with lousy grades who finally tells her crush, Naoki (named Baek Seung-jo here), that she likes him. He’s pretty much her opposite — talented, smart, and cold — and rejects her. They come to live under the same house temporarily (her house gets wrecked, their fathers are friends). The third main character, Kinnosuke, likes Kotoko and watches after her. Lee Tae-sung has been cast in that role.
Lee Shi-young, Yoon Seung-ah
Next, there’s Lee Shi-young (Birth of the Rich), whose casting is still in “unconfirmed” status. (She’s the only one in this post who is not yet finalized.) The role she is up for is a haughty character who is the vice president of the university’s tennis club, and would come into the picture halfway through the drama’s run.
I haven’t read the manga, but it appears the two male leads (Naoki and Kinnosuke) are tennis players, so I presume she’d be a viable rival for one or both of their attentions. I’m actually a little surprised that she’d be up for Playful Kiss because her career has started to take off and I’d expect her to pursue more headlining roles. But it is still early in her career and she did get famous from her brief run in Boys Before Flowers, so maybe it’s not TOO much of a retread to take on another buzz manga adaptation.
Then there’s rookie actress Yoon Seung-ah, who plays Dokko Min-ah, Ha-ni’s best friend. She is a boyish and quirky type who’s constantly at the foot of the class and has no interest in studies, preferring to dream of becoming a manhwa writer.
If she looks familiar, it’s because she debuted in Alex and Jisun’s MV for “These Heartbreaking Words” (that’s where I saw her!) as the girl in the shell who is rescued by Park Shi-hoo. She followed that with parts in the Lee Jun-ki drama Hero and the upcoming horror flick Death Bell 2.
As for the rest…
Top row: Ha-ni’s father will be played by comic actor Kang Nam-gil (Goong and Who Are You?), while Seung-jo’s father will be played by a familiar CF actor, Oh Kyung-soo. Seung-jo has a younger brother who’s just like him (read: hard to please), played by young child actor Choi Won-hong.
Second row: Playing a girl who is jealous because of Ha-ni’s single-minded devotion toward Seung-ho is Jang Ah-young, who last played Yoon Eun-hye’s snooty chaebol cousin in My Fair Lady. Then there’s another of Ha-ni’s friends from her last-place class, Hong Yoon-hwa.
Third row: The first photo is Yoon Seung-ah again, and the next is Hwang Hyo-eun, a familiar face who has played many comic roles in dramas like Oh My Lady, Assorted Gems, and Queen of Housewives. She’ll play Ha-ni’s homeroom teacher. On the other hand, Kang Doo (Goong S, mehhhhh) takes the role of Seung-jo’s homeroom teacher.
Playful Kiss premieres on September 1.
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Tags: Hwang Hyo-eun, Jung Hye-young, Kang Doo, Kang Nam-gil, Lee Shi-young, Playful Kiss, Yoon Seung-ah
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1 ILoveGHS
July 22, 2010 at 10:23 AM
I like her... nice choice!
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2 Irene
July 22, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Base on the information about the characters, sounds like the Korean verison is going to be quite different to the original one... that is what I really dont like to see..... it is a very simple story and I dont see a need to make it so complicated...
:(
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3 iWANTcereal
July 22, 2010 at 10:31 AM
Some pretty good choices. So far i THINK this might be a pretty good drama, i hope i'm not wrong. I'm also hoping that either Kang Doo's role will be insignificant, or that his acting has noticably improved.
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4 christina
July 22, 2010 at 10:35 AM
whyyyyy kim hyun-joong. his acting make me cringe. it was so difficult getting through bbf b/c of him.
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5 gala
July 22, 2010 at 10:43 AM
hmm, pardon me for asking javabeans, but from the character description you wrote, are those from the official reports? cause it seems it's really quite deviated from the original storyline. you mentioned about the Mom's role. it's a pretty important role in the story - the matchmaker. also about the two leads as tennis players... well not really. the lead girl only joined cause lead guy is part of the club. dull, dim-witted lead girl is actually a BAD tennis amateur. heh.
so i'm just wondering if some of the character descriptions you've provided were taken from an official statement from the production, or speculations from your side perhaps?
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6 jons
July 22, 2010 at 11:05 AM
okay, so i had given up on this drama. i feel like group 8 is trying to build up hype like it did for bof, and i just want to leave that alone. it was a year ago, let it rest.
the casting for this, eh....i think it's going to do well. but it's up against my girlfriend is a nine-tailed fox and Fugitive. these two are highly anticipated dramas. i think there is tough competition going. and playful kiss needs production to start.
but i got my fav! Choi Won-hong is such a cutieeeee! :)
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7 Laeah
July 22, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Javabeans hasn't read the manga and she only said it APPEARED to be tennis players.. I can't remember whether or not Kinnosuke followed Kotoko to the tennis club or not.. I kind of remember something like that, but again, I could be wrong. So that could be it.
Anyway, I don't see how you can say it's off until you've watched it. I don't see how it's deviated a lot from the manga. Sounds pretty similar. ANY adaptation is going to be a little bit different from the original story. As long as they get the main points, it's okay to not show everything. Itazura na kiss is a really long manga. I doubt they could finish it all within the episode number.
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8 danna
July 22, 2010 at 11:18 AM
most important qn...who'.s the mom?.....while im anxious to know...its good that they are taking time to pick a suitable actress...um..the logo givong me some serious BOF....which is not a good sign
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9 danna
July 22, 2010 at 11:19 AM
*BOF vibes
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10 jose
July 22, 2010 at 11:19 AM
ohhhhh it hurts me when many dramas i anticipe compite between each other because some of them will have lower ratings ,i want watch the 3 ,playful kiss ,fugitive and my girlfriend is a gumiho ,but i think some people will prefer watch fugitive and my girlfriend is a gumiho because they are news stories and playful kiss is not new ,but i hope the best for the 3 dramas
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11 Steph
July 22, 2010 at 11:23 AM
I think Lee Shi-young would be perfect for the role of the VP of the tennis club. I'm not familar with a lot of these actors/actresses though. ISWAK [Twainese version] is still my fav adaptation and one of my 5 favorite dramas of all time. So, I'm hoping this is really good. I doubt I'll ever like any version more than the one I already favor, but I hope to enjoy this. Can't wait!
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12 Makino
July 22, 2010 at 11:27 AM
The new casting is helping me slowly build anticipation for this drama! I'm still a little weary on the male lead, but I hope he can prove me wrong : )
It's gonna be a long wait to September! <3
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13 djeedjes
July 22, 2010 at 11:52 AM
oh I think Jung Hye Young will be the 'matchmaker' mom...which is kinda unexpected cast for me.. I always have the image of JHY as a soft, feminine and lady like, and Kotoko's mom is such a riot. :D
Not that I'm complaining!! I'm looking forward JHY's take as the mother!
Other casts....not so interesting, except Lee Shiyoung. IF, she is 5 years younger, I think she will suit the Hani's role.. I like Shiyoung's 4Dness.
The child actor is so cute! I like the TW's part - although he wasn't 'that cute', but his acting is so believable, and his interactions with Ariel Lin was so adorable.
Huh, after all, even though I still do not satisfied with KHJ as main lead, I think I'll eventually watch this drama ! :P
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14 sallynally
July 22, 2010 at 11:54 AM
@5,
Javabeans said that the two MALE leads are supposed to be in the tennis team (Kim Hyun Joong and Lee Tae Sung?). I'm not familiar with the original (manga or the other drama versions), but there you go.
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15 Javabeans
July 22, 2010 at 11:54 AM
All the descriptions are taken from the articles linked at the bottom. I haven't made anything up, I promise!
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16 Ahjummoni
July 22, 2010 at 11:55 AM
is it me or they want another media frenzy like they did it with Boys Over Flowers... because we all can see the signs... I don't think that is another kdrama this year wich had so many talks about the casting when the shootings didn't even started properly
personally I preffer less media frenzy and low ratings but a stready and quality story (not ups and downs like in BBF-some orgas*ic episodes and some bleh eps)
now I kinda bet that we will enjoy the drama(10/10) but the story I hope we won't get a 2/10 score - even when the jap version was 8/10
and excepting manga we have the tw version with 2 seasons.... wich in Taiwan had pretty good ratings-not exeptional like Fated to love you but pretty good
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17 spuf
July 22, 2010 at 12:00 PM
I'm a little excited for this now.
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18 j-yang
July 22, 2010 at 12:02 PM
"On the other hand, Kang Doo (Goong S, mehhhhh) takes the role of Seung-jo’s homeroom teacher."
LMAO! XD
This was my exact reaction when I saw his picture. Watching him in Goong S was not exactly thrilling.
Keeping an eye on this drama but I'm all geared up for My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. WHOOP WHOOP!
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19 melica
July 22, 2010 at 12:05 PM
All this is doing is making me want to go watch ISWAK again...
I loved Joe Cheng's mother in that show and will miss his frustrated exclamations of "Maaa!".
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20 mikiadashiwa
July 22, 2010 at 12:17 PM
i haven't read the manga, but i did watch the anime and both seasons of the taiwan adaptation. i think the biggest fustration i had was that there wasn't really a competitor for the female lead, Kotoko. I mean there was the 2nd male lead, Kinnosuke, but the way he was portrayed, it seemed like he was just THERE, not really in serious competition with the male lead.
Maybe Group Eight will change that? Because I really think that it is hair-pulling if the female character is doing all the chasing and beating down the other girls but not having the male character doing the same for her (consistently, not just at the last episode).
I am not saying that the original manga should be totally change or anything like that. i am just saying that i can see a drama where the girl is liked by other guys too.
I like jung so min and lee tae sung a lot so I will still be watching this drama no matter how the directors decide to spin it. let's hope hyun joong has improved shall we?
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21 aurora82
July 22, 2010 at 12:21 PM
@melica:yeah ISWAK was a great show with superb casting and its hard to reach Joe Cheng's portrayal of Jiang Zhi Shu.
I am not sure abt KHJ. I liked him in WGM but I couldn't watch BOF bcoz of him and I tried several times.
So how can he reach JC's subtleness, I don't know.
I totally could see Jung il woo in this role though, wasn't he even considered?!!
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22 Ar-Feiniel
July 22, 2010 at 1:34 PM
@miki: I agree that Jin (Kinnosuke) in ISWAK was never a serious competitor, more of a comic relief (except at the very end), but there was also this guy that Xiang Qin (Kotoko) went out to make Zhi Shu (Naoki) jealous around 18th episode. She also had entire anime/manga club fantasizing about her. And let's not forget Qi Tai in TKA...
Zhi Shu also got jealous when he thought that she had something going with Hao Qian (president of the tennis club).
I guess it would be cooler to see many more guys chasing after Xiang Qin, but on the other hand that would mean reappearance of the "jealous Zhi Shu" which was pretty hartbreaking to watch the first time around (with Qi Tai).
Anyways, I wonder if korean version is going to follow the storyline of the entire manga, cos I really want to see them after they're married. 20 episodes is not that much if you consider the fact that taiwanese version (ISWAK and TKA) had twice as many episodes. I love both seasons, but They Kiss Again is IMHO better. After all, how many dramas show us, in a realistic way, what happens after a fairy tale wedding?
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23 Laura-chan
July 22, 2010 at 1:36 PM
well, I'm really excited to know who will play the mother of the male lead, in the taiwanese version she is soo funny! Hope in the korean they choose a good actress or she will turn up in a really annoying role, that the actress from the TW version could handle very well and be very funny, not annoying at all! ^___^~
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24 Cam
July 22, 2010 at 1:40 PM
Ooooh! ^_____^
THIS is very NEAT! I hope this drama will keep sooo good looking and fun for these casts, hehe!
Bravo-Bravo.
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25 Emi
July 22, 2010 at 2:09 PM
Don't worry too much about Kang Doo, if he is playing a homeroom teacher. The high school stuff only lasts for the first half of the story, so he will hopefully not be around too long? When they get to university (when the tennis stuff starts), only Naoki joins the Tennis club, with Kotoko following him. This is where they encounter the beautiful Lee Shi-young character, and another guy, the president of the club. Kinnosuke doesn't join the tennis club; he doesn't attend university. Instead, he works there in the cafeteria, while training w/ Kotoko's dad. Jung Hye-young as the mom/matchmaker should have a decently-sized role, she plays a pretty important part in the development of the Naoki/Kotoko relationship (she is soooo awesome, lol :)
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