Hong Sisters’ new rom-com-horror drama confirms leads
by javabeans
Since this pairing had been rumored for a while, it’s not a huge surprise to hear that Gong Hyo-jin and So Ji-sub have both officially signed on to headline the new Hong Sisters drama Master’s Sun. (By the way, we’re talking about Hong Mi-ran and Hong Jung-eun, the Best Love and You’re Beautiful duo, not Hong Jin-ah and Hong Ja-ram, the Beethoven Virus and The King 2 Hearts duo.)
The show has an intriguing-sounding premise in that it’s a romantic comedy with horror elements; following an accident, the heroine becomes able to see ghosts. She feels cast off by the world and has lost hope in herself, which contrasts sharply with the self-centered and haughty hero who learns to (presumably) mature as a human being. Her “gloomy and quick to tears” heroine sounds a bit dire, but since it’s the Hong Sisters I do expect the dolor to be undercut with comedy; for instance, Gong’s character is too afraid to sleep at nights, which I foresee posing a problem since she has a full-time day job as a secretary. So Ji-sub plays the company president who sees people in terms of monetary worth. Can you imagine her falling asleep at crucial office moments? Hilarious.
This means Gong Hyo-jin will be the writer pair’s star for the second time, after playing a washed-up former idol in Best Love, which is good news; she has a lovely groundedness to her acting that actually works very well with the Hong Sisters’ brand of absurdity. It worked particularly well in Best Love, because no matter how insane Cha Seung-won got (and he got pretty wacky), her emotional throughline felt real. Gong explained being drawn to the project for its blend of irony and horror, which I hope is an aspect that gets full mileage — I LOVED the horror quirk of Arang and the Magistrate and was sad when it went away.
So Ji-sub is one of those actors I’ve been wanting to see tackling more comedy for a while now, just because he’s got such a heavy, melodramatic image. He hasn’t gotten in touch with his softer side in years, so either he’ll be really rusty at it, OR he’ll be unexpectedly fresh and surprise us with a little-before-seen goofy side. Hey, it totally worked for Cha Seung-won and Kim Tae-hee. If he manages to really sell the part of the guy who “gets intoxicated on the sight and sound of himself,” how hilarious would that be?
With PD Jin Hyuk of City Hunter and Prosecutor Princess also attached, so far Master’s Sun sounds pretty promising, even if it does sound an awful lot like Chilling Romance. At least he’s not a magician who conjures ghosts this time too. Truth be told, if not for the colossal suckage that was Big, I’d be a lot more excited about this. But I’m not about to write off anybody for one flop, especially when their work has given me so many hours of enjoyment otherwise, so I’ll be approaching with enthusiasm, albeit muted.
Master’s Sun will air on SBS in August.
Via Kuki News
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Tags: Gong Hyo-jin, Hong sisters, Master's Sun, So Ji-sub
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26 Lalalami
April 26, 2013 at 11:46 PM
I will gladly watch just to see GHJ. She's always been my favorite since Star Candy.
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KDaddict
April 27, 2013 at 5:36 AM
Love love love Biscuit Teacher, Candy Star to pieces. So charming, so endearing, so cute, so sweet.
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27 Cherry
April 27, 2013 at 12:12 AM
YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! GHJ!!!!!!!
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28 canxi
April 27, 2013 at 12:28 AM
I love Gong Hyo Jin so much. She's a bright light in anything, lol. So Ji Sub in a comedy should be good--even the picture up there that actually shows some twinkle in his eyes is giving me hope. It will be cute to see the prickly compny president start to care for the girl who keeps falling asleep during meetings and maybe probably looks like she is talking to herself on occasion (please, let there be a scene lik this, LOL.)
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29 mysterious
April 27, 2013 at 12:37 AM
I'm excited. I love So Ji-sub and I've missed seeing him. Plus I love Gong Hyo-jin (Biscuit Teacher, Best Love: enough said).
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30 Seunghye
April 27, 2013 at 1:03 AM
As much as I enjoyed The Greatest Love, I am not really a fan of Gong Hyo-jin. For some reason, her characters never really sat well with me. Therefore, I have no idea what to feel about this casting news. I am totally in love with So Ji-sub though, so that is a plus. Still... a little skeptical.
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31 Snow girl
April 27, 2013 at 1:27 AM
I have always been a fan of Hong sisters' drama, but this drama sounds a little similar to the concept of the movie "Spellbound" by Son Ye Jin...
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ricky
April 27, 2013 at 4:33 AM
I agree, with the character outline descriptions this sounds very similar to 'spellbound'. Even the relationship between the characters match (boss/subordinate).
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32 yoz
April 27, 2013 at 2:01 AM
yesss so ji sub in a rom com<3 i've been waiting for that.
not sure about this pairing tho.
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33 oftheshore
April 27, 2013 at 2:01 AM
To be honest, there are quite a few films about people who start seeing ghosts/the future etc. after an accident, so I would say it's just a common trope. What is potentially hilarious is how this plays into the heroine's work life. Oh, and SJS in a romcom? I'm (cautiously) excited!
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34 apple
April 27, 2013 at 2:08 AM
My experience with Gong Hyo jin: Everything she does turns to a Hit! And the combination with So Ji-sub is very promising. I hope for great entertainment.
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35 nakai
April 27, 2013 at 2:33 AM
EXCITED ! Please be good.
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36 SuziQ
April 27, 2013 at 2:33 AM
Not a fan of Gong Hyo Jin and although I like So Ji Sub, can he do comedy? I think I'm too use to him doing heavy brooding dramas.
Agreed, SJS looks like he is praying for a hit. So am I...
I liked Chilling Romance, but BIG was a BIG disappointment... What a BIG Dud.
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37 ricky
April 27, 2013 at 4:28 AM
Rom-com horror and basic premise sounds like that one kmovie 'spellbound' ('chilling romance'). Which I thought was a good movie, by the way. In any case gong hyo jin and so ji sub sound great for this drama. I can't wait to see it!
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38 Mystisith
April 27, 2013 at 5:01 AM
Thanks to Big, my expectations are really low for this new drama of the Hong sisters. If the script is written from the get go to use absurdity and nonsense, then I'm in. Nothing more frustrating than a show which promises to be grand and deep and then turns out brain dead.
I think that those 2 can have combustible chemistry on screen. Btw, I hope that no one truly believes that SJS is in real life like his public image. He would not be a human being then. ;)
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oftheshore
April 27, 2013 at 11:59 AM
OMG, abou public image vs. real life - I just recalled the SJS ad parody they did in You're Beautiful. This is a whole new level of meta!
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antonia
April 27, 2013 at 8:42 PM
lol i forgot about that one :P
after watch YAB (and i think that scene was the funniest of YAB) i discover hot sjs doing that comercial (beatifoul CF btw) i loled so much
maybe we can have sjs making a parody of JKS?? is it to much asking????
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39 Maricel
April 27, 2013 at 5:22 AM
I like her. She is so nice and natural. THe drama premise is pretty appealing. I didn't watch Big but just reading comments on the internet i got dissapointed. I still believe this one will be good though...i really hope so!!!
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40 Little Shorty
April 27, 2013 at 5:51 AM
So so so excited to watch this!!! August please comes fast, 빨 리,빨 리 :">!!! GHJ is my all-time favourite actress and SJS is just so so hot!!! So excited >.<
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41 jomo143
April 27, 2013 at 6:17 AM
As long as they play the weepy funny, I am good with this.
I liked Big, and I know I am relatively alone in that.
I LOVED Big Love until the last two or three episodes.
This pairing will be very interesting. GHJ can mix it up with whoever stars opposite her; I can see her going toe-to-toe with JJS power character as she did with CSW.
Plus, she gets to wear the coolest clothes. I am prematurely jealous of her wardrobe...
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42 Hubba_Hubba
April 27, 2013 at 7:49 AM
I LOVE romcom horror! I wish there were more shows/movies in this genre, like Chilling Romance.
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43 dokutokunaneko
April 27, 2013 at 7:54 AM
SJS was funny in that awful Chinese movie (Sophie's choice i think?), and a looong, looong time ago he was in an ensemble romcom drama with Chae Rim (just looked it up - it's "We're dating now"). And in that other lawyer drama also a loooong time ago he played sort of a goofy and haughty lawyer as well. I think he can do comedy just fine. We just have to wait for GHJ -SJS chemistry :)
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44 Lilian
April 27, 2013 at 9:22 AM
This totally reminds me of Song Seung Hoon's move of taking on a light refreshing rom com , My Princess. That was a good move and he should really do less makjang stuff! Hope So Ji Sup will do well =) as for me, I love the female lead so will definitely give this a try regardless of Big.
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45 deissy
April 27, 2013 at 9:58 AM
I LOVED BIG. i dont care how many people didnt. i loved it. =) it was awesome.
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46 Khady
April 27, 2013 at 10:43 AM
Can't wait to see So Ji Sub in anything! I loved him in Always and A Company Man so I'm sure he'll be great in a Hong sisters drama (Best Love was a big hit for me too).
Let August come quickly!
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47 skinnymocha
April 27, 2013 at 11:22 AM
His hands are MASSIVE.
Anyway, the pairing sounds rather intriguing and I'm excited to see how this turns out.
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antonia
April 27, 2013 at 8:45 PM
his hands are perfection!!!! sometimes i wonder if they're the best of him... until i think of his eyes, smile, body....
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48 MsB
April 27, 2013 at 1:43 PM
Love these two! So excited! I've been hoping for SJS to do something other than his normal role! Sure, I love him but I just wanted to see him do something different and comedy was the missing link! Definitely looking forward to it. Everyone has a misstep and Big was a big one!
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49 Momos
April 27, 2013 at 8:47 PM
Gosh, how I envy you GHJ. She got this look of a nextdoor girl who is not really so great looking, yet, she has worked with the best of the best ahjushis in k-drama (CSW, JH, LSK, and now...SJB!!!!)
You ROCK, girl!!!
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Momos
April 27, 2013 at 8:54 PM
* SO JI SUB*
got smitten by SJS in Ghost.
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50 antonia
April 27, 2013 at 8:50 PM
like GHJ, love hong sisters (minus Big) and LOVEEEEEEE SJS (sigh) ever since i read this news i can-'t control myself or think about anything else...... this sounds so good, i need this drama like right now!!!!
i hope it won't dissapoint.. i'm sure it won't, cause sjs is in it... and he's enough to make anything worth watching
:)
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