First script read for tvN's Melancholia with Im Soo-jung, Lee Do-hyun

5 September 24, 2021November 7, 2021

First script read for tvN’s Melancholia with Im Soo-jung, Lee Do-hyun

by tccolb

The cast and crew of tvN’s upcoming drama Melancholia recently gathered for their first script reading, and stills have been released. Melancholia takes place at a private high school troubled by internal corruption, and what unfolds there is said to be a beautiful story about overcoming social conventions and prejudice.

Im Soo-jung (Search Query: WWW) plays mathematics teacher Ji Yoon-soo. Pure-hearted and passionate about her field, her heart becomes overjoyed just from tackling a math problem. As a result, she shies away from simply providing the material that’ll likely be on college entrance exams. Instead, her teaching approach is focused on getting the students to enjoy studying and learning itself.

Lee Do-hyun (Youth of May) plays Baek Seung-yoo. While he appears to be an outcast at school, and his grades put him at the bottom of his class, it is all part of an act to hide his past. Baek Seung-yoo had been hailed as a math prodigy when he was a child, but he suddenly disappeared from the public eye one day and has concealed his identity.

In supportive roles, Jin Kyung (LUCA: The Beginning) plays the ambitious school director, Noh Jung-ah, while Choi Dae-hoon (Beyond Evil) plays Im Soo-jung’s kind-hearted fiancé Ryu Sung-jae.

The cast lineup also includes actors Jang Hyun-sung (Alice), Byun Jung-soo (Touch), Kim Ho-jin (Everybody Say Kungdari), and Woo Da-bi (Dear.M) among others.

Written by Kim Ji-woon (Doctor John) and directed by Kim Sang-hyuk (True Beauty), Melancholia is currently set to premiere towards the end of the year.

Via YTN

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1 Eazal

September 24, 2021 at 11:03 AM

Please, please, don’t make a love line teacher-student. Please. I love both leads too much!

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2 ladynightshade wants her own ryu sunjae

September 24, 2021 at 7:05 PM

“a beautiful story about overcoming social conventions and prejudice.”

Nope, nope, nope. That better not be some flowery justification for a student-teacher romantic relationship. There is probably no trope I despise more.

The story would be so much better if it were a platonic mentor-mentee relationship. Fingers crossed that’s the story being told. Hell, Im Soo-jung’s character even has a fiancé! It could work!

I desperately hope that’s the angle the writer is going for, but I don’t trust dramaland. I will not accept any romanticization of a student-teacher relationship. The only justifiable portrayal of such skewed power dynamics is if the intent is to show how fucked-up it is.

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3 PYC

September 25, 2021 at 4:49 AM

Choi Dae-hoon is my biggest discovery this year for his nuanced portrayal in Beyond Devil. I’ve seen him in other dramas before but was totally blown away by his performance in BE - really pleased at the recognition with a Baeksang nomination.

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4 OAsia

September 26, 2021 at 4:33 AM

"recently gathered for their first script reading, and stills have been released"
I doubt it's been recently. K-dramas always hide when they start pro-production. When they release photos from the first reading, it means that they have been filming for several months.