KBS Sets Orange Marmalade with AOA’s Seolhyun, Yeo Jin Gu, and Lee Jong Hyun for Next Fri Drama

I wonder how long the KBS Friday night drama experiment will keep going considering it’s now had two consecutive ratings and reception busts. The time slot was transitioned to airing dramas starting with Hi School: Love On! with Kim Sae Ron acting opposite two idol newbie actors in Infinite‘s Woohyun and Sungyeol. Next came the currently airing mommy issues with a twist drama Spy headlining Jaejoong with veteran Baek Jong Ok. HSLO aired only one episode a week, with frequent preemptions, whereas Spy is airing two episodes back-to-back.

The network is going back to the high school theme once Spy wraps up and has lined up the drama adaptation of popular Korean webtoon Orange Marmalade (not to be confused with popular shoujo manga Marmalade Boy). The story centers around a female vampire who hides her real identity and lives as high school student. It’s a school yard story with the typical star-crossed human-vampire romance between her and the popular boy in school. Headlining are confirmed female lead AOA‘s Seolhyun while the production is courting Yeo Jin Gu for the male lead and CNBlue‘s Lee Jong Hyun as his rival.

I haven’t read this particular webtoon but it’s very popular and fans have been clamoring for a drama adaptation for awhile. I am noticing a KBS casting trend of sticking two idols with a legit actor or actress holding down the fort – first Kim Sae Ron acts circles around the two cute but mostly bad acting Infinite boys and now Yeo Jin Gu has oe babysit Seolhyun and Lee Jong Hyun? Is it spreading the wealth or a maneuver intended to avoid exploding the small screen with too much firepower such as pairing up Kim Sae Ron and Yeo Jin Gu in a drama together? How awesome would that be?


Comments

KBS Sets Orange Marmalade with AOA’s Seolhyun, Yeo Jin Gu, and Lee Jong Hyun for Next Fri Drama — 38 Comments

  1. I hate hate what they’re doing with pairing an experienced actor with 2 newbies…. Yeo jin goo DON’T do it……just wait for the right role with the right supporting cast… You’re young not desperate…

    • I hope they cast the Child Actress turned Lady now, Nam Ji Hyun instead of an idol. Both have great power in acting. And Nam Ji Hyun recent drama filming ended ‘What Happens with my Family’ so she’s free now. Yeo Jin Goo and her have great chemistry in Giant, Warrior Baek Dong Soo and movie Hwayi.

    • Jonghyeon & Seolhyeon are not newbies. First: they are older than Yeo Jin Gu; second: Jonghyeon already did Gentleman’s Dignity, Adolescence Medley, Seolhyeon did My Daughter Seo Yeong and Ugly Alert, plus movie Gangnam 1970. And they never criticized for bad acting.

      • lmao jonghyun was hella stiff in his dramas. i love the guy but lbr. seolhyun was okay at best for ugly alert… she was bad in my daughter seoyeong tho. not lead material yet at all.

  2. I haven’t read the webtoon but I hope it’s not like HSLO in relying the concept of hiding the “Angel” identity which in this case would be a vampire.. Because situations like “people being suspicious”, “identity almost exposed”, “female lead is dumb & not realizing the situation”.. Is a huge turnoff I almost died watching HSLO cause it was so annoying.. Well I never finished it so yeah..

    But I do like the freshness of the girl being a vampire for once.. To whoever who read the webtoon, can you please tell me there’s more to the story than just guys trying to hide the lead girls identity?

    • im currently reading the webtoon.yes she is gonna hide her vampire identity but the female is strong attitude wise.even if she appears as quite cold she actually is able to stand for her self its just that most of the time her fixation with her deserving to be alone is frustrating. although its funny because the main guy willbl be the one doing the chasing at least.

  3. Everyone has to have a bad show every now and then. Jin-Gu, the real actor, should not expect much out of these idols, and just have fun with the role. Pass.

  4. I was personally okay with the casting of lee jonghyun but when i heard that AOa seolhyun is going for main, Im sorta iffy. She’s not a strong enough actress to pull of lead and not strong enough for the character she’s going to be portraying…

  5. The webtoon was cute as all get out and with the right scriptwriter, the story could be great, but I don’t really have high expectations. I’d probably only watch it if Yeo Jin Gu accepts the role because WOW, his character is swoon-worthy, but I’m not really feeling Seolhyun. Jonghyun is only cast for the pretty factor and somehow I am totally okay with that.

      • I never said anything about Seolhyun’s looks? I’ve never seen her acting and she looks a little dead inside in the photo up there. There’s no denying that she’s attractive, but her casting doesn’t really strike anything in me.

  6. This seems a little low brow for Yeo Jin Goo but poor guy must be dying for some age-appropriate roles. Unlike most, I don’t really care if someone inexperienced is cast (unless they have demonstrated themselves to be completely, utterly incompetent) as each role is an opportunity to improve. I would shudder to think what some of you might have said about the actors/actresses that you all love now when they were just starting out.

  7. I don’t want Yeo Jin Goo to be attached to this mess. The story is quite simplistic (yes, I’ve read the webtoon) and does not need Jin Goo’s acting talent. They should just stick to idols if they are heading that way.

  8. i kinda excited when there are news about Orange Marmalade adaptation into drama..

    but the cast kinda dissappointing 🙁

    my favourite character in this webtoon was the absolute cutie Mari’s dongseng

    five years old cutie turned into vampire whenever he saw a mouse and start running around to catch the mouse

    that scene were hilarious but how the PD re-create that kind of scene??

    if the PD get the cutie child actor for Mari’s dongseng, maybe i’ll be watch this drama XD

  9. Like Kim Sae Ron, Yeo Jin Goo is too good for this mess. Ugh. In his first headlining role, it should have been opposite Kim So Hyun, Kim Sae Ron or Kim Yoo Jung.. y’know, the real age appropriate actresses that are awesome.

  10. Seolhyun is not a bad idol actress though, she’s actually decent and was not hated for her acting previously

    Lee Jonghyun fits the physical description of Han Si Hoo
    Tall, pale, white hair, cold vampire looks and aura, I just hope his acting is better this time around

  11. Why are they giving idols the lead role? She may be ok in the acting department but not enough to headline a drama!! There are tons of young actresses that deserve it more!

  12. the webtoon writer actually wrote the webtoon female lead, Baek Ma Ri based on IU, as the character sings well and also plays guitar
    KBS probably couldn’t get IU for the drama

  13. I look forward to Orange Marmalade. I like Yeo Jin-goo N Lee Jung Hyun.

    I watched Hi School Love & I enjoyed it. The debut acting of idols Woo-hyun & Sungyul of Infinite was convincing as they moved me with some of the sad scenes. I hope to see more of them in acting roles & improve.

  14. I love all the casts. You all here that hate Seolhyeon for no reason except that she’s an idol must be wrong, she did very good in Ugly Alert and recently Gangnam 1970!

  15. Oh please i really looking forward to this drama since i love the webtoon so much! Can’t Yeo Jin Goo accept the role? If it’s not him i don’t think i would watch this drama with the excitement i had… Plus it’s AOA Seolhyun and i’m not really into AOA… Please Yeo Jin Goo, accept the role!

  16. I think Seolhyun and Jonghyun can act really well, especially because they’re idols not actors. And I dig their music so much. But still, Jingoo is a really promising actor and I just feel like his acting level is way above them. He should be acting opposite real actresses like Saeron or Yoojung, or even really good inexperienced rookie actresses. He’s too good for this one.

  17. It was actually a heartfelt drama, for the most part. The two mains on the angsty romance side did move me. Overall, it was a good pairing. I truly feel it wasn’t cast with fan favorites, therefore, a lot of ppl are judging them unfairly. Js.

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