Gong Hyo Jin and IU Confirmed as the Two Leading Ladies of Producer

It’s a good time as any to try something new in drama land, and I’m even happier the confirmed cast for this experiment include some of my faves. Gong Hyo Jin and IU have just been officially confirmed for the eclectic cast of Producer. KBS is opening up a new time slot on Friday and Saturday nights for this drama, taking over for a time slot that has been traditionally occupied by variety shows. I’m not privy to the network thought process on scheduling the drama this way as opposed to putting the heavy guns in the regular drama programming slot since all the dramas airing on weekdays are all struggling as is. The backstory is that Producer is being produced by the KBS variety show department and now the drama department, hence the time slot and the meta-storyline.

With Gong Hyo Jin and IU confirmed as the two leading ladies, they join already confirmed Cha Tae Hyun and maybe-confirmed Kim Soo Hyun as the two leading men. I posted that Kim Soo Hyun was confirmed based on articles that came out a few days ago, but mere hours after those articles came out there was backtracking that he was still considering. I’m fairly certain he’ll end up doing it, which is exactly the career direction I want him to take by doing this drama, though if he ends up turning it down I would hope KBS finds a leading man for his role as a rookie producer that I also like.

Right now the confirmed cast is 3-out-of-4 hitting it out of the park for me, KBS better not crap all over this rare opportunity by throwing in a weak link. Gong Hyo Jin and Cha Tae Hyun will be playing senior television show producers while IU’s role is the cold ice princess top female star. The love lines have been hinted in various articles as Gong Hyo Jin-Cha Tae Hyun and Kim Soo Hyun-IU, but nothing official yet to verify that will be the case, or that the drama will even focus on romance as opposed to doing an insightful commentary on the state of Korean television show production. The drama does have major clout with the screenwriter having done the biggest hit of the last few years in You From Another Star. Filming reportedly starts this week for an April premiere so hopefully we’ll get the final lead confirmation soon.


Comments

Gong Hyo Jin and IU Confirmed as the Two Leading Ladies of Producer — 33 Comments

  1. I thought Kim Soohyun was confirmed but it’s most likely he will accept the offer. I am still doubtful about IU acting, i hope her acting improves and portrays the character well. This will be very beneficial for IU if this drama does well.

    Dramas don’t tend to do well if there are so much hype and media play, so hopefully that’s not the case for this drama.

  2. IU is decent enough as an actress, I don’t feel excited for her casting but I don’t cringe either.

    But this drama is going to have huge hype just from the cast, who knows if the ratings can live up to it.

      • I’m with you… There’s something about IU … attractiveness, charm, chemistry … she seems not having those quality to qualify her to be a leading role next to Kim Soo Hyun popularity

      • She has charm and a fresh appeal enough for me, I don’t mind her acting. But I wish they chose a different young actress. Still, there are so many actresses worse than her so I won’t complain.

  3. KSH’s agency is probably negotiating his screentime in this. I hope he confirms because this drama sounds really promising.

  4. It will be interesting to see how IU plays ‘cold ice princess
    top female star’. I’m already having fun imagining her in this. Hope she delivers.

  5. I’m nearly positive that this will end GHJ-KSH. I can just see them hinting at KSH-IU and GHJ-CTH all the way through, but the “twist” being KSH-GHJ, even though I would prefer KSH-IU all the way. I’m going to sit this one out and read the ending before I start. I’m still burned after Reply 1994.

    • Agreed, this has the smell of noona-dongaseng… which is so common in dramas that it’s hardly worthy of being called a ‘twist’ and has almost become a gimmick.

      • Gosh, I am so tired of noona romances. I think I overdid it last year by watching like four of them. I just want a same age romance. IU-KSH has a cute, youthful appeal that dramas have been missing for me. CTH-GHJ is cute too. As an IU fan, I will lose it if they try CTH-IU though.

  6. Ksh-Ghj pairing is not only hot but straight up sexual. mention Ksh-Ghj making out or having a bad scene to together while rolling around on the bed.. it would be the scene of the century. ahahahah

    • Or there kissing scene because Ksh is known to not hold back from kiss scenes.. this chemistry is going to be off the roofs

      • Maybe I should finally get around to finally finishing his last drama because he still seems too boyish for me.

  7. Latest news: KSH is on board! Seriously, this is probably one of the best line-ups ever happened. More than IU, I’m worried about GHJ though. I’m afraid the character will be similar to her character in IOIL. But she’s careful when choosing projects, so I’m putting my faith in this one.

  8. i got kinda tired of noona-dongsaeng/superior-junior romances because it has became such a standard drama cliche now. lol. can they not.

    but i guess i don’t mind as much if its being well-written and has something different/unique to bring to the table.

  9. Please, no noona’s romance. I usually lost interested and dropped dramas with lead actress is much older than lead actor. The only one I loved is King2Heart. Beside, paring Cha Tae Hyun with IU is Just…bleh…..

  10. If KSH is the lead, GHJ better be his love interest, because there is no way in hell I’m going to watch her get sidelined and wasted like so many talented older actors have been lately. Nothing against IU–she’s actually fairly talented herself, and extremely likeable. But let’s not kid ourselves, this show is way too packed with stars, and this writer will be incapable of serving all their needs (the only reason YFAS was such a big deal was JJH–the writing was beyond stupid on so many counts, especially in terms of plot, set-up, etc). This show will eschew plot for romance, meaning it will eschew serious storytelling for OTP fanservice, meaning whoever makes up the second couple will end up getting shunted to the side, however good the writer’s intentions are. And that is not going to happen to GHJ dammit.

    • woah…chill. I think you overreacted. Why don’t we all pray that all the characters will get amazing character development. and if I’ve to say, KSH-GHJ=noona-dongsaeng…hmmm that trend has gotten too cliche’ right now. Rather than that, I just hope all the 4 actors and actress didn’t have to be put under the title of who is main lead, so and so, but they’re all main lead. Just like On Air maybe?

      • lol I was pretty over the top. I wouldn’t take any bets on the characters being well-developed, though, considering the writer’s obvious limitations. I don’t know, I guess I just have a lot of built up aggression about this kind of thing–there’s this emerging trend where older/better actors get costarring roles that end up as glorified babysitting more than anything else, and I’m drawing the line at GHJ. Believe me, I hope I’m wrong about this too.

    • yeah I know what you mean the writer having her limitations in term of character growth but I’m betting my hope on the writer’s specialty of making all the characters likable at least. Coz that’s the vibe I get from watching 2 dramas from this particular writer (you who rolled in unexpectedly and YFAS) for example the character of Hwi Kyung from YFAS, yes he’s the 2nd lead but the character nailed it for me for not being the standard pushy possessive 2nd lead. and in YWRIU there’s this character of their uncle who continuously leeched from the family that put me off greatly at some point, but once the writer divulge into his reason and sacrifice of doing so, he’s become one of the most remembered character for me in that drama till this day. sigh~ still I hope the writer for Dream High or IHYV could take up this drama. I mean she put so much heart into her story that’s it’s almost impossible to not like her story. Let’s just hope for the best!

  11. OMG. IU and Kim Soo Hyun started off in Dream High together. That completely slipped my mind. This is so cool. They meet again.

  12. hope the writer pair KSH with GHJ.if they pair him with IU it going to be bad. cuz their kiss scene will be press lip only. beside that if the rating bad. u know KSH fangirl going to blame IU for it. that why it better that the writer pair KSH&GHJ up. so even if the storyline is not that good u can still rely on them pulling it off with their acting. just like you who came from the stars. the storyline was not that good but KSH&JJH pull it off cuz of their acting.

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