Jin Se Yeon Turns Down Scholar Who Walks the Night, Search Still on for Leading Lady

This casting news will make a lot of people happy, though I was personally indifferent either way. Jin Se Yeon has officially declined the offer to be Lee Jun Ki‘s leading lady in Scholar Who Walks the Night. If she had accepted, it would not be her first sageuk as she was the child actress in the sageuk The Duo when she first started acting, but the role would require her to cross-dress for the majority of the drama as the leading lady pretends to be a male bookseller to earn a living and stay safe. As of now, Scholar has now gone through two potential leading lady candidates, first Han Groo and now Jin Se Yeon.

Kim So Eun is the latest actress name to be in talks for this drama but it’s reportedly for the second female lead role. If I were MBC I would just switch it now and offer Kim So Eun the leading lady role, a no-brainer choice and saves the headache of starting the search from scratch. The production has said, however, that it plans to keep looking for a leading lady and wants a fresh face newcomer. Buh? It’s hard enough to find experienced actresses who can cross-dress convincingly, much less do it in a sageuk setting. To expect a newbie to deliver is shooting for the moon. Folks at MBC needs to take their meds.

Too bad Moon Geun Young is in the process of being scooped up by SBS for Chaebol’s Daughter/True Romance. She could do this role in her sleep, and with her arms tied behind her back. I would be paging Yoon Eun Hye since she can cross-dress like the best of them, but sadly her enunciation issues is going to get K-netz angry with her again regardless of how well she acts. Best stay away from sageuks for my pretty baby, I hate it when she gets picked on for her line readings. While MBC may have backtracked on Han Groo, she was reportedly also walking away from this role herself as the fan feedback has been very stacked against her casting.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Jin Se Yeon turned it down for the same reason, sageuks are hard enough as is, this leading lady character is especially hard to play as she has to walk that fine line between spunky and a damsel in distress. She gets saved a lot by her vampire honey is all I have to say, not really her fault as the manhwa writer loves sticking her in danger every few chapters. She is smart and gutsy, but its impossible to expect her to get out of trouble by herself when the danger comes in the form of evil bloodsucking vampires. With MBC going through the casting carousel recently with a hard time finding a male lead for Kill Me Heal Me before Ji Sung accepted, who knows, maybe the eventual Scholar leading lady will turn out to be an epic success from out of left field.


Comments

Jin Se Yeon Turns Down Scholar Who Walks the Night, Search Still on for Leading Lady — 74 Comments

  1. I’m probably one of the few who is disappointed. JSY did a spread for Singles Magazine and it was am androgynous pictorial she looked great.

      • I was fine with her being in this. She was good in Gaksital. I don’t get the herd mentality when it comes to bashing someone.

        Anyways, maybe they’ll get Park Shin Hye. Someone who can cross-dress and pass for a boy. And preferably someone with not too high of a voice, because come on the voice is a total give-away.

  2. MBC is know for money suckers, who can pat their butt with good sponsor and money, everything will go smoothly, even they can arrange Daesang award to whoever they want it.

    • You know what, I like Baek Jin Hee. She played the crazy jealous queen in Empress Ki, but I like her acting. It would be nice to see her in a leading role, but I don’t know how her popularity is like in Korea.

  3. She take the right choice. good girl. It’s so annoying to hear kse fans throw harsh words towards her.They are so noise.

      • At least i didn’t throw hard words. it seems you can feel what jsy’s fans feel. right??

    • Im not kse fans, and i dislike jsy’s acting. I hope you can see wisely and widely, and didnt blame kse bcoz of jsy rejection. It was jsy’s fault for acting bad.

    • Its hilarious that when Ppl say they dont like jin se yeon acting get fans automatically think its another actress fans bashing her, like come on, same thing happened with ds, they said kang sora fans bash her just cuz they were costars, now kim so eun woods not eve gonna be her costar anymore, you guys are saying is her fans? U delusional Ppl need to accept the fact that we dont have to be fans of actresses who might costar with her to Hate her acting ok. We just hate her acting simple as that

  4. My thought is: who really cares if the female lead is a rookie or not? It’s not like anyone actually pays attention to the crappy female characters that tend to populate dramas anyways…

  5. hepi : i didn’t blame kse, i don’t like some of her fans. the one who didn’t take it is jsy. It’s not because director rejected her. What do you know about acting skill??

  6. We still have meet the in law 2 to see her acting. Accept or decline, her fans will always support her. Be strong jin se yeon!

  7. What did I do for the drama gods to answer my prayers? I used to like JSY from my daughter, flower but the girl is acceptable as daily drama lead, not the prime time.

  8. Third times a charm, worked for kill me heal me and girl who sees smells. Lim joo euns name better be the next name I see for the casting fingers crossed

  9. I would totally love it if Nam Ji Hyon is being offered the leading lady role(남지현). Just realized recently that among all those young actresses that I mostly don’t care she steals my love.

  10. Moon Geun Young in abother sageuk after the crapper than the crappiest sageuk Goddess of Fire? Uhm, no thank you! I thought she was outstanding in POFW but that was 7 years ago. I think she should stick with modern drama because she looked horrendous and was so bland and stale in GOF.

    I wonder who they’ll court now. MBC, surprise me…

  11. Keyeast has been having a hard time casting leads for this drama in almost a year.. lol.. How about Park Eun Bin, Han Chae Ah, Baek Jin Hee, Lee Se Young or Im Soo Hyang?

  12. MBC worst mistake was that they rescinded the offer to Han Groo. She would have been perfect for this role, both with her martial arts background, and the diversity of roles she has done. I really do not want to see KSE in the lead; let her stay with the job that was offered to her; Let them find a more suitable actress for the lead. My choice would be Kim Ok-Vin, as she is another actress that is not only good, but also has martial arts background.

    • Han Groo is a kind of underrated, but I am a little sad Han Groo didn’t get it as well. It would of been nice to see her in this role! MBC should re-cast her hahah.

      • lol @the comment that Han Groo is ‘overrated’….and glass houses shouldn’t throw stones about delusional fans.

  13. how about Jung So Min as the leading lady for this drama?
    her acting skill is great! and I would love to see her in sageuk drama.

    • @ Rals.

      I’m in for Jung So Min as well, she’s a very talented young actress…

      YEH would be my first choice, but I don’t want her criticized either for her enunciation issues.

  14. I read on Twitter that Lee Yoo Bi is now being considered. But let’s take this with a grain of salt until an official report is released.

  15. I felt that Moon Chae Won will be a great choice. Love her in sageuk and thought she would be great for a cross dressing role!

      • I’ve always dreamed of a PMY-LJK pairing, but I never thought of her as a contender for this role since it will be just a repeat of the cross-dressing character she played in Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

  16. LJK deserves a veteran actress rather than young actresses. I voted for
    Yoon Eun Hye
    Han Hyo Joo
    Mon Chae Won
    Park min young (already did similar)

    • I really miss Han hyo joo so bad. My favorite Korean actress ever! But she keep doing movies. There are two movies of her that will come out this year. I thought she is very busy. LJK and HHJ worked together in Ijimae

      • yeah me too!! she’s so good in the princess’s man. hope LJK will be paired with moon chae won! ;D

  17. LJK deserves a veteran actress rather than young actresses. I voted for
    Yoon Eun Hye
    Han Hyo Joo
    Moon Chae Won
    Park min young (already did similar)

  18. What a relief! Can they just get leading actress already, someone that is actually a good actress.
    Im Joo Eun! I love her, she’s so underrated. Why does’t she get more love. She needs a leading role asap.

  19. I agree give the role to Kim So Eun… she is definitely an actress who can be saved all the time.
    PLEASE PLEASE pleaseeeeee DO NOT BE AN IDOL!!!! Arrrgggg with the few exceptions I can’t stand Idol-actresses getting leading roles!

  20. I really hope that JSY will get a much better offer later on …. it’s ok for her to reject this offer but then should she get another offer for different drama and if she’s the first actress being chosen to act in that drama , netizens should stop dissing her and asking her to reject the offer. she’s an actress. so I guess people should give her chance to proof herself . it’s ok that she won’t be in this drama but then please haters , you all cannot make her keep on rejecting offers again in the future.

    • is this her practice class? How many chance does she need to have? when other better actresses doesn’t even have that chance at least once?
      If she is a good actress, no one would reject her. She is a performer, not a student when casting is a drama. She get paid and should do the job well

      • Ahaks!!!!! Most netizens are too harsh on her. Some of them even asked her to go to he** and hurling verbal abuse on her just because they think she didn’t deliver. They made it seems as if she had done a very terrible sins as if she had killed someone. I’ve watched some of her dramas. Though I admit she’s not an excellent actress but she’s still serviceable and there are much worse actresses than her out there whom also casted as female leads before. You made it sounds as if she’s been acting in so many dramas whereas she had only been in 5 dramas as the female leads and she started at a young age. Now she’s only 21 . so of course she would still be in the industry and somehow would get acting offers in the future.netizens should give her chance to proof herself coz who knows that she might improve her acting just like how shin se kyung does it with sensory couple.

      • People are born with a profession?

        You were born and then you walked in two seconds of being born?

        How many opportunities you received in your life?

        You are the clear example of why there people out saying that don’t hurt her.

        She’s not a practitioner. The dramas aren’t their study rooms. And yes, she gets paid for their work but you make it sound as if she won her money easily and unfairly. What do you know about the sacrifices she has made for her career? You say things like if all than she does is disastrous when in fact that’s your opinion because there are people who don’t think alike.

        She got out of bed in the morning like everyone else and went to make her drama and did her job the best she could. If you dislike that’s your problem.

        The dramas are opportunities for that everyone can improve. That’s the true. Opportunities aren’t the be denied to anyone because everyone is entitled to have them.

        And if there are more talented actresses out there … Perfect. They can be the stars too. It’s not like if she’s stealing the work of others. Remember… The directors and the networks give offers to her.

        And to everyone else. Jin Se Yeon is a person not a personal boxing bag.

      • Just proves that so many people don’t get the entertainment industry. No one is a great actress from the beginning. You get better BY EXPERIENCE. Even in other industries, people go through internships and work in the REAL world to get the hang of it. And the entertainment industry isn’t something you come out of school from and get a certificate and then go in being great. Even people that come out from acting classes can be horrible. People are just ultimately biased about JSY. She is not DISASTROUS. She isn’t a great actress, but there are so many people out there on the same level as her, who are older than her, yet they don’t get this much hate.
        And as I’ve said a million times and it’s common sense, her getting roles has nothing to do with other actresses not getting those roles. There are many reasons why those actresses aren’t offered roles, and that has nothing to do with other people. Blame their companies. Or maybe it’s the actress themselves, like some who have a stereotyped look. Sheesh.

  21. btw , since JSY had rejected the offer , I really hope that Lee Yoo Bi will be courted to be the LJK’s lady lead … I really love her as an actress … and I think she really fits the role.

  22. Good riddance, I say. She’s had so many chances to prove herself as a lead but still sucked (even calling her mediocre would be a compliment), I’m glad MBC listened to netizen opinion this time.

    now I hope Kim So Eun and Lee Yoo Bi sign on. Both are good actresses and I’m fine with either one of them playing the lead and the other the second lead.

  23. I just posted in the thread about Jin Se Yeon and Kim So Eun. lol
    Thank God JSY rejected the role. I guess the audience was too harsh on her or maybe she finaLLY figured she is not talented enough. haha
    Jokes aside. If it’s true the lead is being offered to Lee Yoo Bi, I’ll be so happy! I was so frustrated when she refused the role in School 2015. I was like “don’t waste opportunities, girl”! But right now it would be totally amazing to watch a drama with Lee Yoo Bi, Kim So Eun and Lee Jun Ki.
    And I finally understand why the directors don’t even consider giving the lead to Kim So Eun. It’s because she had to cross-dress. KSE is too feminine for that. Meanwhile, I can totally pick Lee Yoo Bi as the tomboy type. In Pinnochio she was actually kinda tomboy and it was perfect. KSE is perfect for a feminine gisaeng character, while Lee Yoo Bi is perfect for a cross-dressing character and both are really talented. I hope it turns out well.

  24. I’m the only one who’s actually sad about her rejecting this role. How netizens are being harsh towards her is just beyond low and ugly. The funny thing is everyone is ok with lee yo bi but not with jin se yeon when she has more acting experience. If drama directors listened to netizens. dramas won’t even exist cause the cast won’t even finish. say something nice or don’t say anything at all. Too frustrated can’t even.

    • I totally agree with you, even if others think it can not do, leave their chance to shine, everything improves over time!

    • I think you are right even international fans what I saw in drama beans comments section more awful and disgraceful .
      I really hate them more than netizens someone there wrote bad comments on her on the channel page even they make a group to share the rejection it is for me like terrorism .
      It just drama is it needing all those too much reactions .
      Seriously awful behaviours .

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