Kim Ji Won Offered Female Lead Opposite Song Joong Ki in Sageuk Drama Asadal

It’s good to be K-actress Kim Ji Won this week as she has not just one high profile K-drama offer on her hands but is toggling two now. K-ent is reporting that Kim Ji Won has been offered the female lead for upcoming sageuk drama Asadal written by the production team of Tree with Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons. On top of the impressive production team, the male lead of Asadal could be Song Joong Ki as he’s still considering the offer to star. If Kim Ji Won picks this drama then she will reunite with Song Joong Ki two years after Descendants of the Sun, and also vault from his second female lead to OTP costar. Like I said, she’s basically sitting on a sure thing with this drama if Song Joong Ki also accepts.

Kim Ji Won’s other drama option is to do the romance drama See You Again which offered her the female lead a few weeks ago, and is also in talks with Lee Jong Seok as the male lead.


Comments

Kim Ji Won Offered Female Lead Opposite Song Joong Ki in Sageuk Drama Asadal — 71 Comments

  1. Yeah! will be great to watch her acting again… accept both if time allows. Have not seen her in a saguek before 🙂

  2. Finally, there is some development. I already thought they eould delay this drama likr forever. Please Joong Ki make a decision already. If Kim Ji Won accept both project, there is a chance Asadal will start shooting very late. Which will drive me crazy.

    • It is not like he is not making a decision. It boils down now on who’s going to fund the project and the tv channel that picks up this drama otherwise if negotiation falls through we would be seeing another project being rejected.

      But coming from the team of Tree With Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragon which were hit dramas, I think things would go fine. Song Joong Ki and Kim Ji Won looks like a good pair too. Must be a hard for Kim Ji Won to make a decision in case she can only have either drama. Though I thought it’s no brainer, this Saguek sounds is more interesting and something she hasn’t done before.

      • There has been reports that it’s going to be pre-produced by tvN.

        I like Kim Ji-won but I’m not so excited about the lack of sageuk experience.

      • @MistyEyed, hopefully, he take decision abit too long is a sign he is already planning to accept this project. I’ll will be dissapoint if he decline. It’s not easy to find his replacement.

      • @the other Kiara – her last acting project, the Detective K movie, was a sageuk. Her acting seems to have been decently received there even if the movie itself wasn’t. I’ve also seen comments saying her speech is very clear, which is an essential skill for convincing sageuk acting (even good actors who can emote well often fail at this). So it might not be as much of a risk as you think.

      • She can accept both. The one with LJS is scheduled to air this year while the other one is for next year. Hence her company stated she can accept both if she wants to.

  3. I think SJK is 90% likely to accept. Its a big-budget drama and almost guarantee to succeed based on the production team’s track record. Unless he decides to do a movie but I don’t think so. Dramas are more likely to keep you in the limelight which means more CFs.

    KJW is 100% going to accept. Its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her and will firmly establish her status as a top leading lady. If she can do both, it would be ideal but if she were to accept one, it would no doubt be Asadal. Apart from Lee Jongsuk’s popularity, the other drama has some questionable points.

  4. Finally KJW getting some of the recognition & fame she deserves. This is shaping up to be a good year for her; getting offers opposite big names like SJK & LJS.

    I would like to see her in both but she seems a bit conservative with her projects. I don’t see her doing both (sadly) but can definitely see her doing Asadal. Perhaps she’s waiting for SJK to lock in as lead before she confirms? I think the male lead matters but the production team is a huge selling point in of itself already. She should go for it.

    • Exactly! I always felt she was under-rated. She is gorgeous and talented and I always wondered what kept her from getting her due. Things finally seem to be looking up for her and I think she deserves a lot more.

  5. I have mixed feelings toward this.I am happy for Kim Ji Won.She is getting the high quality offers that she deserves.I may not be a huge fan of SJK but I still think he is a talented actor who shouldnt waste his most productive and marketable years coasting on cfs when he is pretty good at acting.He doesnt need to act for money or fame anymore.Just for the love of telling good stories through acting .

    The production team(PD+writer)is also solid.However, here is my misgiving.If they are setting them up for a loveline.I do feel like they would have pretty but sibling kind of chemistry rather than the heart palpating chemistry.On the other hand, I think she would have
    crackling chemistry with Lee Jong Suk but that offer has a terribly weak production team behind it.Another thing, I hope Song Song shippers excercise maturity and not kill the hype for this drama by comparing her to Song Hye Kyo or whatever if this goes through.But this one has more pros than cons.So lets just wait and see.

    • My thoughts are with you. I’m thinking if there’s a loveline and it’s critical to make or break the story for Asadal, it will be hard to ship them to get everyone onboard. Just in case Shin Se Kyung comes in the equation because she was in both dramas (also SJK in Tree with Deep Roots), it seems more workable.

      She’s totally shippable with Lee Jong Suk. Hmmmm.

      I just hope to have SJK back in drama world. Missing him.

    • I don’t know, I think they could have the real heart-fluttering chemistry because till date, I’ve never seen a Kim Ji Won project where she didn’t have it with her male lead (other than Gapdong where it was deliberate because she was playing a high schooler infatuated with a much older guy who didn’t reciprocate…but she still had a spark with Lee Joon).

      I would 100 percent prefer she took this over the LJS drama if she had to choose, the writers alone should be enough of a difference. The acclaim and success she’ll pick up if she pulls off a sageuk role is no small thing.

  6. wow I did not see it coming. I actually wanted SJK and KJW to act tgether again after DDOTS since i quiet liked their chemistry. Look like Asadal is a historical drama so there may not be loveline at all which is fine with me, just it’s not really my genre. On other hand, while I really like to see KJW and LJS pairing up again, the writer/PD is questionable, argh i’m gonna be greedy, can’t she do both? TT

    • Yeah same here. I liked her with LJS in High Kick 3 but please god their reunion should not be with that writer/PD….Asadal sounds like a much better project even without Song Joong Ki possibly headlining.

  7. I’m worried about this drama if female lead is shin se kyung or oh yeon seo. But if kim ji won get role it’s good to see myung ju and yo shin jin again. Only 10 month since sjk announce married but like forever waiting him comeback. And I think shk will take more cf than comeback drama anytime soon.

  8. I can’t see the chemistry. Hopefully KJW really steps up with her acting too because SJK had great synergy with SH and it’s hard to beat that.

  9. i’m so glad that kim ji won has been elevated to lead role status
    she is so much better than actresses like park shin hye and han hyo joo

    • Looks like KJW fans are delusional. Well, I kinda already knew that they’d be trashing the previous co-stars of the actors she might be working with now but I’m surprised that you didn’t add Song Hye Kyo to that list. Scared of songsong shippers?

      • You’re such a fake lol. Just the other month you were trashing PSH saying you were a jiwon fan just to bring hate to jiwon. Lmaooo get a life.

    • As i expected from KJW fans; still trashing PSH even after 5 yrs. Initially i didn’t want to say this but just let me haha. Come back again when your fav is nominated for Baeksang awards for best tv actress. I didn’t ask her to win, just a nomination will do. Everyone but kjw got nomination for FMY (oops what’s wrong with the judges that she’s not even qualified to be nominated). While PSH is not the best, she was nominated twice for pinocchio and doctors. It’ll be much much better if you and your friends supporting her without the need to drag/trash other actresses. Ah! it must be insecurity issues

      • Looking forward to the fanwar. Reminds me of the childish stuff from tumblr/dramabeans/twitter. Pretty big blogs getting into fights and saying some pretty rough stuff they’re so hard trying to deny now, all because of that shit drama Heirs 🙂

      • To be fair, best actress this year are stars stud – kim nam joo, kim sun a, kim hee sun, lee bo young – shin hye sun has a 40% drama.

      • I seriously think some people owe PSH an apology. She got tone of hate for heirs (especially from KJW’s fans) just bc she followed the script. her only wrong doing was taking the role thats all.

      • To be honest, I dont find KJW a good actress,I watched Fight for my way for PSJ but I stop in episode 5-6 because her acting was so cringe it is not natural, I find her comedic timing off, also PSJ, I dont see the chemistry…but these are all subjective and I don’t hate her, I just think that she needs more,not bad but not also that good.We will see if this time she can convince me.

    • Why do you have to tread on other actresses to elevate yours? There are plenty of actresses and acting idols out there. KJW is finally being elevated because SHK, JJH and KTH are all married and moving on.

    • No matter how big ifans of kjw think she is in Korea she is not considered on psh level according to Korean. Why do y’all hate on psh tho did she steal a role from kjw

      • Not at all. PSH barely even does dramas after The Heirs. But I did saw a KJW fan saying KJW rejected Doctors so the offer went to PSH. Like, really? How can someone just tell blatant lies like this lmao.

      • @Aize, do you mean that kimw**binseyebrows shit blog ? That person claimed too that KJW was offered Doctors first and because they have a big following, people believe in that person easily. I laughed my ass off to that claim ’cause what I remember, that writer was offering that role to PSH for months before she accepted. I think that that blogger started bandwagon hating on PSH and making her followers join the bandwagon hate too because of couple of shippers who hated on Heirs Rachel. These tumblr people then spread on NB, BD and twitter I think. (And I’m talking about pure hate, not even valid, constructive criticism which I tend to give)
        Well, that blog thinks Lee Soo Hyuk is an acting virtuoso and spent years hating on certain actors Lee Jong Suk and now is hard trying to deny that shit now that their bias KJW got an offer with LJS. Well, I don’t like LJS mainly because of his fans who kept shitting on Han Hyo Joo during W but at least I’m honest about it lol.

      • Yeah that blog and her friends are nonsense. They hate PSH for getting recognition from Heirs and their bias Kim Jiwon getting none. Yeah, like how is it PSH’s fault lmao? She got hated so much during the show, so I’m happy she at least got something out of it. From what I know, some of them are still keeping tabs on PSH lmao.
        I didn’t know she hated LJS as well. She and LJS’s fans can rip each other’s throats if both their bias accepts the project xD From what I know, KJW fans have been hoping for eternity that she is paired with Woobin and Bogum. Sad for them its not coming true anytime soon.

      • I think the two actresses that i-fans shit on the most (PSH and Suzy) are the most acknowledged in their age group. KJW is not even on the list. entertain.naver.com/read?oid=382&aid=0000577361

    • I think Kim Jiwon fans should think of beating Suzy before shitting on top actresses like Park Shinhye and Han Hyojoo. She’s not even being mentioned in the top actresses in their 20s list. Ironically, PSH and Suzy whom they and other ifans like to shit on, are the most acknowledged in Korea. entertain.naver.com/read?oid=382&aid=0000577361

      • Oops I commented twice because my comment couldn’t get through. But yeah you get my drift.

    • Ummm Park Shin Hye and Han Hyo Joo are not the actresses you should be coming for if you want to talk about lack of talent.

      • No honey you should talk about lack of scripts that show their acting they aren’t lacking but suffering from bad scripts .

    • The Dogs start barking hahaha haters is the haters I don’t understand why are you bringing both actresses to here to feed your hatred toward them or just to make yourself someone rather than nobody

  10. I would like a reunion SJK and Moon Chae Won! They had so much chemistry in Nice Guy and she suits sageuk 🙂

  11. Lol I’ll keep reading the posts here before I form an opinion. You know I’m only on board if they’re my favourites and I like the premise of the storyline. Good that there are some for and against so please keep it rolling. And to those that say nah and why even better. Cheers my relations❤️

  12. I prefer Asadal given that I like the past works of the writers esp Queen Seondeok and 6FD. I dont see Kim Ji Won as a strong lead actress yet, tbh and by no means am i undermining her, she still lacking the charisma. But it would be no harm for her to join SJK in Asadal but probably better if there is no loveline between them. Chemistry-wise, I cant see her with SJK since she was in DOTS too. And after the marriage, it seems hard to watch SJK romancing other actress (not that there are no other married actors who did romance dramas after marriage) but because the Song-Song are too high profile which eclipsed every possible chemistry out there. He could proven me wrong, though.

    • Yeah,that is what keep me wondering ,this girl is pretty but why am I not drawn to her,the answer is charisma and I think she still pretty amateur hen it comes to creating chemistry with her leading men.Anyway Im happy she is finally getting the credits.Good luck and fighting KJW!

  13. I still believe that one of the best acting performances I’ve ever seen in a Kdrama was Song Joong Ki’s brief but brilliant role in Tree with Deep Roots as a young King Sejong. I cannot unsee this news, so if he doesn’t take this role I will be forever disappointed.

    • Agree! But something tells me he will positively consider taking this role or I hope he will, LOL. It does seem like a big-budget, high profile drama given the writers and pd and so far we don’t even know the story line as only his name was attached to it and now Kim Ji Won. I guess if negotiations falls through we might finally see the light of this drama.

  14. I feel like Kim Ji Won face is too modern for sageuk. She looks best in modern time. Sageuk is not an easy genre to do, pronounciation is important, you need acting for head to toe. SJK has better acting skill, it might over shadow her.

    LJS is a hallyu star (that going to army soon). Acting with him will boot her name abroad (more). FTW has proved that she can be a lead actress. She act better than LJS that will leave her a room to shine more.

    With a big project like the sageuk, most of veteran actors will be there, if she has any weaknesses it will easily be show. I think its better for her to choose netflix project (plus she will never hear the end of songsong shippers)

    • totally understand your point. KJW does have a modern face… but if the casting director thinks she can handle a sageuk, then let her try it to broaden her resume. She is young and should try different genre to show us her skills, maybe we will be pleasantly surprised 🙂
      Those songsong shippers are all delulus, they are married so now what more to talk about? SJK still has to work and act with someone, unless he retires (ooops, pardon my sarcasm as I was still perplexed by the other article about calling someone out for “retirement”… hahaha…)

  15. KJW really shines in second or side characters but she’s mediocre as a lead tbh. her fans are kind of dangerous lol but she’s no better than current actresses out there despite of her fandom trying hard to claim that.

    • KJW fandom love to play the victims lol. FMW was good, but not because of her, it was the concept of that drama that was okay. Her fans love to think that she’s the sole reason why FMW was good, when in reality it was all the actors there who did a good job together. She is fine, but she has a lot to learn about acting before she can be called ’one of the best actresses of her generation’. I have literally yet to see variation in her expressions. Props to her tjough for picking up different kinds of dramas.

      • How curious, this is so different from your comments on KJW just a few months ago.

        And there’s no “variation in her expressions” between What’s Up, Heirs, Gapdong, DotS and FMW when she barely even seemed like the same person in some of those?

  16. And after reading all your great informative posts I’m not going to watch this so yep I’’ve decided. Liked SJK and KJW in Dots so am happy I’ll leave it at that. Unless both of them were in a horror/thriller then I’ll chance it but sageuk ahhh no. Yes I also think KJW does have a beautiful looking modern for contemporary dramas. But hey she could just prove me wrong!

  17. Looking at the rest of the comments…I guess it’s ‘shit on Kim Ji Won day’ around here, huh? I’m all for tearing people a new one when they can’t act but we really have to be this way even over actresses who have proved over and over again that they can?

    And yeah, she’s new to being a leading lady and has literally one Big 3 network drama lead to her name, big surprise that she’s not “acknowledged in Korea” for star power.

      • Yup only two leads. I’m assuming he’s being very careful about his next choice after the flop of Battleship Island.

      • Was Battleship Island a flop? I read on Wiki and it said the budget of the film was 21million but the film grossed 47 million. Or do you mean bad reviews?

      • Is Battleship Island really a flop? I watched it on the plane & it’s not that bad… but this type of movie may not be for everyone’s taste. SJK is not the lead there, SJS is. SJK does not have the star power to command movie rating as a lead yet I don’t think….

      • @candycane You’re mistaken he does have star power to command movie ratings as his movie Werewolf Boy crossed 7 million admission domestically and was considered a hit. As for Battleship Island, the lead was Hwang Jun Min and was considered a flop domestically given the big budget and how it couldn’t reach the target admission it needed to break even tho it has won quite a number of awards internationally.

        Contrary to popular belief, BI was offered to him before DOTS,he went on board due to the director and story line. As a fan I wasn’t too bothered about the failure of BI as he wasn’t the lead but more of the reviews,LOL. SJK has always been picky about his projects but yeah he might be extra cautious this time since it will be his first project after his marriage.

      • @AppleB – I am not mistaken in his star power in movie. Werewolf Boy got rave reviews because of the story, good acting, also Park Bo Young is excellent. SJK was relatively a rookie at that time so you cannot attribute all the success to his “star power” because he was not a star at that time. People went to watch Werewolf Boy not just because of him!

    • She is acknowledged in Korea and she’s capable of leading a drama. Another question is, can she pull off a sageuk drama? Her last movie was a sageuk movie. But this time people will inevitably compare her chemistry to SHK’s chemistry. Sometimes i feel like i-fans exaggerate her skills as an actress. She’s fine, definitely better than all of these Suzys, Hyeris and Joys, but better than Han Hyo Joo or SHK? I don’t think so. Acting is more than technique, it’s feelings too, and the ability to command the audience. Which i think she needs to work on. FMW was actually the first drama I finally saw some more variation in her expressions. Could be the fact that second female leads in k-dramas are almost always written to be cold and cool as opposed to the first female lead who always gets the bulk of crying scenes.

      • I think people forget HHJ and SHK were shit on for their acting skills in their earlier days as well, but their hit dramas overshadow that. So yes I agree with you that the ability to command the audience is very important. I think KJW is very well liked by ifans because she plays strong and independent characters that they are able to relate to.

    • @candycane- You’re mistaken again, people did watch WB for him initially and stayed due to the story and excellent acting, hence the movie became a box office hit.

      What rookie/not a star are you talking about? He had K-netizens raving about him due to his critically acclaimed acting in DRT, SS and IM, not to mention his appearance in Running Man which elevated his popularity domestically and internationally. He was not a rookie by any means (albeit IM and WB being his first lead roles). If you mean PBY (she was just starting out and despite her success with Scandal Makers, she alone can’t bring +100k admissions on the first day) and the director had only 1 movie to his name before WB. So who will people go to watch the movie for if it wasn’t for cute actor with good acting chops.

      If you had said the same about BI, I would’ve 50-50 agreed with you cause of HJM and Ryoo Seung Wan but WB, nope. SJK does have the star power to command movie ratings, even more now, cause if he didn’t they wouldn’t have offered him the lead even then.

      • Park Bo Young, “just starting out” with Werewolf Boy? She was already one of Korea’s most acclaimed young actresses back then, Scandal Makers was a HUGE hit but she already had the critical praise based on her child actress work too.

        If Joong Ki can be considered to have ‘stat power’ at that time based on his supporting roles in DRT and SS and lead in Innocent Man, Park Bo Young was no less and her prior acclaim and box office success shouldn’t be dismissed to easily to bolster SJK being a star – Werewolf Boy was actually marketed as HER return to film after being unable to work for two years due to an agency dispute. Someone who didn’t have star power of her own wouldn’t have got audiences so jazzed just by agreeing to take a drama like she did with Oh My Ghost.

      • @AppleB – no no no… without PBY, WB wouldn’t be able to achieve its box office rating. Do not discount the power of the female lead here. You may be SJK’s loyal fan, but you don’t really get all the facts straight!! SJK could not single-handedly bring in all the audience for WB, no way.

      • RoyalWe- I wasn’t belittling PBY,(sorry if my comments came across that way) what I meant was she alone can’t bring in 100K+ admission the first day because let’s face it, they are more fan girls than fan boys(unless it’s for idols) and this movie was a melodrama, more female audiences hence the larger portion of the audiences would have come for SJK plus he had IM backing him up that time. Actually this was my response to the previous commentator who was acting like SJK was a nugu that had nothing going on for him.

        And OMG was after WB wasn’t it? Of course people are going to be very much jazzed about her comeback because she’s good actress and left with 2 hit movies.

      • @Royal We- PBY wasn’t a child actress, she was 16 when she first debuted and I wasn’t belittling her, I acknowledged her success with SM (but I’m sorry if my comment came across that way). What I meant was she alone can’t bring 100K+ admission on the first day, because this movie was a melodrama- more female audiences and let’s face it, there are more fan girls then fan boys( unless it’s for idols) hence SJK would have brought the larger portion of the audiences plus he had IM backing him up that time.(The reason I’m only focusing on first day is cause it shows the star power of the actors when audiences are fresh to the movie as opposed to 2nd and 3rd day when proper judgement is made. There’s only so much even a die hard oppa fangirl can take if the story, acting and such doesn’t hit it up, eg: Real).

        Actually this was my response to the other commentator who was acting like SJK was a nugu that had nothing going on for him, so I have nothing against PBY. And OMG was after WB wasn’t it? Of course people are gonna be jazzed up of her comeback as she’s good actress and left with 2 hit projects.

  18. I don’t think sjk would accept this drama he say in interviews battleship island premiere after married he will choose movie carefully not drama

  19. @prettyautumn – well, you know I don’t always disagree with you but this time I have to, Han Hyo Joo’s acting was pretty bland when she was younger too. Not bad like idol levels of bad, just…bland in Iljimae, Brilliant Legacy (I found Moon Chae Won much more interesting to watch even if she was the ‘bad’ second lead) etc. Song Hye Kyo also got criticised for her sageuk acting in the Hwang Jin Yi movie a decade ago and isn’t great at romcoms but was otherwise a good melo actress as seen in her Noh Hee Kyung dramas.

    Basically, I think KJW has at least displayed the acting ability a lead actress should have, it’s sad to see her being shit on here when in other posts about decent actresses, it’s her that people use as an example to shit on Chae Soo Bin etc. Neither of those is right.

    As for her face being too modern for sageuk, idk. She looks natural, she doesn’t have that over-tweaked plastic surgery look that would be a major disqualifier for sageuks because such a face would never have existed in that era. Plus she’s not overwhemingly ‘cool modern woman’ in vibes like say, Gong Hyo Jin (who I love and who also looks natural).

  20. @Candycane- Read again, did I say all 7/8 million people watched the movie just for SJK? No I didn’t, that’ll be pretty dumb of me to say. I said PBY alone, ALONE couldn’t have brought 100K+ admissions on the first day, which means I had clearly acknowledged her contributions as well and I have stated my reasons above.

    Oh I think I have my facts straight unlike you who’s talking straight out of her head without proper facts and justifications. But trying very hard to make your point across with those exclamation marks, LOL.

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