My Princess: My Thoughts and the First Batch of Stills
Did any of my friends think I would let this drama pass on by without acknowledging it? Not bloody likely – even if my ambivalence and curiosity are waging an internal battle royale. The next sacrificial lamb MBC drama to attempt to break the two year long Wed-Thurs curse (which recently ate up Playful Kiss) will be My Princess, starring Song Seung Heon and Kim Tae Hee. I’ve been digesting this news for weeks now, and finally feel calm enough to talk about it. Good thing this week the first stills have been released. Just in time for me to ogle the pretty – and my god are these two people gorgeous. Look at his cheekbones, behold her natural winsome charm. I simply love that picture above.
Sadly, I am also of the opinion that neither can act their way out of a paper bag. Actually, between the two of them, Kim Tae Hee might be the better actor. Too bad that between the two of them, I love Song Seung Heon unconditionally and completely am capable of accepting his three-expression acting ability while enjoying whatever crap he decides to churn out. What? He’s like my weird kryptonite, I can’t even begin to explain it. If I could, I can find a cure. But I can’t stand Kim Tae Hee on screen. She makes my head hurt.
This dichotomy left me reeling for a few weeks, until I made the decision to just go with the flow. I recently had a change of opinion about the acting abilities of a few actors I used to actively dislike, happily discovering that their new projects changed my mind about them. Hope this one changes my mind about Kim Tae Hee, because I think she’s beautiful, classy, and smart – everything I love in an actress. If she found nuance and technique in her acting, she’d be the whole package.
My Princess will be written by Jang Yang Shil, the protégé of Kim Eun Sook (currently her Secret Garden is doing a gangbuster ratings climb). Jang most recently assisted her in On Air, and its been mentioned that KIm Eun Sook may provided mentorship and moral support to Jang on her first solo venture.
It’s the story about a college girl (Kim Tae Hee) who discovers that she is not an orphan but is instead a real life princess, and a chaebol grandfather hires his diplomat grandson (Song Seung Heon) to school her on etiquette and diplomacy. The premise sounds so lame even I have trouble accepting that it will be interesting. But since I will watch Song Seung Heon in anything, My Princess and I have a date for January 5, 2011, when the drama premieres on MBC.
i felt the same as you, I was having this weird nagging feeling about this drama. Plotwise, actor-wise & actress-wise. and like you the only part that got me curious & anticipatimh this drama is the fact that i LUWRV SSH truly, madly & deeply. But then i heard/read that the writer is from secret garden, and now i am full speed ahead in really stalking this drama..!!!
I CANNNNNNNNOTTTTT wait for January 5 to come! they look so good together:)
I want to know how I’ve gone without having heard of or seeing this man. :jaw drop:
I will wait for your first impression once it starts…but dayum!
So this will coincide with Secret Garden? I hope this will not affect Kim Eun Seuk’s script for secret garden.
I might try this although the synopsis doesn’t seem solid enough to hold my interest
Ooh, nice blog you got here!
I’m also looking forward to this drama… in a weird, twisted way. Btw, Kim Eun Sook clarified on her twitter that she’s not penning My Princess. She’ll merely be assisting and giving moral support to the actual writer.
Story is the ‘been there/done that’ mode. but i can’t help but see how this drama turns out since i’ve never seen them in a rom-com. i’ve only seem them in dramatic dramas so i’m kinda interested in seeing how this turn out. maybe/ MAYBE they’re not bad at rom-com. only the airing of the drama will be able to answer that question.
Woah, your screen name is “blueangel” too? From a “blue_angel_1004” (who goes by “blue1004” to just plain “blue”) to a fellow “blueangel”, hello!
I am VERY excited for this. I like the writer(s) – I think they also co-wrote Lovers which I know you dislike but is one of my ultimate favorites.
Plus, I do think SSH and KTH can act. SSH did just fine in East of Eden, which is the only thing I’ve seen him in. He’s not Korean Lawrence Olivier, but he’s fine, and also has on-screen charisma to burn (I ended up sticking with EoE even when it got loopy because I loved his character so – clearly he did a good job in the role). And I’ve loved KTH in everything I’ve seen her in, from the bug-eyed baddie in Stairway to Cancer, to Korean Buffy in Forbidden Love to Med Student Mary Sue in Lovers in Harvard, to Seung Hee-one-of-my-favorite-heroines-ever in IRIS.
So, bring it on!
Did anyone watch Disney’s The Princess Diaries? Very similar to this storyline….
First thing I thought of as soon as I read the synopsis!
yep. Princess Diaries with a korean twist
Princess Diaries with a BAD korean twist. Why would anyone’s grandpa hire a DIPLOMAT to coach her in the intricacies of courtly life, rather than a courtier? and a MALE one at that…
but that said… I forgive them. I like crappy stories, on the occasion. I liked Princess Diaries….
@ockoala – “He’s like my weird kryptonite” I thought that your ultimate kryptonite was Jung Woo Sung??
@dangermousie – coming to give ockoala some encouragement per request? i see what u did there!
@ Carol
No, I think Jung Woo Sung is a damn fine actor. I have no reservations about loving him. It’s a subjective and objective true love.
Song Seung Heon is my kyrptonite because I am powerless before him, yet I acknowledge he’s not really good for me. I melt into goo when I see him, and am forced to watch really bad dramas like SS, EoE, or AiMH, just to spend time with him.
Yup. ^^ Technically speaking, Kim Eun-sook is in charge of creativity while writer Kim’s long-time student, Jang Young-sil will be the one to deal with the screenplay. Also heard that writer Jang has been working on the script since the past two years… So let’s hope she’d be successful in pulling off this one.
ahhh…no matter which way i look at it, i’m still cringing at the thought of these two together PLUS Kim Eun-Sook’s fast-paced dialogue. but they sure are pretty to look at so i guess i will watch this for the snark factor. haha. 😉
Incorrect information mentioned in your post:
1) Kim Eun Sook did not co-write this script. She has recently clarified this point through her twitter. Plus, the official imbc homepage of My Princess does not have her name on the staff list.
2) Kim Tae-hee’s character does not have a grandfather in the drama. She is an orphan. It is the grandfather of Song Seung Heon’s character. There is a valid background why the grandfather ordered his grandson to teach the princess. The brief synopsis that everyone reads is simply too brief and missing out on important details, which may lead to bad assumption.
Thanks! I corrected the two inaccuracies. I’m sure folks interested in this drama will check out its wiki page and/or official homepage for more up-to-date information. Thanks again for letting me know my info was a tad outdated.
Dear Ockoala, thanks so much for posting about “MY PRINCESS”. Because I was wondering/talking with my friends yesterday, about the next Kdrama I would like to watch after M3&SG over. Today u did bring up MY PRINCESS….
I am totally agree with you that SONG HENO & KIM TAE HEE are gorgeous.
I am happy to know that there is something I can enjoy in new year 2011.
I will keep this as the new year present from you.
Thanks for your great work as usual.
I feel the same way. I adore SSH and I even watched EoE for him(and Lee Yeon Hee) but the man cannot act. Neither can unfortunately KTH, she has brains and looks but as an actress she is terrible. It’s almost as she cannot relate to the characters at all and you can see her try to think how she’s suppose to act out the character that she is supposed to portray but it doesn’t work. The good thing is she’s acknowledged the fact that she cannot act but I still can’t understand why she doesn’t take acting lessons.
i love the way you write this entry. cracked me up with this whole “they-can’t-act-but-they’re-such-prettyfaces-i’m-just-gonna-let-this-slide (or try to)” puns. exactly what i thought too! that’s a new tidbit though, the writer a protege of the On Air/Secret Garden writer. plot sounds lame, but… hopefully it’ll turn out to be surprisingly entertaining. we’ll see, come January!
Kim Tae Hee is beautiful but her perma-pout distracts me and discredits her acting. >_<
* laughs * I shall watch just 1 or 2 Eps just to see whether koala’s description of their acting fits ~
OMG! Another awesome drama to watch!!! Thanks Koala 🙂
When “My Princess” will come to Indonesia.I can’t wait any longer.
GBU SSH.
I am thinking about you.
I get bad vibes just looking at the lead actress’s face…. I’ve only watched her in one drama and that was enough for me. Stairway to Heaven was a beautiful drama, and the only flaw was her being cast as the evil stepsister. I had nightmares after the show, cos she was so awful in EVERY way…her acting was horrendous, she pouted, twisted, grimaced, contorted her face in every imaginable way possible throughout the drama in a vain attempt to appear malevolent; she only succeeded in making me get violent tummyaches from laughing so much at the most critical moments. If there had been a Korean Razzies equivalent for Worst Korean Drama Actress Ever, she would have worn it hands down. (folowed by Jandi of BOF a close second: she probably graduated from the same acting school seeing the wildly similar face-twisting contortions that are supposed to pass off as acting)
The lead actor…I haven’t seen any of his dramas cos he always seems to have massive unsolvable problems, and that’s really depressing. He acted in that Autumn…drama ???? where he fell in love with his adopted sister???? Correct me if I’m wrong…so yeah, that’s about all I know about him.
On the positive side though, this show seems promising, the plot interesting, and they still look the same. It’s amazing how in the years between, they haven’t changed at all! Time stands still in Korean Dramaland, nobody ever ages, and youth and beauty are eternal LOL
I agree… although (for me) Kim Tae Hee is the prettiest Korean actress out there, she isn’t a good actress. T.T Maybe that’s the way it is… you can’t have everything at the same time. T.T
I’m still looking forward for this drama though… I think I might give it a chance. XD
i can’t sleep im so excited waiting for the new MY PRINCESS. ilove kim tae hee and song seoung hun. and waiting for IRIS SEASON 2 lee bhung hun and kim tae hee.. this coming 2011…… excited excited excited….