Jung Yong Hwa Possibly Joining Yoon Eun Hye in Upcoming K-drama

This percolating upcoming drama casting rumor is too good not to share and mull over. Like all potential castings it may or may not happen, but it’s the thought process that fascinates me. Three months ago when the casting for the upcoming Kim Eun Sook drama The Heirs started trickling out, Jung Yong Hwa was reportedly offered the role of the second male lead opposite Lee Min Ho. Later on Park Shin Hye joined the cast and it looked to be the third time those two worked together since You’re Beautiful and Heartstrings (You’ve Fallen for Me). Then as quickly as that three-times-too-much pairing got people talking, Jung Yong Hwa declined the role and that was that. Later on The Heirs cast rising young actor Kim Woo Bin (School 2013) and everyone (including myself) assumed it was for the role offered to Jung Yong Hwa. Now some behind-the-scenes gossip is worth sharing – Kim Woo Bin may be playing guy3 in The Heirs and the role of the second male lead may still be yet unconfirmed. Word on the street is that one of Jung Yong Hwa’s CN Blue group mates may be in talks.

Lee Jung Shin is currently starring in The Petal and Blade, all signs point to cutie pie Kang Min Hyuk, especially since the final CN Blue member Lee Jong Hyun has already done a Kim Eun Sook drama in A Gentleman’s Dignity. Since Heirs is still 3 months away from airing its no surprise the full cast hasn’t been revealed yet. But Kim Eun Sook is known for always throwing an up-and-coming youngster in her cast (Jang Geun Seok in Lovers in Prague, Lee Jong Suk in Secret Garden, the aforementioned Lee Jong Hyun in AGD). The real reason for Jung Yong Hwa’s turning down the role is apparently because him or his agency believes he no longer needs to play second male leads and is squarely in the leading man category. So either he was going to be the male lead in The Heirs or else he wasn’t doing it. I dunno about that, dude. But I have to keep an open mind because there are starting to be murmurs that he was so sure of turning down The Heirs, which is clearly a ratings lock, because MBC is developing a new drama with Yoon Eun Hye and he’s reportedly the male lead. WHAT THE WHAT? Oh jeez, after Eun Hye did Missing You with Yoochun I had hoped that was the end of her involvement with male idol actors and she could return to having a leading man who was devoted to the craft full time. We’ll have to wait and see if this pairing ultimately happens, though Eun Hye was attached to Missing You for a looooong time and that one turned out to be true.

Does this pairing work for you guys? I’m so worried if it happens. Yong Hwa, however cute he is, has about one and a half expressions in his acting repertoire. It’s that half that gives him a slight edge over Kim Hyun Joong, bless that robot boy’s heart. Otherwise these two handsome young men are pretty much interchangeable for me when it comes to playing cold good-looking male characters.