Yong Jun Hyung Goes Back to Black as Monstar Wraps Filming
When a beloved drama wraps filming always gives me the most bittersweet feeling. Sadness that it heralds the imminent end of the drama, happiness for the cast getting a rest and reprieve from what was surely a truly exhausting schedule of live-filming. Kim Da Hee (Da Hee of the girl group GLAM) posted a full cast and crew wrap picture this week with a caption that confirmed that the Mnet music drama Monstar had indeed completed filming. When I saw it I started to get nostalgic already but the drama has still four more episodes left to air so I don’t know why I’m preemptively jumping on the sad boat. I think its fantastic the drama is already in the can since it means the writer wasn’t scrambling to write scenes literally hours before it airs (thereby increasing the chances that it makes no sense), and the actors and PD isn’t required to film on the fly and turn in sub-par work. I’m hoping since this drama gears towards a younger audience it’ll have the all-around happy endings I crave. I can handle dark stuff, but once in awhile I need some happy to go around. Of course I need my OTP together, Seol Chan needs to have his Se Yi to balance out his Star tendencies and give him an emotional anchor that he has lacked due to whatever familial issues he’s experienced. I’m not particularly desperate for a Sun Woo and Na Na ending but I do want those two to grow a backbone and start being honest about the things they have been keeping inside. Seeing Kyu Dong’s suicide attempt and all the repeat bullying has only made me less tolerant of Sun Woo’s own issues for why he ignored the bullying and let it continue. There is right and wrong and regardless of the issues between Kyu Dong and Do Nam, Jae Rok’s bullying was fundamentally wrong. I want Eun Ha’s story to take a life of her own, one that addresses how invisible she feels in the world around her and perhaps her imagination and writing/drawing skills will launch a literary career that makes her the Star of the bunch in her own right. And of course, Kyu Dong and Do Nam need to become friends again, this time with grown up understanding that people make mistakes and forgiveness is the first step in healing. Yong Jun Hyung posted this picture today of his all-black hair which almost made me cry because it means he’s no longer Yoon Seol Chan. It really is just a drama, with actors playing characters, but this one really felt so refreshingly real. I’m sure all 7 leads are going places after this launching pad, whether its in singing or acting. Jun Hyung is likely all-in with his BEAST activities but I’m not such a fangirl I’ll be keeping an eye out when he dabbles in acting again. Ha Yeon Soo has landed her first mainstream drama gig and will be starring in the just announced MBC sitcom High Kick 4. Check out the cast wrap pictures below and watch a Seol Chan-Se Yi to help pass the time until Friday arrives again
Seol Chan-Se Yi “Boy Like You”:
Yay, i’m first…thx so much, Ms. Koala, for posting this…i’m so sad too about SC dyeing his hair black again and that this show is going to end soon… ;___________________; wish more dramas are written well as this one. Thx 2 for the video! I’m gna miss our OTP (SC & SY)…
well I definitely have become a fangirl! will be following his career from now on. hope he and his group continue to shine. am not so much a fangirl that I think he would be good in any other role but am certainly impressed with his résumé so far. he is mad talented.
I really like what he is doing with this role. If he continues to act, I hope that he can expand his range and grow as an actor.
I love this show and I know what you mean about the characters feeling real. I also dislike when people ignore bullying and allow it to escalate. I am not saying it is easy to stand up to bullies, but even if one has to call for help, one should still do something. I am speaking from experience as someone who was the only one to standup for and help a girl that was treated cruelly. Those who did not directly bully her allowed it to continue or even enjoyed it. I’ve also been bullied to some extent (when I was very young), but I am glad that it was not as severe as the bullying that other people experience. People may not refrain from acting because of fear, but if people band together they can stand up to (and even defeat) bullies.
*correction* “People may refrain from acting….”
Ha Yeon Soo isn’t exactly getting her first mainstream drama because High Kick 4 will be on tvN. Talk about cable snatching talented PDs…
aww… they’re done filming!! :”( This will be my first K-drama that I will (hopefully) be completing in more than a year.
Jun-hyung did impress me quite a lot… sure Seol-Chan was not a complex character but he was the stand out of all the actors. If he takes his acting career seriously am sure he’ll be very good. It finally dawned on me that he reminds me a LOT of Ryu Deok-hwan… the way he curls his upper lip when fooling around.
Anywhoo, I love when small dramas catch everyone by surprise.
he has been good in this role but I can’t help but think that being junhyung, the idol really helped him in this role. what he lacks in acting right now, he more than makes up for it in charisma and screen presence. it would be interesting to see him in another role but with Brady’s new album coming up and all the promotional work that comes with that, where would the boy have the time!?
Him being an idol may have helped him a lot but even as early as E2 when he had to portray anger, frustration, being gobsmacked when SeYi smiled at him, to angsting his face out made me sit up and notice him. Not going to lie here — I skipped ALL his scenes in E1 when I learnt that he was an idol AND the lead (should go back and check ’em out). I’ve become cynical when idols like Suzy, Taec, and Yong-hwa get cast as leads. After 8 epi I stand corrected and I couldn’t be more glad about him proving me wrong. 🙂
Woah high kick 4? Did not see that coming as the 3rd one did not do so well.
I happen to be a fan of B2st so I look forward to them releasing new music now that he is done with Monstar. I already respected JunHyung because of his music capabilities (he helps produce and compose a good portion or B2st’s music) but the added knowledge that the boy can sing and act only makes me respect him that much more. I will be on the lookout for another acting job from him, but I do hope that he doesn’t forget his day job.
As for the Nana-Sunwoo pair, as characters their coupling isn’t that important for me since their relationship wasn’t really given attention in the drama until recently. But I do hope they end up together because Dahee (Nana) and Haneul (Sunwoo) are absolutely adorable together in all of the behind the scenes footage so it would be great to see that chemistry onscreen in their characters. They have such a cute offscreen friendship and their interactions in the BTS for the Color Bar performance was adorable.
This is how I feel like all dramas should be! Complete filming at least a couple of weeks before the drama ends. It’s bittersweet that it’s almost over, but I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.
Awwwwwwwwwww, they’ve wrapped filming already?! I will so miss this drama when it ends, it’s one of 2013’s best surprises for me (come to think of it, ALL the dramas I’ve loved this year are ones I’d heard almost nothing about prior to their airing, i.e. Cruel City, I Hear Your Voice and now Monstar).
And while the cast is very green, they don’t show the average level of idol-actor (nonexistent) acting skill, Ha Yeon-soo is adorable as Se-yi but Jun-hyung is the real shock – he’s not the best looker, but what he lacks in classic pretty-boyness, he makes up for in charm (and he really did nail his character, so props for that).
Even before learning forgiveness, I think, Do Nam and Kyo Dong have to learn how to be happy for friend’s happiness and success, and, surely, how to feel each other’s failures and distress. They say that the safest position is to always attribute your own success to others, but your own failures to yourself.
Ohh why do I feel awfully sad even when Monstar hasn’t ended its run? Maybe the thought of knowing that I will never see these characters who I really love on my screen again. It seemed so real that it’ll be hard for me to let go once it ends. But technically it ended because they already wrapped up the filming. At the end of the day, they’re just actors who portrayed characters. A wake up call indicating that this s just a drama – that I will never forget and will remain in my heart forever. Lol that’s how much I love MONSTAR. 🙂
I will not be attracted to idol boy… I will not be attracted to idol boy.. I will not be…
i know a few of you don’t claim fangirl status… but i AM A FANGIRL! lol. yes, i have no shame…sue me, haha!
i will miss seol chan. but its back to reality in a few weeks and back to Beast’s Junhyung….the namja who stole my heart a few years back.
Seeing him step out his usual facade of the quiet and swag demeanor was totally unexpected and now when i watch him perform, it feels like knowing a little secret thats-not-so-secret…lol.
anyway…Monstar, hwaiting! Beast…hwaiting! ♥