Categories: K-dramas

Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara Comfortably in Character for Fated to Love You

The upcoming Korean remake of the popular TW-drama Fated to Love You is going to live and die by the chemistry of the leads. A lot of viewers already know the story from watching the original or hearing about it so the narrative won’t be hook enough to lure audience to keep watching. Plus even if someone is newbie to this story, I can safely say it’s nothing to write home about. The male lead on his best day can be described as trying to grow up from his arrogant self-absorption, while at his worst is just a jackass through and through. Ethan Ruan made him mildly palatable at his worst so I could stick with him long enough for the much too late redemption arc to arrive. Will Jang Hyuk pull it off? I have complete faith he can, and look handsome to boot doing it as well as seen in these latest drama stills. Jang Nara is adorable in character while Hyukkie is rocking that front bang like he was born with it. The royal blue suit also look mighty snappy and charming on him. While the original drama didn’t manage to pair up the second leads or other such fanservice, I already am happier with the casting of Choi Jin Hyuk and Wang Ji Won over the original stars Baron Chen and Bianca Bai. Those two were gorgeous but oh so flat. There is a also first peek at Wang Ji Won practicing for her role as the ballerina girlfriend and MBC couldn’t have picked a better actress for that role. Wang Ji Won graduated with a Bachelor of Dance from Korea National University of Arts and then was trained as a ballerina at England’s The Royal Ballet School. When you see the pics below of her dancing, it’s the real deal and so utterly beautiful in showcasing the female form.

The leading female role in FTLY is a classic doormat and even acknowledged as such within the drama where everyone calls her post-it girl because leaving her a task on a post-it and she’ll do it. She needed to grow a backbone and self-confidence and when it finally arrived the leading man also needed to grovel first in order to get her back. Suffice to say neither are characters that linger after the heady rush of this cracky drama was over, but with the K-remake comes a chance to freshen up the character traits and add a bit more maturity to the proceedings which was sorely lacking.  While it’s impossible to say whether the Jangs chemistry over a decade ago in Successful Story of a Bright Girl is still there and will shine brightly in this particular story, but a little bit of faith is warranted that this pairing could be one of the better mature rom-com couples in recent memory.

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View Comments

  • I do not like Jang Hyuk hair, I know I have seen that style of hair in another drama. I hope the drama is as awesome as the TW-version

  • I never did make it all the way through the original TW drama, Fated to Love You, even though the actors are all pretty appealing (and Joe Chen was the queen of idol dramas), and the ost was absolutely fabulous in capturing the mood and setting the scene, and it was all due to the male lead's jackass character who just strung the female lead along, treating her for granted until the tragic accident happened. So yeah, I didn't make it till the male lead's redemption-arc-that-should-have-come-way-earlier. I'm still deciding whether to watch this though, but it would be interesting to see Jang Hyuk's take of the male lead. And wow, Jang Hyuk looks younger with this hairstyle, which is so different from Ethan Ruan's. Haha, maybe the change is because he's a spokesperson of his own company, which if I didn't remember wrongly, was a haircare shampoo company in the TW drama. Jang Nara should be able to play the female lead role with her eyes closed, since it is in some ways similar to her role in Baby-faced Beauty.

    • same here....except i didnt watch the drama!

      I cant deal with overly pushy female leads, over dickish male leads...but when these characteristics are the mainstay of the drama, plus the plot already sounds like its gonna be angst ridden from like ep5, i dunno if i wanna put myself thru this drama!

  • my gosh I am utterly captivated by Wang Ji won's form. I do ope they showcase that more in this drama..

    • Same here! They have a couple of knockout second leads, I hope they use them to the fullest.

  • Just when I thought the hairdo of male leads couldn't get anymore ridiculous we get this. I stand corrected!

  • His hair is not that bad, imo. At least it looks like it moves versus his greasy helmet hair in Bright Girl. To be fair, during those years - the whole kdramaland had ridic hairstyles.

    When it comes to fug chaebol/rich guy 'dos, Go Jun Pyo still wears the crown - half pama crown.

    Omo, this drama has 2 reunions. I forgot that Wang Ji Won was on Heirs ^^

    • Can Choi Jin-hyuk and Wang Ji-won's characters just forget the leads and get with each other? I so wanted then to make it work in Heirs, they looked good together even if they were on-screen together for all of 5 minutes.

  • This looks good. Normally, I don't like remakes of dramas even if I enjoyed the storyline but I will check it out for these two. The current airing dramas haven't captured me and there's a void when Empress Ki and Secret Love Affair ended.

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