Kim Woo Bin Considers and Ultimately Turns Down Lead Role in Upcoming SBS Drama Pinocchio
I’m not surprised Kim Woo Bin‘s name keeps getting floated around the upcoming SBS drama Pinocchio. He is one of the hottest young Korean actors of his generation and after Heirs has shown that he actually has the ability to elevate crap by sheer acting charisma. That’s impressive. There has been a series of articles, a batch a few weeks ago and another series this week, about Kim Woo Bin considering the male lead role for Pinocchio. I haven’t written about it because after the first time his name was floated there was immediate unofficial response from his team that it wasn’t going to happen. He’s about to start filming for the movie Twenty and frankly it makes sense for him to be choosy with the amount of movies and drama roles offered his way. I wanted to write about Pinocchio after it was cast but with today’s rehash of the Kim Woo Bim considering the drama news it’s probably time to put this baby to rest.
SBS has stepped up with the official statement that Kim Woo Bin declined the role and the latest rumor is due to the production company behind the drama happens to be Kim Woo Bin’s agency. Pinocchio is a journalism-driven drama where the two main leads play eager young reporters and the female lead is the Pinocchio of the drama title where if she tells a lie she can’t stop sneezing until she tells the truth. The male lead is described as having exceptional memory and very glib-tongued, which exactly describes a recent SBS drama male lead Lee Seung Gi‘s character in You’re All Surrounded. The only difference is that his character may be good looking but dresses very shabbily and looks super messy all the time. I think this is-he-isn’t-he news about Kim Woo Bin potentially being in Pinocchio is also worth posting about because with the confirmation that he won’t do it, it also looks more and more likely that he won’t do a drama this year. Good for him to focus on movies, bad for me (sniffles) to not have a twice-a-week fix of Woo Bin anytime soon.
I actually don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with Pinocchio so that Kim Woo Bin is passing because it sounds like a hot mess. The drama comes from the writing-directing team behind I Hear Your Voice which was a strong surprise hit for SBS last year and vaulted Lee Jong Seok to the big leagues and helped Lee Bo Young in a career bottleneck breakthrough. The two leads are describes as rookie reporters so I’m expecting the casting to be age-appropriate to around Kim Woo Bin’s general ago bracket. I’m not sure why Lee Jong Seok’s name isn’t being bandied about since he’s an SBS darling and Pinocchio is coming from his IHYV production team. I’ll keep an eye out for this drama which still has time to find the right cast as it’s scheduled to air in mid-November after My Lovely Girl (My Lovable Girl) with Rain and Krystal.
another hit drama maybe…
Kim Woo Bin why? I got super excited today when he’s cast as lead and then he rejected it? Oh well, I think I should trust KWB’s judgement that the drama is maybe a mess and KWB is super busy this year.
honestly after im finish watching School.,i thought Kim Woo Bin will definitely bcome leading man in his next drama..he just too good to be 2nd one..well even in Heirs,he is the man..i think Pinocchio could be a good one…but yeahhh im still waiting someone to offer him to be in Vampire drama..(hot).
Does that mean he is eyeing Descendants of the Sun instead? Just my intuition. 😉
Is it the upcoming KES drama….I don’t want him to do another KES drama please!!! 😀
I don’t think so because I think he is first lead material in a drama and DotS has the leads in a mature age bracket so if he’s not right to be cast as the male lead there I don’t see him doing a second lead even in a KES drama since he was already there in Heirs. I think KES at some point will have KWB be a lead in her drama but likely not with DotS. My 2 cents. ^^
why woobin why..i was very exited a few moments ago but now..that i know woo bin has turned it down.. 🙁 i’m totaly sad
where is the proof the he rejected the project… I just heard this morning that he accepted it, then now he rejected… please please where is the site…
Here you go, the articles about SBS clarifying he’s not doing it came out after the ones that said he was still considering.
http://tenasia.hankyung.com/archives/293960
thanks, done reading 🙁 sad
Ahhhhhh! Why?!
Doesn’t he know how badly I’m waiting for him to come back to dramaland?! (Mopes SMH).
oh do you need a reporter? then cast Lee Min Ho 1993.. 😀
I love him Kim woo Bin my 1st love <3
Well good, as much as I want him back on dramaland, this drama sounds really boring.
Kim woo Bin has the best screen presence among the actors of his age. It was wonderful in The Heirs where he brought his character alive in a way that he totally owned it. I cannot imagine any other doing it with that much perfection.
Since then I have become an admirer of his acting and would love to watch him in a drama soon but not at the expense of a good role…..from the little that I have come across for this one, it’s understandable that he refused.
His agency is Sidus right? I hope they go for Lee Yubi for the female lead, she is under them too and very talented. Also like Woobin she deserves to be moving into a true leading role soon.
how about Kim Bum as a male lead?