Okay, this has now officially become the worst K-drama casting week in recent memory, stinking up the joint with a series of out-of-the-blue and inexplicable lead casting that has now reached gender balanced levels. On the heels of MBC‘s big budget Kill Me Heal Me casting rookie Lim Ji Yeon (and not a good actress in her rookie outing to boot) as the female lead opposite Lee Seung Gi, ratings loser KBS is following suit with the risky casting choices and placing all its big hopes on one very slender and wispy set of shoulders.
The highly touted KBS saving star upcoming drama Blood, from the production team behind the hit Good Doctor, has landed on rising young actor (and model) Ahn Jae Hyun as the male lead playing the role of a vampire doctor. Come again? Ahn Jae Hyun went from unknown to on the map due to the fun role of Jeon Ji Hyun‘s little brother in You From Another Star and he followed that up with a decent sized ensemble role in You’re All Surrounded and a supporting role in the movie Fashion King. Let me just say for the record – I like Ahn Jae Hyun well enough but he is nowhere near leading man caliber yet in either acting skills or onscreen charisma.
Might I also remind that Blood has been through the public casting news cycle two potential leading men already in Yoo Yeon Seok (a rising talented young actor with much critical acclaim) and Jung Il Woo (inconsistent but when he’s on then he’s mesmerizing). To go from Yoo Yeon Seok to Jung Il Woo now to Ahn Jae Hyun, who hasn’t even been a true second male lead in any drama yet (whether prime time, weekend, or even daily!), strikes me as more troubling than bizarre.
It basically hints that something is really bad with the script (or the entire production) that the first two guys ultimately passed and the only leading man the production can get to accept is a still newbie-ish actor like Ahn Jae Hyun. Granted he’s very very popular this year, but popular does not leading man ready make. I think looks-wise he’s the extreme end of the recent asexual Korean pretty flower boy trend and looks about as plausible a male lead only if the drama is set in high school and/or the modeling industry. Blood follows Healer on KBS Mon-Tues come February 2015.
He has the look, but he can’t act and is kind of devoid of charisma. Such a weird choice.
Hmmnn I am shocked at this. I was super happy when Yoo Yeon Seok’s name got thrown in this drama all because it is his time to get the lead role, and the production team sounded solid enough.
with the change to JIW I was still happy, I might not have liked NMJ, but I love Jung Il Woo.
but now Jae Hyun, now that is a bummer. He is likeable enough but I agree with Ms.koala he is no where near leading man zone. He could pull off a few happy and comedic antics but BLOOD sounds like a drama or suspense to me and I feel like he can’t full it off.
I can name a few more actors who can pull off this drama, even from the new and upcoming model-turned-actors. I think those that are free for projects are Sung Joon, Yoo Min Kyu, or Hong Jong Hyun, Seo Kang Joon and Park Sae Joon
This is just such a bummer… I guess there really is something with the prod/script that it can’t hold a better actor to this drama…
I am not upset with the casting per se. But with 2 actors openly rejecting or the production team let it be known that it was rejected twice; I actually feel sorry for him.
Hope the drama pans out for him because otherwise he would landed himself into a stinker.
popularity wise,i wouldnt say hes very popular.as least KWB is more popular than him 10x,acting wise and chrisma wise too.i like the guy as a person but acting wise,he sure needs a lot of pratice there.well,i wish him luck.least they can do is give him a better female lead
So much no. He has a narrow acting range and a lead role will make it so obvious. I wish him the best but my expectations are officially at zero
KBS must have lost their marbles.
Sometimes I think he looks very awkward/lost onscreen like he doesn’t know quite what he’s doing. I don’t think acting is his calling tbh. He is cute but that’s all he really has going for him. Was there really no one else available?
That was one of my issues with him in YAAS. He was passable when he was working one on one with someone (mostly Park Jung-min who was excellent), but if he was in he was in a big group or alone he always looked like he didn’t know what he should be doing.
FWIW, the 30 year old “rising young actor” Yoo Yeon Seok is 3.5 years OLDER than Jung Il Woo, is he not?
I watched ManStar till the end and the beginning of YAAS (dropped that one): I couldn’t remember what character he played which means acting range & acting weren’t there. He doesn’t have an edgy/dark side to play a doc either: Really a flower boy clone… *Bites fingers*. I like this writer a lot but i’m worried. :/
I meant acting range & *charisma.
I’m shocked as well. I’m not trying to sound like a credible drama/movie critic but for a typical kdrama viewer, he’s not yet ready. I agree with everything Miss K said. If they’re really going for model-actors, they could’ve chosen Woob or some of his best buddies (Young Kwang, Soo Hyuk) if he’s too busy. Anyway, if this is final, all the best to them then.
Park Seo Joon and Seo Kang Joon are far better actors and are still relegated to second lead roles at times, lame! I’d any young rising star were to headline, it should have been them. I was really excited for Jung Il Woo too, but maybe it’s best for him to review better scripts than jump into something right away. Good luck Ahn and Blood!
With such casting news it makes it seem like there’s a serious lack of capable actors. Not that AJH will be definitely bad in this role but it’s very surprising indeed.
Except that there are more than a handful of capable actors who have been in second lead territory for too long. Kim Jae Wok?
Exactly what I meant by ‘makes it seems like’, despite there being many capable actors and actresses out there.
One thing I’m glad for is Kim So Eun getting her break in Liar Game though even she could do with more range.
I like him, but isn’t it too hasty to grab a lead role not mention its a doctor role. The actor needs a lot of research here, and the pronunciation of the medical terms. What’s happening mbc and kbs is not careful these days.
I like him, but he’s not ready to lead. Though he does look like a vampire.
I’ll try to keep an open mind but I thought he was really bad in YFAS. I’m having a hard time reconciling the casting choices vs the possibility of the script being a stinker. The writer has a good track record so maybe he’s just unusually open minded and wanted to use rookies?
He has the face to be vampire…another one is Kim Woo Bin..
I’ve seen him.in2 dramas this year and he’s not been particularly memorable in either..in fact I found him very green and slightly improved in the other… Plus isn’t Ji Jin Her one of the other actors in the show? He’s going to overshadow AJH easily
Really what a big risk in this choice. Did they not learn from casting Krystal in “My Lovely Girl”. An actress whow is popular but lacked acting experience to jump into a lead role just made the drama a flop and now history is repeating itself. I think if Rain wasnt in that drama it wouldve been worse. Huge risk there KBS Ekk!
Eh. I’m going to give him a chance in the lead role before passing a judgement. However, his casting was so out of the blue. I miss Yoon Yeon Seok though!
Come again is right. I was so shocked. I really wanted Jung Il Woo to take this drama. Seriously 2015 is looking a bit off. Actors whom are not supposed to get cast are getting cast. I mean look at the drama “Spy,” the girl who got cast is horrible. Gosh, this makes me so frustrated.
So, why no speculation as to whether he has a sponsor helping him out? It’s what quite a few were saying in the Go Sung Hee post. Grossness..
I’m not suggesting that, but he’s older and just popped out of nowhere so who knows. He has a powerful agency that produces dramas. He got cast in YFAS and YAAS because of them. Not sure who the production company of this drama is though.
right? but wait sexism doesn’t exist… you know maybe he earned it because the production team wanted to tap into his ~*hidden potential*~ as an actor… or some other bullshit
Why, the widespread negative reaction to his. casting is not enough for you? It’s known that his agency is a powerful one but social justice faux feminists never miss an opportunity to see injustice on behalf of actresses who can’t act.
And nobody here is defending him, we all agree he can’t act/is not leading man material.
He has like one emotion 😐 He’s pretty I will admit to that, but he’s so dull onscreen.
Ugghhh whyyyy? He has a loooong way to go. I was looking forward to this drama because I’ve been in the mood for creepy vampire-y things but now i don’t know anymore with this casting. You’d think he’d know better not to accept, doesn’t he know his limitations enough not to embarrass himself in taking the leading role?I mean I like him fine only because his roles have been small and I thought he could work his way up after culturing his skills but what the hell man?? Sigh.
Well for one his got all the physical qualities… His handsome and tall…but i was quite surprised that he landed a lead role very early… i think he can still improve and become a much better actor…
But leads of a dramas need to be strong, reliable and experienced to be able to carry a drama so at least even if the script turns out to be bad then at least the leads still has the chance to at least save it….
But im keeping an open mind. Who knows he has some acting cards just hidden somewhere. He could just very well surprise us!
i was hoping kim woo bin would get offered this and accept it (even though his schedule is cocked full and busy as hell). no really i was just hoping for my bb kim woo bin to comeback to drama land already *whines like a 5 year old* seriously when will he comeback to dramaland!!! back to the topic at point, eh i’m willing to give him a try and doubt he was casted simply because it sucks or they couldn’t find someone better. i mean hey all the leading dudes these days were also once male models or singers, or idols. whatever i am still looking forward to the project and hope he does alright and that his resume continues to grow also kim woo bin drama comeback 2015 please and thank you Sidus!
i’m like what the f*ck! o.O he’s face is saying i’m a vampire.. can they just cast someone who don’t shout literally that “hey one look at me, you can tell that i’m a vampire, right?” duh! he’ll just received hate in this drama, KBS gambling again with this drama even though they’re suffering in very low ratings..
lolling at this.. even choi jin hyuk had so many supporting role before landing a lead role after the heirs in cable drama, then a second lead role in public broadcasting , then finally a lead role also in public broadcasting.. and this guy just suddenly got a lead role? who by the way hasn’t had proven anything other than his good looks and height, who doesn’t have enough acting credits under his belt..
It’s too early… what were these guys thinking? He has a lot of growing up to do acting -wise. geez!
I really like him when he was cast in my love from another star and he act well but I was shock too but will don’t know maybe he will act well or not so no let us talk bad about him now let us wait and watch
if they are just gonna randomly thrown some ‘green actor’ in, why not go for Song Jae Rim. He has the looks and charisma. But he is definitely ‘more stable’ than Ahn Jae Hyun so to speak. I was so looking forward to a vampy show, but like Koala said, the script must be so bad everyone (credible) is avoiding it.