Things are not looking good for the production of upcoming cable network drama Cheese in the Trap, at least not from the perspective of how many potential leading ladies have or may have fled from the casting offer. The latest actress in talks for the female lead Kim Go Eun has just declined the role, leaving confirmed leading man Park Hae Jin still without a leading lady. I find Park Hae Jin immensely watchable onscreen, and one of those actors who is getting better and better with each project and role, which makes it hard to believe actresses aren’t tripping over themselves for a chance to do a romance drama with him.
With leads me to wonder if something is inherently worrisome about this particular drama, which is adapted from a popular webtoon, or that actresses are unwilling to step into the likely fandom hysteria over who is perfect for the role. There have been two such adaptation casting kerfluffles in the past year alone, first with Tomorrow’s Cantabile trying to find the perfect K-version of Nodame from Yoona to Shim Eun Kyung, and later with fans of Scholar Who Walks the Night loudly objecting to potential leading ladies from Han Groo to Jin Se Yeon and finally landing on Lee Yoo Bi. Each time this casting circus happens I always feel it was much ado about nothing.
So far Cheese in the Trap has officially gone through idol actress Suzy and movie actress Kim Go Eun, while unofficially Chun Woo Hee and Oh Yeon Seo. I’m genuinely curious who ends up with the role, and there is nothing wrong with not being the first choice since it’s all about delivering the right performance that audiences will remember. As Hwang Jung Eum‘s past project selection can attest, stepping into a passed on role can still be a win-win situation. In this case, since I haven’t read the webtoon it’s hard for me to opine on whether the Cheese fandom’s fixation on whether an actress looks similar to the role matters, but in the end let’s hope the confirmed actress has the acting chops to pull it off.
I don’t think anyone wants to endure netizen wrath. They are so over the top and it’s not even worth it. If the drama goes badly they’ll get the blame even if they don’t deserve it.
Webtoon fans should chill and just ask for someone who can act. Looks don’t really matter as much as skill. And honestly, I don’t think it takes the amount of skill that people think it will to play the role.
Suzy looks like Hong Seol in this picture… lol. I hope that the actress who does decide to takes this role appears soon! And I hope she makes the drama worth the wait to watch ^_^
I didn’t think Kim Go Eun would accept this. She is building up quite the film career. Looks like K-netz like the idea of Chun Woo Hee but the producers want someone with more name recognition. They should just give her a shot, ultimately it will be the quality of the production that will make or break the show.
Chun Woo Hee is currently working on a film, it’ll be hard for her to do CITT at the same time.
I’m sad Kim Go Eun turned down the role, but Chun Woo Hee was my first choice too. I just hope the final candidate is a good actress, and the script is good.
Knetz are superficial. They didnt talk about CWH last year when the adaptation first announce, or years before when they did visual casting. Suddenly, CWH became popular (and she total deserves all the awards she got), they all went for her as the perfect candidate.
Beside the perfect CWH who has both looks and talent to act Sul, OYS only has Sul’s visual. Since CWH is busy with her new movie right now, OYS is knetz second choice. But if the choice is between OYS and Kim Go Eun, KGE would be a better choice based on her acting skill. Seriously, visual is nothing if the actress does not have talent to play a complex character like Sul. Thus, it s outrage that knetz want and not KGE esp when they always complain why untalented actresses/actors/idols get acting jobs instead of the talented one.
* Thus, it s outrage that knetz want OYS and not KGE esp when they always complain why untalented actresses/actors/idols get acting jobs instead of the talented one.
I agree. Acting skill is more important, not the actress’ looks or whether she is the 3rd, 4th, 5th choice or whatever. What a strange thing to be hung up on.
And yes, the knets hangup on visuals is stupid. Acting talent should be #1 for this role, not how the actress looks.
too bad Go Ah Sung is busy, I think she would be great in this kind of role, she portrays subtle emotions very well.
I said this about Scholar Who Walks the Night, and I will say it again.
As long as they find a good actress, it doesn’t matter whether she is the first candidate they consider or the 27825th. Let’s not forget that Ji Sung was the 3rd choice for leading man of Kill Me Heal Me, and look how that turned out. Shin Min Ah was also the 3rd or 4th candidate for her role in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, and that role became iconic.
and frankly, I’d rather these dramas go through their options than cast their (terrible) first choice types just for the sake of saving face. I mean, SWWTN is insanely cheesy and its heroine is possibly the cheesiest character of all. The whole thing would be a trainwreck in the hands of an actress who didn’t have Lee Yoobi’s natural expressiveness or wasn’t able to portray emotion well. So what’s the problem as long as they find someone decent?
True, add Lee Seung Gi to the list for King 2 Hearts
can’t they offer the role to a good actress and keep silent till the said actress accept the role then they can announce it….?
haha its kinda of promotional strategy i think.
With all the run around they’re doing with casting nowadays, I just don’t care any more.If this was Hollywood, they wouldn’t care how fans react to casting news;they focus on making a good adaptation and acting chops.I actually enjoyed Cantabile, though I did find the Europe scenes awkward. I watched a bit of the Japanese version and really didn’t care about the comparison. Each version had the element of classical music in the plot.Both were likeable in that aspect.
I’ve read the webtoon for Cheese in the Trap and I hope they bring that mystery element in the romance that the webtoon author(?) did into the drama. Good luck Tvn!I hope you find someone soon to put everyone at ease.
Well they kinda need to listen to the fans’ reaction since the negative reaction in Korea sometimes involves going to the celebrity you hate with poisoned food and offer it to them while pretending to be a fan. Sasaengs are beyond scary!
lol I get what you mean. I feel bad for celebrities. No privacy at all. Anti-fans can cause harm verses sasaengs taking their belongings. I don’t know which is worse!
I still want to see Lee Joon-Gi paired with Han Groo in a different drama. I think I would love to see this pairing. They would have been so lucky to get Kim Go-Eun. They don’t know what they said “no” to…
Rom-com please. i excited to see Han Groo again, but still no news about her latest drama yet. whatever the role, i dont mind. even it is supporting characters will do for me, as long as i can see her again..
but why shes not the PD’s choice for this drama.. hmm.
Kim Go Eun has a fascinatingly interesting face!
I’d be satisfied if they cast someone who can act Jung Yu’s innocent face and immense darkness, and someone who can act Hong Seol’s panicky yet coo and observant self xD
Just my personal wish that SJK would be cast, since he can look so innocent and I want to see him play Jung Yu’s kind of evil, but he’s too short for the role and he’s already taken anyway…oh well, I’ll look forward to Park Hae Jin’s portrayal then hehe ^^