Lee Jong Seok Offered Male Lead in KBS Drama Beautiful Mind, Formerly Dr. Frankenstein

I totally forgot about this in development drama, and mostly thought it went to die an ignominious death at the grave where dramas that never get off the ground commit seppuku. Turns out KBS has retained multiple personality medical drama Dr. Frankenstein in its back pocket this whole time and is now ready to revive the whole thing with a fresh coat of paint in the form of a new drama title of Beautiful Mind and a new leading man in talks to headline. K-news is reporting that Lee Jong Seok has been offered the lead role and is considering it seriously among the projects he’s currently fielding.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lee Jong Seok took it to challenge himself, especially seeing a sunbae like Ji Sung getting so much great critical acclaim and audience affection for tackling and succeeding at a hard multiple personality role in Kill Me Heal Me. Sadly there is another extreme other side possibility that could happen, while the less said about Hyun Bin in Hyde, Jekyll, Me the better, it’s almost impossible to judge his acting in multiple personalities since the drama writing was so incomprehensibly stupid. Timing really is everything, Kim Soo Hyun considered this drama towards the end of 2014 before doing Producer also at KBS this spring so now the role is Lee Jong Seok’s for the taking if he wants to squeeze in a drama before the year ends.

Little birdies are saying Beautiful Mind is slated as a KBS Wed-Thurs drama where currently political drama Assembly is airing, with the Jang Hyuk commoner sageuk God of Trade – Innkeeper 2015 slated for after Assembly in September. That means the earliest Beautiful Mind could air would be December 2015, unless there is a switch in airing schedule with Innkeeper, or Beautiful Mind gets moved to KBS Mon-Tues. Writing will be the screenwriter of Sungkyunkwan Scandal and The Great King Sejong, with no word yet on the PD but I’m assuming it’ll be a KBS drama veteran.

Beautiful Mind (formerly Dr. Frankenstein) tells the story of a seemingly perfect on the outside (genius smart, good looking) surgeon who actually suffers from multiple personality disorder. To control his condition he never expresses any emotion, that is until he meets with that woman who opens his heart and begins change his life. If Lee Jong Seok accepts, this will be his second time playing not just a doctor but a specifically a surgeon after doing so in Dr Stranger. While I do want Lee Jong Seok to quickly come back to drama land (and my arms), I remain traumatized by the crazy fervor that gripped me watching DS and almost destroyed my brain. The thought of Jong Seok as a doctor again, and in a multiple personality drama that has a chance of going the way of Hyde in terms of storytelling……help me mommy, I’m both excited and scared. Eeeps!