SHOCK. Seriously, total and complete shocked state here. Even though I have my ear to the ground when it comes to rumored drama castings and in-development projects, this just breaking news feels like a sledgehammer out of nowhere. My first reaction is giddiness mixed with trepidation, with a side of pinch me to see if this is just some fan fiction. Good or bad, this casting news is actually true. K-ent is reporting that Kim Woo Bin and Suzy are confirmed as the leads of the upcoming Lee Kyung Hee penned bittersweet melodrama romance. Excuse me but I just have one more Oh My God I need to get out of my system.
The drama is scheduled for 2016, and no word yet on whether it’ll be pre-produced fully or in part, but knowing Lee Kyung Hee there will likely be significant portions filmed beforehand. For Nice Guy she had Song Joong Ki and cast filming four months prior to the airing date. The drama has a working title of Arbitrarily Fond which is the best I can translate it, and rumors has it following Goodbye Mr. Back on SBS in late winter/early spring of 2016. Lee Kyung Hee’s bread and butter is, of course, the unforgettable heartwrenching melo romance, even if her last drama tried to buck the mold in weekender Wonderful Days. Now she’s going back to her roots with Kim Woo Bin and Suzy, this is so going to be a must watch for plenty of reasons.
The drama synopsis reads like a classic Lee Kyung Hee melo – two kids have a terrible shared experience in childhood and years later reunite as grown ups in the same industry where the boy grows up into Kim Woo Bin who is now a top star with a terrible attitude and the girl has become a documentary PD played by Suzy. They fall in love but it’s going to be fraught with all sorts of angst, in typical Lee Kyung Hee style. I love her works, even the ones that resonated less with me were still a head above most melo romances. And her two dramas that I love beyond all reason in Let’s Go to School, Sang Doo and Nice Guy were both unforgettable watches for me.
With that said, Suzy is probably her weakest acting female lead selection to date, but then again, Kim Hee Sun was terrible before she did Wonderful Days and ended up truly impressing me in that performance. I found Moon Chae Won passable until she broke through with Nice Guy. Rain put in his best acting performances ever in two Lee Kyung Hee dramas – Sang Doo and A Love to Kill. Same goes for Han Ye Seul stepping up her game in Will it Snow for Christmas. I guess it’s time to start praying that Lee Kyung Hee helps Suzy hurdle over whatever acting limitations in her repertoire, because it would kill me if Suzy’s acting is the problem that ends up ruining a drama written by Lee Kyung Hee and starring Kim Woo Bin in his first drama in three years.
Suzy doesn’t really stand out to me as an actress. Hopefully this drama will do it for me.
i’m in shock right now…this news came from nowhere
wow! …….O-o
I’m a Suzy fan but I agree with your opinions in the last paragraph. I find her acting in Dream High really good. She seems awkward when filming dramatic scenes and needs more emotions. I hope she’ll do well in this drama coz I’ve been waiting for years. haha.
This pairing came out of left field but it is definitely on my must watch list. I’m interested to see the chemistry that they have together. I hope this will be a role that will help Suzy grow and shine as an actress.
My reaction also OH MY GOD. Even IF this drama can’t do well in Korea, I’m 1000000% sure, other countries will air this drama happily. Not sure about the genre. It sounds melodrama. I didn’t expect anything from both of actors’s actings however I’m so ready for good surprises from them.
Actually i like this kind of news. It comes out of nowhere and both the actor n actress already confirm. So netizen cannot complain anymore which can make the courting of the actress n actor waver and they need to find other actors. Good luck for both of them. I like them both
Lee Kyunghee dramas also famous with deep kiss (not only peck). Wonder how my oppa’s feel when waching his gf and bestfriend doing that :””)
Young Do finally stole Tan’s girl back, kinda evens out the Heirs score. XD
hahaha hope oppa can teach her so her acting can improve. wonder why i feel betrayed LOL, im starting to like her tho. she is really pretty <3
I am giddy with happiness but suzy… I hope she can improve 😀
Exact same words like that of Dramabeans article…the line mentioning bread and butter… Lol
Both JB and koala has great minds that think alike! Anyways, I saw koala’s post first..
I saw that article too… plot twist? Javabeans and Koala are the same person, secretly running two different blogs? Or, she has a split personality but since she’s the same person she says/does the same things without knowing…
Now I want Shin Minah and Lee Minho in sexy photoshoot to get revenge. 🙂
I have faith in writet-nim. She must’ve seen the potential in Suzy to agree with this pairing.
I watched almost all of her dramas (skipped Nice Guy due to MCW allergy) and the suffering was at various degree. Scarred the most by Sang Doo (maybe that’s why i watched skipped ALTK, oh wait.. had SMA’a allergy back then, all cured now thankyouverymuch) so i’ll be watching this too.
Good luck to Suzy.. hopefully being officially in love helps..
Weird ,never expected this but looking forward to see suzy improvement and kim wo bin first leading role .
I think I’ll skip this one.
I am with you … SKIP
suzy? hmmm..
Never expected Suzy to be cast in a Lee Kyung-Hee drama. She is, like you said so well, the weakest choice for an actress. BUT just with MCW who did a brilliant job in NG it could totally mean a breakthrough for Suzy’s acting. It all depends on the director.
So even though I’m not so keen on the cast I’m always looking forward to a LKH drama. 🙂
Which doesn’t mean I put MCW and Suzy on the same level. MCW – even though she isn’t a perfect actress, she is very passionate and dedicated – is still miles ahead of Suzy while Suzy to me will always be a singer-turned-actress…
Well stop comparing moon chae won to others. Here is the confirm casting news for suzy..
Well stop telling me what to do and what not to do!
Fans of MCW, calm down with your actress, she is not the best out there and neither extraordinary Just lucky to come with good project So it was a decade back she was still unknown in K-Drama.Although her dramas were a success in terms of notes to date she’s not as popular (Sorry)
Yes Kim Woo Bin and Suzy are back, hope Suzy improves with this ^^
You obviously misread my comment…. I said that MCW isn’t the strongest actress but because of LKH’s drama she was able to shine in Nice Guy – also because of the director.
And it’s possible for KWB and Suzy to do the same – to improve when the director is able to control their acting.
So calm down yourself! It’s legit to mention MCW because she was cast in a LKH drama.
welp, hope it’s a good watch.
I hope this gives Suzy a chance to show off some acting skill properly and shut the haters up.
It would have be better if that were PSH,God,I’ve been waiting for Young Do and Eunsang reunion since forever
Yeah…me too =/
i want her to do trial and error in kmovieland tho and with no hallayu star. but of course SA should suffer n bitter til she got her graduation cert… i really hope when she come back she can give a hard slap right on the haters faces. hey fans can hope right?
Guess Woo Bin always go for pretty girls off-screen or on-screen..=/ Now I really wish Suzy took that role for cheese in the trap so that this one would be left for a much betterrr actress…eee
MCW and SMA acting werent that good either, but public opinion changed when they starred in A love to Kill and Nice Guy. Lee Kyunghee picked both of them personally so lets just trusted and support them
MCW had a good year in 2011 before nice guy, with The Princess’ man and war of the arrows.
I saw most of her works and loved sangdoo,let’s go to school,thank you …gong hyo jin was so non glamorous in her roles and so striking that you end up having a powerful portrayal.It goes for both the dramas.Love to kill was a silent kind of drama but it had parts of it’s moments which stands out.I’ve no problem with pretty actors being taken but considering there are so many good actors that unless the script requires someone close to the actress taken…I find it sad that actors are not being thought first of.The actress from innocent man is better than suzy as she’s good in giving expressions.She did two more dramas before innocent man and I watched parts of princess’s man…Can’t really compare these two.
I can only LOL. It is a joke.here we go the snow ball keeping growing. When this drama will be over? It started since January.
Of course oppa will teach her . Why you think she was cast? So unfair for a lot real actresses. I am not a hater.i am being realistic.
then it is unfair for real actors too. WB is taking rookie actors roles. He is a model turned actor.
I like Suzy a lot better than Kim Woo Bin. While she is not an exceptional actress or anything, I know that she responds to good direction (loved her in A101) and her screen presence is nice.
Kim Woo Bin on the other hand, does nothing to me on any level.
Favorite LKH couple is SJS ISJ in MISA followed by JH GHY in Thank You.
His most talented lead (male and female) I think is Song Joong Ki
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO…
whyyyy… ?
Bye, only kdrama I was looking forward to after ages.
As bad as the news that Lu Han will be in some WKW flick with Tony Leung and co. I can understand LH and Suzy are young, pretty faces but still…
great casting i mean more casting should be done like this.produce and writers need to belive in the actors and actress they want and make sure they deliver not some fucking neitizen making decisions for them .it is bringing the industry down .am definity looking forward for this one.
am so happy here forgive me if some of u are not but it really tell us we dont know what goes on behind the scenes.awesome
Oh hell no, a melodrama with suzy??? Hope she backs out..
Thank you.
Thank you for saying that bit about other LKH actors/actresses not being the best yet became polished after working on her dramas. I feel like people are forgetting this when they jump around hating so much on sucky actors.
Even my bias and my fav dramas when I rewatch, I LOL at how much they used to suck.
Thank YOU for reminding us there is such a thing as perspective. I enjoyed (and agree with) your comment so much.
Apparently fans on Baidu were talking about this possibility for a while – the pairing I mean. I thought you normally know what is being talked about in Chinese fan forums like this so I am surprised to hear that you are surprised 🙂
And I agree with you koala, this is the weakest actress Lee Kyung Hee has ever signed for a heroine. Actually they are both the weakest leads LKH has worked with compared to the past but she will probably write the role to accommodate Suzys acting deficiencies. (I pray for your last sentence too……Please don’t let this be ruined by poor acting)
Moon Chae Won before Nice Guy at least delivered excellent performances in The Princess’ Man and War of the Arrows, and competent ones in Shining Inheritance/Daddy’s Girl.
actually MCW gained negative comments due to The princess’ man, public wasn’t buying her sageuk speech, she got better after some episodes but she wasn’t that excellent in TPM.
MCW receive critisms mainly bcoz of her speech,i think it was bcoz she’s very soft spoken in real life but she have to act bubbly and adventurous in first few episodes so she have change the tone of her voice but since she’s quite inexperienced actress epecially for a sageuk drama that comes the problem,she don’t how to do with it..what I mean is MCW except from that speech criticism she received praise for her acting especially in Brilliant Legacy and War of Arrows..WOA was also filmed before Princess Man but she did not criticisms for it but rather received praise from both korean and foreign film critics and viewers.As for Suzy she’s very young, I think if she fully emerse herself to her character her emotions will come out naturally. I really hope LKH could help her do that,from what i observe LKH’s leads comes out more better actors after their dramas.
MCW received criticism in the very first few episodes of TPM but that’s all and that’s regarding her sageuk speech rather than the acting itself (therefore, those who don’t know Korean can barely noticed). When the drama ended, she turned criticisms into praises and those K-netz who criticized her in the beginning had sung different tune at the end. So, if that’s not excellent, then I don’t know what it is since that’s isn’t an easy accomplishment.
The drama is co produced by sidus, the writer also under sidus. This drama is really planned for kim woo bin.
Well good luck
Hardly something. Pinocchio also was produced (fully) by SidusHQ. They tried to mediaplay with KWB’s name, but PD and writer wanted LJS, so he end up with the role. If PD and writer saw someone else (and wanted him), the fact that SidusHQ co-production company hardly could help.
ARRGGGG SUZY comepletely just ruins the anticipation I have for this drama.
Fans of MCW, calm down with your actress, she is not the best out there and neither extraordinary Just lucky to come with good project So it was a decade back she was still unknown in K-Drama.Although her dramas were a success in terms of notes to date she’s not as popular (Sorry)
Yes Kim Woo Bin and Suzy are back, hope Suzy improves with this ^^
May I know what is your definition of unknown? As for popularity, there are tons of A lister actors who are ‘unknown and unpopular’ by International fans.
Yeah. That unknown in the dramaland to the point that she is one of the highest paid actresses for drama (from the article released today), right? 🙂
They (the Kdrama world) just keeps trying to cram Suzy down our throats don’t they. As though if they give her enough acting gigs she might figure out how to act one day. I can take her in small doses of comedy like in Big, but in a melo – YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS?! This casting is just so much fail for me. I love Woo Bin to pieces and would normally watch anything with him in it – he is brilliant – but I bet Suzy is going to drag him down so hard in this. What a terrible decision.
Suzy will play the role of a PD? Hmmm i hope she can convincingly portray that role. To me she gives off that “i am just a pretty face and nothing more” kind of aura. Sorry to Suzy fans, this is just my personal opinion. But i would be very happy if she could prove me wrong. I really hope this drama hits daebak for Woobin’s sake 😀
Happy to see Kim Woo Bin’s return to dramaland but not thrilled that it’s a melo! The plot kind of sounds familiar to that drama with Joo Jin Mo – My Love Eundong?
I had that feeling too when i read the plot. hope it’s not the same
Oh why. Why did they have to pair my most anticipated and most unwanted leads in one project. I love Kim Woo Bin to death because of his unique charisma and acting styles. I, too love Suzy as an Idol but no offense to her fans, I was never convinced by her acting though.
Kwn shoul go back to do catwalks
I love Kim Woo Bin from ‘The Heirs’ because for me he stole the show keke
So I am happy to see him back with a writer that I really appreciate. Suzy, I love when she sings and I think she can be improved further, good luck with this drama, looking forward to it ..
I like KWB but it was hardly a competition.. LMH rised so high after that drama that it was ridicolously high.. he gained like 15mio Fans on SNS after and during Heirs airing time. in truth it was like Tyson vs 3-year old. I’m a fan of KWB and will support him in this drama and hopefully he will gain alot in this drama.. So I wish he impress people
Wow. That really was out of the left field. I guess it’s not that surprising given they are popular young stars to be paired up with each other…but on a LKH drama? That is the most surprising. This may be LKH’s youngest pairing to date (in total age years).
I won’t comment on the leads’ acting ability since so many have already did. However, I will say that this is something I will check out. I think Suzy is likeable, but her chemistry with co-stars have been a hit or miss with me. For my sake, I hope this pairing will have great chemistry.
P.S. Koala, do you think Innocent Man was MCW’s breakout role rather than The Princess’s Man? I just often hear others compliment MCW for her breakout role in TPM.
Suzy is choosy. Good for her.
I like the idea. But we will see how it turns out.
I like KWB but it was hardly a competition.. LMH rised so high after that drama that it was ridicolously high.. he gained like 15mio Fans on SNS after and during Heirs airing time. in truth it was like Tyson vs 3-year old. I’m a fan of KWB and will support him in this drama and hopefully he will gain alot in this drama.. So I wish he impress people
Congrats to my Bae and KWB for landing this awesome drama
Im glad that casting of this drama were done quitely. unless it would be like drama(Ex: nodame) where people like you guys who seems know better than them in entertainment would ruin everything and bring down the drama and the casts before even it started.
I like that the writer herself choose the actor and actress. It means she’ll have time with them and write them into her script rather then forcing them into a mould. As bad as it sounds, having an image I your head when you write really helps with the story telling, it gives you a sense of realism.
Sadly it also means that she is likely over estimating their ability to emote to the same standard.
i am one of the few that really like both actor/actress based purely on looks and charisma, but I accept neither are actually good at acting. However, I’ve never seen WonBin in a melo and the few times he cried with him so I am holding out hope.
For Suzy, apparently Ryu Seung Ryong himself had taken extra notice of her and helped her a lot during the filming of their movie, even coming in on an off day when she had an important scene to play so he could give her pointers, have given me a lot of hope to her improvement.
I adore Ryu Seung Ryong and believe he is one of the best actor Korea has to offer so if he thinks she’s worth that extra effort then I trust him.
Imo his crying scene in school 2013 when he was in a car was cringeworthy… But then again he may have improved!
Sorry, as much as I LOVE the writer I don’t like KWB…. Imo he is realllllllllly overrated but congratulation to his fans for his comback!