The casting of relative rookie movie actress Kim Tae Ri as the female lead for Kim Eun Sook’s upcoming period epic drama Mr. Sunshine was always going to generate chatter. Her arrival on the acting scene came in a big way with the movie The Handmaiden and this drama role marks her first on the small screen and yet she landed what is arguably one of the most coveted castings. Her role is that of a traditional wellborn Joseon lady who gives up her comfortable life for that of a gun wielding freedom fighter amongst the commoners. She crosses paths with male lead Lee Byung Hun as a returning American colonel and their December-May (ish) romance against the backdrop of Korean history from a little over hundred years ago will certainly be curious to see unfold. She does nail that spitfire aura in the first character stills for her role, believable as someone who looks young but makes up for it in gumption.
Based on Kim Eunsook’s latest casting preference, her next leading lady would probably be Jong Jong-seo
I like that she casts her leads without any real eye to their public image/reputation or whether they’ve been in scandals of the non-criminal kind. If she does cast Jun Jong Seo then she’ll just be following her own pattern.
The real shocker would be if her next drama heroine was Kim Min Hee.
Kim Eun Sook’s writing might be disliked by many ifans but you have to admit, she does not pick poor actors for her main cast. That is more than you can say for some famous writers who cave to pressure and cast crappy idol-actors for eyeballs/PPL even when their work without idols was good and successful already.
She knows the power of her work to boost an actor’s profile and she’s used it well (in just the last five years – Park Shin Hye, Song Hye Kyo, Kim Ji Won, Kim Go Eun and now Kim Tae Ri) and even when she does use idols they are kept to background roles and mostly turn out to be the good actors like Yook Sung Jae or even Park Hyung Shik. Kudos to her for having that belief in her own work.
Kim Tae Ri is working that steely stare, she looks convincingly tough in this still.