Seo Kang Joon in Talks for OCN K-drama Watcher with Han Seok Kyu

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• Third Charm was not a rom-com. It was pretty serious. The first part was funny and light but when they became adult, the story was more serious and sad.

  I'm happy to know that he will be in a new drama with Han Suk Kyu.

  • The last part was heavy but it was off-set by the funny scenes of the eccentric but smart and independent sister and funny brother in law/ playboy friend. Also I loved his parents scenes...they are always teasing each other. The mother's relationship with her son was very tender. The actor who played the mother was very good. ...very subtle acting. When the gf drops in at the house because he's being so immature and has a meal with the family...I loved the tender quizzical sidelong glances the mother gave her son. She's there for him when he's guilt ridden and feeling terrible to tell him ..Life is not perfect but that's ok....
    Also the scene where playboy/friend confesses his love for the sister to the family and they are like....'But you are a playboy' !!! ...and then the father yawns, gets up and goes off to bed.

• Are You Human Too and Third Charm were good choices to expand his range, I wasn't impressed by him before but he's really put in the effort to improve his acting skills.

• Also it's worth mentioning - with looks like his, he could have just coasted on his pretty-boy appeal (imo he was doing that for a few years early in his career) but he hasn't done that, and I respect him for that.

• I think he seems getting smarter to choose a defent project. The third charmnis a melodrama disguised as a romcom. For me personally, i really liked the third charm than AYHT. They find footing when the drama reach the third act that make previous development make perfect sense. It feels geniune from the writers hearts and not caring with public opinion. I really though after the third charm case, he will goes to a saver project. Surprised he choose thriller genre. Bcause I have secretly waited he will choose another more challenging roles and genre. Hope he will do well in this kind of project.

• I never once expected third charm to be a romcom honestly so I wasn't surprised at all with the route it took. I think most of the current crop of pretty boys like NJH, JKY and SKJ are making very smart project choices and proving to be brilliant actors who can do more than just land CF offers and coast and pretty boy fan service. PBG I feel doesn't have good project choices but I think he has reached Suzy and SHK level iconic status where it doesn't matter how the drama fares or what critics and audiences think of the acting because it'll still sell. The current crop of leading men still feel more boy than men to me but I think the range of talent and CF power they have among them is impressive. Special shout out to D.O. who must own a time turner or something for being able to excel at being both an idol and an actor.

  • Agree....He seems to want to be a good actor and not be just a pretty boy. I was very impressed by him in Third Charm. Hope PBG also picks dramas that challenge him and make him grow as artiste. E might have had high ratings but in the long run it's better to be good actor.

    • Do you think Bogum wants to challenge himself to grow? I'm not asking with malice but I just want to know. His post E interview he did say he wants to try some different role but overall I get the feeling he is very satisfied where he is in life and doesn't want to change too much of how things are. I think his fan meeting and cf activities keep him satisfied and well fed so he might not want to risk too much with acting. I think he will continue to do dramas only every 2-3 years until he enlists. After that it may be only every 3-4 years.

    • @verryberry
      I don't know. I hope so. I don't know him much . E was the only drama I watched because of the hype around him but I wasn't so impressed.

    • @veryberry

      I don't think PBG has a great lot of range to be very honest. I find him to be like a male PSH. They are not bad at acting and have potential but they never really improve their acting because they like doing projects that makes them more popular rather than makes them better actors especially their drama projects. PSH picks decent movie roles but still tends to get overshadowed by other people very easily since she has almost never been the core lead. PBG hasn't done a movie yet but I have a feeling GY will hard carry Seobok with his screen presence. His popularity will never diminish even if he never grows as an actor. At some point I do agree he might become like Won Bin and only do CF schedules.

    • By he hasn't done a movie yet I meant as core lead role. In Chinatown he wasn't very impressive but the role was too small to judge.

    • @rubyred - Park Bo Gum, doesn't have "a great lot of range"? Have you seen him in I Remember You?

      His breakout years (2015-16) involved characters as wildly different as Min in IRY, Taek in Reply 1988 and Lee Young in Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, all of which were significant roles that he was widely praised for - he might play it safe after this but he certainly does not deserve this kind of revisionist narrative saying he has 'no range' and comparing him unfavorably to NJH, Suzy etc.

  • I have to completely agree with everything you said. I don't know what kind of real life personality SKJ has but as an actor he is trying hard to do a lot of different things and working with senior actors is also a very smart move. Unlike most people I think his early roles were also quite varied like in Cunning Single Lady and Suspicious Housekeeper where he had very small roles but each time left an impact. The double role he did in AYHT actually felt like a beautiful dichotomy of his past acting roles and newer maturity he has shown in Third Charm. Meaning he showed us what we can expect for his future growth as compared to his past acting. I found it impressive and just hope his personal life track record stays spotless so I can keep enjoying his growth.

  • @Ivory "PBG didnt have good project" Ok its weird lol Idk if you watched any of his drama or his movies, maybe you just know him from EC? Never heard about Reply 1988? Even hello monster is good for me. What a smart project with SKJ? When all of his drama flop. NJH get save with dazzling, before that his drama was disaster (or maybe his acting was, but he is my bae now lol)

    • Reply 1988 was RYJ drama from beginning to end and PBG was not impressive in it at all. SKJ has had many hit dramas - CITT, AYHT and even TC were all considered successful dramas and became very popular internationally. Don't try and drag him down like the immature idiot that you are.

    • Wow so 2% is a hit for SKJ's fan? your standar kinda... low. PBG and RJY were the main leads, so with GKP, Hyeri, etc. Its ok to be jealous, but put PBG down wont change anything. PBG still insanely popular and (sorry) more better actor than SKJ. You need to comparing your bias with other actor in same level like Yang Sejong or Jang Kiyong. Actually even NJH is better than SKJ, right now. But yeah NJH did a good job :)

    • PBG's popularity is just like Suzy's in SK. Snoozefest, Enough said. SKJ's acting range is way wider than PBG imho, and he is not afraid to try different genres. I wouldn't say NJH is better, he got lucky with Dazzling's excellent cast & directing skill to get back on his feet. JKY tops all with his cool face and tall height so I am happy watching Kill It right now :-)

    • Yes cant say much about NJH, lets wait for his next project then talk (but for now I put him in my bias list) Its amazing you said PBG have the same popularity with suzy who actually an idol from famous gb. And still PBG can bring rating, suzy not. And about SKJ yes he choosing more challenging drama but so what? even d.o have more charm than him. A good actor didnt just acting they put charm at it, skj just average in acting and didnt have charm. He did well in cit btw, but when he become a male lead, he just average, I think is not easy to carried your own drama. About Jang kiyoung, I have high hope for him but he just meh. And of course visual is subjectif, and i dont care about that btw.

    • Yes you are correct, Suzy cannot bring in ratings ? But I would not attribute PBG to be the only one bringing in ratings in Encounter, I think SHK has more star power to attract ratings than him. He is just lucky to ride on SHK’s name. I don’t find D.O. charming at all but this is subjective, D.O. acts well. I am more biased with tall oppas ?

    • I actually not talking about EC, I talking about PBG in reality show.? but saying that PBG just lucky because of SHK, Idk, two weeks before ec aired his name alone already number 7 in top buzworthy actor and he was number 1 one week before ec aired. And his teaser was the one who reached 1 M not shk. Didnt shk got flop drama before, and she is with HB (another top star)? And dont forget that SHK fans full with SSC, shipper is useless btw. so dunno. D.O is good but lack of charm, I like him more in movie than drama tho

    • @Tiani - no you're not wrong, there is some serious revisionist drama history being propagated here lol.

      Claiming PBG was "not impressive" in Reply 1988, that SKJ acting range is "way wider" (what? He played the same types of roles until AYHT, and are we just going to have collective amnesia about PBG playing a psycho in Hello Monster, a flirty prince in Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, and dorky Taek in Reply in the span of just one year??), or that PBG star power is 'like Suzy' (the poor guy's dramas at least get high ratings - Moonlight got it even with a lead actress who was new to romantic leads and NO ONE expected it to be #1 ahead of Moon Lovers back then, why you gotta do him like that? lol)

  • which choice of PBG that's not good? He just get real leading roles in his acting career, Moonlight and Encounter. Reply88 were carried by many characters and he's just one of them. i dont know why you have to point out if he get CF offers? SKJ also has it as well not just PBG. it's only that PBG has many and companies renewed it for long runs. SKJ also has FANMEET all over asia as PBG. what's the difference? so i dont know why you talked as if bogum's career relied on popularity. THEY all do acting and earn from CF+ FM. The reason bogum didn't do drama often because he took hiatus for Uni class in his last year but now he's graduated so he keeps working since encounter to seobok and music etc. Encounter may not impressive for viewers but it doesnt mean he didn't work hard. i think everyone tried their best. koreans wil watch PBG even he just sleep under the sun without doing thing (like in Hyori homestay) it's called star power. but it doesn't mean he's not good actor.

• Gosh I must be the only one that adored him in CITT and that’s as far as I got with his dramas. I love OCN so good choice on his part. Now my favourite #1 question who are they courting for leading lady? If there is one.

  • I haven't watched CITT but I did watch his scenes and he had a great screen presence even then. But now he seems to be really serious about his craft. He's so gorgeous looking with those striking hazel eyes. Good looking, a great screen presence and a commitment to excel and grow as an actor ...I hope he meets with great success. He will make a cool cop because he looked really sexy chasing down criminals in TC. Never knew a guy would look so sexy while running.
    You have to watch Third Charm. My fav scenes of him are when he sees the girl who broke his heart after many years ...he did all his acting with his eyes. Then he sees her again after losing her for the second time and this time he uses his body ...I loved the way he went all still and was holding it all in. Some people got so upset with the ending including me but it all made sense when I thought of it. They were older , sadder and wiser....

    • Thanks Jana I’m going to look for TC now as I need something to tie me over for the next few weeks. Watching KBS Mother is mine with Kim So Yeon; Kim Hae Sook; Yoo Sun and of course Hong Jong Hyuk and Welcome to Waikiki is season 2 both yeah okay nothing to hang out for though. I hope the leading lady chosen for SJK OCN drama compliments him. I have no expectations as to who that will be.

    • @Ginger Crunch
      The leading lady Esom is very good too....dare I say she was even better than SKJ?!......because she had to play a character who could have been easily misunderstood.

    • @Jana Esom being better than SKJ isn't a surprise since she has more acting experience and is crticially acclaimed but the fact he matched with her so well shows how talented he is.

  • I don't think the female lead in this drama is going to have much to do since this a crime heavy drama focused on the male characters. There won't be much if any romance and if they just want her to be a supporting character its better to cast some unknown rookie.

    • @Lora
      Didn't know that. ...TC is my first drama of hers. I thought it was her first drama in the lead. Didn't know she did films.

• @jana, I watched Park Bo Gum in hello Monster and feels he has potential there. Feels the awards he gets from that drama is well deserved. Heck he even better than Seo In Guk, who at times struggles to emote. He has alot of room to improve. That's abit of a pity if he doesn't feel to improve his craft.

  • Better than Seo In Guk O_O Not in my world.

    The Smile Has Left Your Eyes was so far better in acting that The Encounter or any drama of PBG. The difference of character in Shopping King Louie and TSMHFYE is very big but he did great.

  • I have watched only TSHLYE of Seo In Guk. He was amazing ! TSHLYE and TC are my favorite dramas of the year so far.

  • SIG struggles to emote? What parallel dimension dramas are you referring to? He is the most natural actor out there.

  • @Sayaris, Jana, Ola. Preference I guess. But PBG was really that good in Hello Monster. I was in awe of his ability to emote, And I'm not a biggest fan of Seo In Guk acting (so I might be the only who is not that impressed by SIG in That drama who has very long tittle) and Ji Sung where everyone gushing about their acting. But I guess it's come down to preference

  • Yes PBG was amazing in hello monster, he just stole the show from jang nara not SIG. Viewer love the BROmance more than the ROmance. SIG was good btw.

• There is a scene in TC where the cops go on a raid to a night club to catch drug dealers and also catch a Kpop idol doing drugs who turns out to be very dumb and keeps calling the drug dealer hyung at the police station and his manager is trying to shut him up. I guess the writers knew these things were going on.

• I cant believe everybody is jus talking abt skj.... I m here for the hsk, been waiting for his drama for ages...

  • Actually I can't believe Han Suk Yu act in ocn trhriller, and opposite SKJ. To be honest, haha... ocn is between a hit and miss for me. When a miss, i always groan of their excessive formulaic investigation and too much violent with little room of compelling narrative.

    I believe the leads is basically Han Suk Kyu. The focus on the story might be more into Han Suk Yu. SKJ might be just playing the villain, or just his partner in crime on investigation.

    • Good. I love that SKJ does not have a fixed ego when he goes into acting projects. Hes happy to take on second leads or leads or even just cameos. Hes really doing his best to break out of his flower boy good looks and the efforts are showing. I think more than hit dramas, i hope he transcends himself to become a credible dependable leading man instead. Small steps but Im glad for his progress. A likable scandal free artist better known for his greed in acting (nonstop projects) more than anything else

    • Completely agree with you Lydia. Actors who act non-stop in many different roles just to improve their acting even by small amounts get a lot more respect from me than those who coast on the popularity of one drama for many years. This applies to actresses as well. If your job is acting then you should be doing as many projects as possible as frequently as possible to improve your skills especially when you are young and can afford to have some bad projects. Some people talk about quality over quantity but I think quality is subjective and just having high ratings doesn't equal quality.

    • @rui thats why I kinda lost a lot of respect for Park Bo Gum and the choices he made since joining song joong kis company. At Sidus, at least he was challenging himself with dark roles like I remember you, he literally stole the drama in his guest stint in My Cantabile, played the delinquent punk to the hilt in Blind, the sweet boyfriend in Chinatown, gave a memorable performance as Taek in Reply 1988 which carried his career into solid leading man category. Then he joined Blossom which picked Moonlight as his next project. Coming off the crazy ratings vehicle that was Reply, there was no way that drama could have failed with the hype that led to it. I am not sure I like Blossoms high handed strategy of turning SJK and him into next Won Bins in making. Tons of CFs and fanmeeting but follow up work boast more of ego boosting productions that does nothing to continue honing their skill sets. Thats why SJK big budget movie after a LONG hiatus from DOTS bombed and PBG drama track record took a beating too with Encounter. Did they really obnoxiously think that keeping it within their inner circle will have fans eat it up like putty as they are mega superstars? Encounter didnt have terrible ratings but if you consider both the leads drawing 6 figure salaries per episode and taking up 50% or more of production budget. Its a bomb. These days I dont even like him anymore. Hes more of a CF model to me than someone who takes his craft seriously. Street cred needs building and his next project alongside Gong Yoo smells again purely of money and marketing blitz. Its kinda sad to see an artiste like him with immense potential chooses the lazy lee minho route rather than the ingenious Yoo Ah In route that made him an actor's actor despite his military fiasco. Hence someone like Seo Kang Joon is a breath of fresh air for me. Keep trying, keep working, keep building on his street cred doggedly.

    • @candycane It was plugged like crazy here in SK as a Song Joong Ki movie. His big vehicle comeback after DOTS. The reviews were so bad I didn't even wanna watch it. CJ lost alot of money on that movie

    • @Lydia - I watched that movie on the plane. To be honest, lots of money was spent on the set, and So Ji Sub was so hot in that movie. It is totally misleading if the movie was marketed in SK as a SJK movie! Watch it only for SJS hot bod, not SJK. SJK cannot command any box office, not yet.

    • So its more a so ji sub movie then? Sooo sad cos in Korea all the dominating headlines only mentioned Song Joongki. But i dun wanna watch how hes being attacked 101 creative ways but just won't die type of dumb storyline though. Lol.

    • @Lydia I'm sorry but didnt PBG already in blossom since 2013? so much non sense in your words, really. you talking about how Encounter flop and how battleship island is flop, but then saying SKJ (who actually a king of flop) as a fresh air for you. ok it weird.

    • hahaha... yeah, SJK's character is really dumb in that movie. I watched it for SJS whose character is more well-written & realistic, and his hot body totally outshines everything else. LOL.

  • @Lydia The Gong Yoo project is also in house because both are labels under KAKAO M so I wasn't surprised they got cast together. The might just cast Suzy for female lead or Kim Ji Won who is also another subsidary labelmate. Actually he had already left Sidus after Remember You and those few dramas he did after was when he was still going as a free agent. He signed with Blossom towards the end of Reply 1988. His last 2 dramas have been very bad and not challenging but he keeps talking like he did some great acting in them. His star power is very strong like Lee Min Ho and so he keeps getting many cf offers.

    • Money stinkers. I really hate it when good actors pick money over substance. I remember the biggest joke that came out of Song Joong Kis big budget movie "He just wouldn't die". I thought sky castle vs encounter would be a big enough lesson for everyone but no... its still just all about money money money. As the commercialism cesspool gets deeper and deeper... good thing is those with eyes to see and ears to hear can differentiate true actors from sell out ones. I must admit Im a little disappointed at GYs choices. Will see how that bug budget movie pans out. On the other hand, SJK seems to have a reawakening and teaming up again with Deep Roots team for Asadal. Probably had a reality call when his movie tanked, korean fanmeeting tickets moved slowly and lost pretty much of his female fanbase since getting married. Back to trying to hone his acting skills again as other than becoming a legendary actor, he can no longer ride the elusive single heart throb train.

    • SJK is not the main lead of the movie The Battleship Island. He was way overhyped after DoTs, but if you have watched that movie, SJK only got a side character and his acting was so-so.

• I take exception that ‘Love in the moonlight’ only succeeded due to PBG star power and him riding off the fame of Reply1988. Both him and Kim a Yoo Jung and the writing cast and crew production value all contributed to the stellar success of that drama. Yes he has had a pause in in his acting resume since he left Sidius but Blossom picking up LITM as his first project with them certainly cemented him as a star and his acting was complimentary and in character so unsure how anyone can arrive at that drama being ‘very bad’. Maybe in your opinion he was bad.

  • Sorry in response to @Init

  • Moonlight only had ratings and a little bit of fake mediaplay hype to prove it was 'popular' overseas but it was only popular in Japan and nowhere else. Moon Lovers was the true winner from those two dramas with the better story and heartbreaking chemistry. Almost everyone internationally hated Moonlight except for a very small number of people who keep coming here and pretending it was something it was not. PBG was very lucky riding the coat tails of Reply into his next drama and now he's riding the CF coat tail. He has no potential as an actor only a CF star.

    • Agree. Hes lost so much credibility as an actor that people are seeing him as the new Won Bin here in Korea. Now they are trying to market him as a singer in Japan. His career is all over the place and very unfocused. His company obviously thinks a big budget movie with GY hoping will slay the news headlines and register a gazillion movie audience, that should be enough to rake in CF deals, have his face plastered all over korea to remind fans of his existence while shipping him away to Japan to spend time there as a singer. The whole PBG light stick and wanting fans to come up with a fanchant???? Huh? Was this decision made based on wanting to also rake money off lucrative concert deals and fanmeetings? *SMH*- I think he made his best choices as a free agent. What a mess.

    • *hopefully

    • His single in Japan is a joke. PBG can never achieve the success of Jang Geun Suk in Japan who has topped the Oricon's chart for both single and album. PBG could not hype the K-drama market with Moonlight in Japan, that's why the agent is trying the singer route which is also failing.

    • If you're new to singing, at least take the rookie approach to things and do it gently. Let your track speak for itself and the buzz to happen organically. He sings well actually. In fact theres his CF on TV now that he is pulling double duty singing on it as well and I like it alot. Like I said hes got some talent imo - just that the marketing around him is soooo cringe and the career strategy for him bordering on tragic. Now I can't watch the same CF and appreciate the music without thinking ... this is the dude who is making a light stick for his not yet existent music career and asking for a fanchant when hes not even part of a group. *saywhat?!?!*

    • Your disdain for PBG is way too long obvious @Frankly No which is fine but my take on your anti Love in the moonlight and even daring to compare it to Moonlovers as being second rate we’ll that’s where my issue lies with your post. Unfortunately you shouldn’t say everyone because that’s a massive untruth best be saying a lot because each drama has its loyal following and that being said PBG and KYJ were chemistry magnets just like LJK and IU so your anti sentiment but pro Moonlovers is loud and clear no need to be so officious and using PBG as your card to stake your claim.

    • @Frankly No - um,what?? I was a big fan of Moon Lovers and even joined a group just to comment on the drama, but Moonlight Drawn by Clouds was actually that popular in Korea back then. "Only had ratings" - it got 20+ percent ratings for more than half its run, and this despite it was a drama with leads who were still new to lead roles and in direct competition with Moon Lovers which was one of the big-budget dramas that year and expected to take the #1 position in that time slot.

      They never tried to claim MDBC was more popular internationally than Moon Lovers, there was no way it could have been when Moon Lovers was the drama being simulcast across Asia. I was also sad because the drama I liked (ML) couldn't get higher ratings in Korea, but I'm not immature enough to try and falsely discredit the other drama and its lead actor over it lol.