I feel a sense of deja vu when I heard this casting news. Rising male lead Woo Do Hwan has been offered and accepted the second male lead role in screenwriter Kim Eun Sook‘s next drama the parallel worlds fantasy romance The King: Eternal Sovereign. The leads will be Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun, and Woo Do Hwan’s casting will be as Lee Min Ho’s King character body guard in one world and a police officer in the other world. The deja vu in casting Woo Do Hwan comes from him totally reminding me of Kim Woo Bin v.2 and Kim Woo Bin got his huge career boost as the second male lead in Kim Eun Sook’s Heirs opposite Lee Min Ho. I think this casting is great for Woo Do Hwan’s career but worry that he’s going to steal Lee Min Ho’s thunder the way Kim Woo Bin did. But then again, I liked both male leads well enough in different ways in Heirs so for me I’ll probably have enough love to go around this time as well.
Congrats to him he’ll have a popularity boost
I’m glad he got recognized and got this role. He has oodles of talent and charisma. And yes, I see him out-acting LMH and having crazy chemistry with Kim Go Eun. (Sigh) this seems like Heirs all over again. Wondering about who the other cast members would be? It’s a win for WDH cause if he performs well, he’ll become more famous. However, Kim Eun Sook dramas don’t really boost the careers of the second leads that much, so it’s a wash.
Who said? They all got career boost but back to their management how they would handle everything when they finished KES’s drama.kim woobin, kim jiwon, and many other names got bigger after played as 2nd lead. Even lee dong wook got his popularity back after goblin but well, his drama choice was still suck. Sorry not sorry.
Yoo yeon sook as dongmae was more popular than lee byunhun’s character in Korea. He probably waits for another good project.
Kim Ji won needed 2 second lead roles from Kim eun sook before she finally made to lead roles. Kim woo bin has only done multi starer movies where he was one of many leads. His drama as a lead was a flop so I don’t think being the second lead is better. The main leads are always the one who strike gold and become super famous all over Asia.
@Marty :
I think Kim Woo Bin got a massive upgrade popularity starring In KES drama. We should check CF, interview and ton of pictorial magazine he gets before and after that drama. The measure of popularity is not only the TV rating when he star in a drama. (Because it’s basically quite tricky and not always an indicator of someone popularity. There are X factor that take apart from their success in this field. Also UF is very popular in China and viewers online in South Korea CMIIW).
And Kim Ji Won was a bitchy second lead in Heirs (moreover the screen time KJW got in Heirs is not as impactful as in DOTS where she gets her own story.) I think it’s also depending on the roles and how you make that roles gets noticed by public.
UF is a flop mainly because of Suzy and the very boring plot.
But KWB movies were all flops and depended on the bigger names for star power and tickets. His popularity was on the decline until he started dating SMA. His cancer diagnosis got him lots of sympathy votes but it doesn’t look like he has any interest in being an actor again any time soon. KWB is largely outshined by his peer LJS who didn’t even need a KES drama to become the bigger star.
@Lomi I’m sorry you feel the need to make such vile and inhumane comments about a cancer survivor.
Not to mention, laughable untruths about his movies being ‘flops’ when a quick look at Korean Film Council data shows the exact opposite….. unless you think Uncontrollably Fond is a movie.
I stand by my words. I’m yet to see a second lead from KES dramas who hit gold after starring in her dramas, like the male lead does. It’s been a long time trend. Popularity after starring in her dramas doesn’t automatically translate to a career boost for the second male leads. Good examples: Lee Dong Wook, Yoon Sang Hoon, Jin Goo, and her second female leads even have it much worse. It’s little wonder Kim Sarang turned down an offer to star in another KES drama, and Yoo In Na picked up Goblin after she hit a career low when she was ousted from her drama in China. Some outliers could said to be Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won who are able to channel their popularity into bigger and better roles. But they are the exception, not the rule.
Interesting casting of WDH. Now waiting to see who will be the second female lead.
Am not sure this drama will be all about romance.. It premises is like a sci-fic crime drama,am not sure it will have second female lead
I really liked him in Mad Dog 🙂
So it’s a good news!
LMH can afford to get his thunder stolen. He has been at the top of the hallyu popularity for ever. The least he can do is give others a chance to shine.
Well sorry for convenience,but What’s the point to star In Kim Eun Seok drama if not for gaining a massive popularity or bring back your popularity like Song Hye Kyo’s case? And Male Lead in KES is always has that benefit. He won’t let this opportunity go . The least he should do is make an effort not to get outshined.
Whaaaaaa? Who said he should let anything go? I’m confused?????
Well LMH is already at the top of the Korean entertainment. He has no scandals and his 2 years away he remained one of the top stars at the top of all the ranks. Will the drama with KES do him good to remind his fans that he is still dashing. Yeah sure, but Won Bin has been popular without a drama in over a decade.
All I’m saying is he was outshines with KWB and he stayed at the top and outranked KWB In popularity. He is at the point where he can afford to be outshined and letting new talent gain the spotlight.
LMH is only popular internationally like in China & some south eastern countries. In South Korea, you can barely see any CF of his anymore ? There are lots more IT boys than an old puffy face.
@Lololol That’s a very arrogant reaction. What you mean in your first post is is not make impactful enough for him, just maintain his popularity through this drama and not make an effort. so just let other actor shine. which definitely not his main aim, or else, he will confidently join other drama. He is on hiatus for around 2 years, and this drama seems require serious acting, not like Heirs.
Keep popularity but get label as a bland actor / actor who can’t act? This drama seems challenging enough and seems not based on romance, so I think he has to force to make an effort, or else, his haters will be on a rise.
Okay I didn’t understand anything you said u. The first paragraph but personally I do r think LMH is a bland actor at all. In fact I think he is pretty Versatile from City Hunter, Faith, to Gangster blues. Kdrama fans just seem to be into overacting and when an actor is not over exaggerated or not doing too much like KWB I’m Heirs then they start to think the actor is a bland actor.
No one is saying he shouldn’t put in effort. No one is expecting LMH to let a new actor to outshine him. My point is that even if it happened it’s not gonna hurt him.
@CandyCane I’ve spent enough time in Korea to know that’s not true. For 1 LMH is not a trendy It boy. He is an established actor who is guaranteed to bring in investors. Also he literally just finished his service and went on a holiday. Ofcourse he hasn’t shot any CF’s. Lastly, many poll rankings from the end of the year last year still had LMH in the top 15 all while he’s been gone for 2 years. I won’t deny that they are popular in China but China has a ton of their own top actors they focus on.
Yeah, he was never a trendy It boy, just a perpetual bad actor
@Lolololololololollll…. Who said LMH is a trendy IT boy? I never said so. Are you dreaming? Literally when did I ever for once even hinted he was an IT boy? And you believe in polls? Omg Lololol!! Who ever quotes “the top 15”? Usually “the top 10”. 15? How about the top 16? At least one is worse than him ??
WDh wil outshine him..LMH sure is shaking now..compare his acting WDH is better than LMh..just saying
Yeah he is shaking because you are with him,let the drama start airing first before you start bitching
He’s better than LMH. Oh my God, this got me excited!
With all LMH haters all actors are better than him for them..can you allow this drama to air before comparing,i watched the heirs several times and my opinion is Kwb never outshine lmh
I agree. I might be one of the few people who think Kim Woo Bin is not that memorable in Heirs. He is okay. Then again KWB’s character is not that good enough to begin with, so is LMH’s character. But can’t be denied Kim WOo Bin popularity went up because of Heirs.
I can see lee Min Hoo making en effort in this latest KES installment. He was making an effort in LOTBS, in the second half his char gets ton of angst it’s force him to make an effort. though the result is not that great. You just can hardly find sincerity in that mess of a script.
@anotherabc LMH is not a trendy actor but a bad actor and still manages to maintain his popularity hun..he still manage to be an Alist actor please if you don’t have any good thing to say about him don’t watch his drama atall because at the end of the day you will still watch it to start critizing his acting
What does popularity have to do with good acting skills??? He may be popular in some countries, but he is also well known to be an one-noted actor with limited range.
@candy cane go away with your hatred you know LMH is popular he is an A list actor so deal with it… Shit your hate is real,if he is a bad actor to you majority of us who came to drama mostly because of him knows he is a good actor…the only things you guys will be shouting his the heirs and boys over flowers,he was great in city hunter, faith had a great review for Gangnam blues even ahead of Kim Rae won you can check their review if you want, he was also great in LOBTS…am tired of people saying one is a bad actor or has no range because he is popular
@anotherabc that is your opinion that does not mean that anybody see him as a bad actor with no range I love his acting,he is someone that never overact so for him to do Gangnam blues and he got good reviews makes him an okay actor..and also popularity doesn’t mean anything, you cant deny the fact he his an Alist actor and he will continue to improve himself stop acting as if his only drama is heirs even in bof which I don’t like his character yet he made gujunpyo a memorable character for himself which becomes popular everywhere