Ji Soo Offered Male Lead in Sageuk Moon Rising Over the River Opposite Kim So Hyun in a Page Turner Reunion

View Comments

• Kim So Hyun is ???

  • She is the queen of historical dramas!

    • I love this girl so much. shes so charming and a joy to watch. Shes blessed with Beauty, Brains, talent and Class!!!!

      @Mary..Indeed.

• Its a very weak male casting. Rumour has it the IT boys all turned down the drama as there's actually a book version that the story is inspired from and no one bought into the premise of the story. Throw in a scriptwriter with limited success in delivering dramas with high ratings even kim so hyun headlining could not bring a bigger male star to sign on. The early signs do not bode well for the drama. I am very disappointed the eell known first choice for her passed on this project at the very last minute. Anyway - I have watched 90% of her dramas and will continue to support her on this one despite my disappointment with the ML casting. Sigh.

  • There's no book that this story is inspired from it's based on folklore. Those two are not the same things. Most of the accounts of the three Kingdom era come from an ancient text as does this folklore. I'm not sure what you mean by 'IT' boys but Jisoo has never not been popular. He just signed a contract with Keyeast you think they would have taken him in if he wasn't popular. This drama is more female centric and even Kang Haneul couldn't give it up fully and committed to a cameo even before any casts were announced. Kim Sohyun dramas have never had big named male leads SHE made them into big named male leads. The only name any Kim Sohyun drama ever needs is KIM SOHYUN.

    • Say it louder!

    • @alice
      I agree that she doesnt need big names male leads but it would be nice for her to work with them.

      @lydia
      I have many worries for this drama too, despite the potential mess, I’m just going to watch it solely for her acting unless the drama turns out to be very awful lol

    • @Laura You make no sense! You want her to be in a female centric drama and then you want an A list star! Do you want her to end up like PSD in ROY? They'll sideline her like they did in RMOTM. She needs to work with rookies and less popular actors if she wants the script to give her something to do. You're not watching this for the male lead you're watching it for her so who cares who the male lead is! You want her drama to get ratings or you want her to have screen time!

    • @mary
      I understand your concerns but at the same time just because she’s paired up with well known actors doesn’t mean she will automatically be sidelined, it’s just unfortunate it happened in the past. There’s many dramas where the female lead has a bigger role than the male lead despite fame or popularity. It mostly depends on the writer. It’s important to care about male leads because they affect the quality of dramas. I like ji soo don’t get me wrong but I had other more favorable candidates in mind. What’s wrong with wanting both ratings and screen time?

    • KSH hasn't reached the level to not be sidelined by A list male leads. This drama is already problematic because of the scriptwriter and director but also because of the production company. They are the same ones who screwed over PHJ and tried to stop him from taking on new projects. Everything they've made till now except for Something in Bali and Empress Ki has been poor quality and flops. The hopes for this drama getting ratings is non existent. The only thing to focus on is KSH being the sole focus of this story. Finally something that revolves only around her with a strong character. No A list male lead would agree to that he would force the script to be changed to focus on him instead. KSH dramas have never had ratings and never will for several years until KES or PHR pick her up. Just focus on her acting till then if you don't want another RMOTM situation.

    • I strongly agree!!! KSH is the reason why every male lead that she work with had a big name now well i mean they are now more popular not only by name but also their craft unlike before. Yes we may be greatful if KSH will work with big actors but don't think that Jisoo is not a big actor because he works with great drama, movies and great actors and actresses so he deserves it. If you want KSH work with Big actors let's wait for that time and yet this is not her last project because there are so much projects that surely to look forward to her in the future because KSH is a good actress.

  • I was hoping more for park seo joon, seo kang or LJS to sign up :(

  • @lydia who is the well known first choice for her partner?

    • Seo Kang Joon. The actor does not have big hits under his belt as well (save for Watcher which was an ensemble cast and Cheese in the Trap - good or bad still buzzed huge in Korea) but he is legitimately in the lead actor category and a big name with advertisers. Just yesterday Korean media released several articles on his "sculpture visuals" coined by advertisers of his new ad campaign. Such brand association articles are usually picked up by 2-3 media outlets as its an advertorial but the fact multiple media picked up the story, the interest in him is really high and would have translated to more buzz for this drama if he had accepted. Anyway either military beckons and he will be announcing enlistment soon or he probably found a better project to be his last before going in. The 93 liners like Park Bo Gum and Jung Garam have all enlisted recently. Even an idol like Baekyeon or Chanyeol at this point will generate more buzz. Disappointing for sure.

    • He’s my first choice too! But victory content is not following his IG that’s why i assumed he’s not been considered for the role. On the other hand they are following KMJ— my second choice. So I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for this one.

    • Seo Kangjoon was never offered the role. Why are you making it up?

    • @bree... and to call me out as a liar as you know this because? You were privy to the meetings the director had with agencies? or maybe you know seo kang joon personally? Or perhaps Kim So Hyun. Yea... I am sorry if this information offends you. After all we only do product placements in dramas so casting information is critical in helping to recommend the ad spend for clients. Job aside, I am still human, watch dramas and have faves. And I am sorry that being korean and speaking good english and also participating in an international blog is shocking to you.

    • @Lydia LOL who are you trying to fool you troll? You're a Korean? Really? How come you didn't even know this was based on a popular folklore and not a book. Stay from making speculations about things you know nothing about.

    • @winner

      ikr? so many loopholes in her story. is she is an insider or something like that? i don't know what is her motif but to bo honest, her talking just brought the morale down among the fans. she is so sure for something which doesn't happened yet. i couldn't help but feel doubt. but if she is really an insider, wow that's cool

  • Hi Lydia I am confused.
    Do you mean they offered it to Seo Kangjoon and he rejected?

    • I tried searching for news about it and could not find any. If its true thats so disappointing ...

    • They talked to many many actors actually. These news don't get covered. Because it will be seen as mediaplay. They already did it to Son Ye Jin and I doubt that she ever did consider the offer seriously since its totally age off. I do think however SKJ's management was considering it seriously for a while. Might be military reason or maybe they want to pick something less exhausting for him since Sageuks can be time consuming and challenging. For sure he does not have that much time to enlistment.

    • You're literally spinning lies. It never happened and he never turned it down because he was never offered. This is rubbish stop making things up.

  • So, who are the current IT boys? I'm asking because I really don't know.

• Kim.So Hyun will be very busy next year, Love Alarm 2 and this drama. Will look forward to both.

  Kim So Hyun will rock 2021.

  • She always does! Girl is the most busy and talented of her generation!

    • Agree. Smart and Intelligent too. I wonder how she does it? she is busy working and at the same time studying in one of the prestigious univerities in South Korea. She did not forego College to focus solely on acting. What a hardworking young woman she is!!! beauty, talent and Brains Indeed. Im just so proud of her.

    • Unlike her peers she never forgoes her education and always experiments with every role!

  • Definitely!

• I realized that I prefer him as a second lead than a main lead. In Page Turner, I prefered Shin Jae Ha, in When I was the most beautiful Ha Seok Jin. In My Sassy Girl, he was very pitiful but I didn't have second lead syndrom. So I would prefer someone else as a lead.

  • Sadly its set in stone this casting. Lets hope he does not over act which he sometimes has the propensity to. And their chemistry better than page turner. He is very much for me still a second lead and not quite male lead status yet. But can't do anything. So many passed on the project. *smh*

    • Their Page Turner chemistry was off the charts! Are you blind!

    • To you. Hello. If i prefer Shin Jae Ha's chem with her than Ji Soo's... can I call you blind too? Smh *woke*

    • @ Mary
      It’s just opinions so it’s not a big deal if people disagree, and in my opinion she did have amazing chemistry with both male leads in page turners. Anyways, I hope their chemistry will be even more developed and can be carried over in historical period.

  • I liked them in Page Turner, but liked her chemistry with Shin Jae Ha in her guest stint in While you were sleeping.

• Jisoo may not have much experience with saegeuk dramas but he is a talented actor and they were brilliant together in page turner.

• will this flop?

  • We don't hope for that.

    • Same old Joane. This girl has no good thing to say except for her fav actress.

  • Your definition of "flop" is very actress-specific. STOP stirring up a fan war here again @Moonlight, we can all tell who you are @Joane.

    • @kelly

      why are you so pressed?.did i just say something thats true. this girl does not have a hit drama under her belt.... Future A list? lol.

    • Same old Joane. This girl have nothing good to say at all except for her fav actress. SMH

• Initially I was very excited by this news because their chemistry was off the charts in page turner but reading this article, I didn’t know he didn’t do well in the acting department in his first historical drama since I didn’t watch it. So I will lower my expectations. It seems both Kims will have to carry their historical dramas on their shoulders. That’s quite pitiful.

• Their chemistry in Page Turner was fantastic and I do love Ji Soo, but I agree that if he doesn't seriously brush up his Sageuk acting this could be painful. Please make this work, Ji Soo! I haven't liked any of the dramas he has done lately and I do miss him. Kim So Hyun is such a good sageuk actress that I really hope she doesn't have to completely carry this. It would be like Lee Joon Gi and IU in Moonlovers but in reverse.

• his 1st historical drama was like 5 years ago? and maybe that prince character didn't suit him? (I've watch moon lovers, but i didn't notice something wrong about his actimg). Instead, it's already 5 years ago. Hopefully his acting really improves these years. And his character in page Turner, he executed it excellently! maybe acting in that type of character suited him the best. So this ondal may suit him the best

  • He wasn't the best in ML but he has the experience to do historical dramas! People are just throwing a fuss for no reason! This drama is about KSH and her story to become King!

    • @mary
      Let’s hope the writer doesn’t forget that and will actually focus on her.

    • If the male lead is weak it'll be better for KSH! The writer will only write for her! We don't need romance we need KSH doing action stunts and becoming King!

  • Yes we may say that their acting skill should be great because it gives a good impact to the viewers but sometimes let us focus on the storyline.
    I noticed that at first 3 episodes but because I am too focused in the storyline without knowing it I'm enjoying their acting. Let us appreciate the story,actors are a special bonus to us. ☺️

• I agree with the comment that So Hyun and Yoo Jung will hard carry their new dramas because of the weak male lead casting. Sigh. YJ with AHS. SH with JS.

  Hope these male leads are not yet final to find for a better suited one to the girls. Someone with good acting chops.