A successful project doesn’t guarantee the success of the subsequent but it does add leverage to getting big name casts signed on. Unfortunately for screenwriter Park Ji Eun coming off Crash Landing on You, and she also wrote Legend of the Blue Sea, Producer, and You From Another Star, her next leading lady will not be singer-actress IU. The offer was out for IU to do her next drama The Queen of Tears but IU’s agency confirmed that she rejected the offer already. At least we know know the title of the drama and the type of actress Park Ji Eun is looking for and there are a small handful that could suit the leading lady with similar vibes to IU.
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Dang. I wonder what happened there? Hope the casting won’t turn into a fiasco like Hong sisters drama Return. FL Park Hye Eun unceremoniously fired allegedly for bad acting. I remember this blog had quite a heated comment section when Jung So Min was chosen as the next FL. It finally has an air date on Netflix 18 June.
She’s probably just too booked for it, nothing to overthink. She’s already signed on for another drama, her movie is resuming filming and may well release music this year too – it’s not as if she isn’t familiar with Park Ji Eun, she was 2nd lead in Producer after all (and got an absolutely show-stealing storyline and performance). Ah well. Hopefully next time!
IU already has a busy year with 2 movies coming out and Money Game filming in May so it might have clashed with her other projects unfortunately
Writer should go for a fresh face talent or promote deserving SL like Seol In Ah from Business Proposal. Tbh, I’m so over the longstanding practice of only casting A-list actress to headline famous writers’ dramas.
That’s the norm even in other countries. They want someone who has wide public recognition so they can attract investors, high viewership and buzz.
This business model is failing in SK. In terms of buzz and popularity, little romcom Business Proposal trumps 39, Snowdrop, NWABU and Jirisan.
It trumps because of good writing and directing.
exactly big name alone doesn’t guarantee good writing.
Passerby are you seriously comparing romcom with melodramas and thriller/mystery? The success of a drama doesn’t solely depends on the cast. Nowadays it can be anything, writing plays a huge part, and of course words of mouth. Once a drama attract many viewers, it will become more viral and be a huge hit. Low ratings doesn’t mean bad dramas, crazy love has low ratings but from what I read from those who watch it,they love it.
Remember Red Sleeve? That time it’s like viewers really like sageuks. Now they like romcoms, so public taste also plays a part.
Seol In Ah might just be announced as the FL…..she is coming from a hit, she seems to be signing with Kim Soo Hyun’s agency (and that agency is known to package using KSH), so……
I heard that this high profile project has Kim Soo Hyun as the ML. About a chaebol family. Similar to SJK’s new chaebol drama? Will it be offered to Suzy next?
Suzy will start filming Lee Doona next month though she hasn’t confirmed yet, the Director of this drama just started following her ig.
Thanks @Htht, interesting bit of info.
Get Shin Hye Sun, she can make anything work.
This casting news was shut down quicker than most dating news. What’s the point of making it public? Park Ji Eun has a number of mega hits under her belt, her scripts shouldn’t need noise marketing. I would love to see Kim Tae Ri, but I doubt big names would want to be known for being second choice. That happens all the time, but it isn’t disclosed until much later and usually only when the drama drama is a hit.
If it’s Jeon Ji Hyun again, I’m going to roll my eyes. Enough already!
I wonder what the role will be… Hopefully something that fits Kim Tae Ri or Lee Se Young – obviously I’m just rambling off FLs from the 2 most memorable dramas this year thus far lol
Kim Taeri is already lined up for the next Kim Eunhee drama. The one that Gong Yoo rejected.
KTR seems to be very specific about scripts. Both Mr. Sunshine and 2521 were “profound” dramas. Park Jieun pens big commercial hits, but I wouldn’t characterize any of her dramas as “profound”.
Lee Se Young is in talks to Lee Seung Gi in KBS2 Love According to the Law. This is the fourth law drama in 2022 after LJK’s Again My Life, Lee Jong Suk’s Big Mouth and DO’s Prosecutor Jin’s Victory.
the original otp that I shipped in hwayugi. go sun ogong and boo ja.
Don’t forget NGM 1000 won lawyer.
Ooh so my fave FLs KTR and LSY have lined up their next projects. Can’t wait!
Good call IU. I actually prefer her to pick different lowkey projects. Have always wanted her to work with SIG in a music focused drama where both can sing and act. They worked on a photoshoot long ago for Union Bay. Something light-hearted and fun. This would be a departure from her image as a cold and aloof persona. My dream pairing of Han So Hee and SIG is already fulfilled via his cameo as singer Jay Jun in Soundtrack No1 last night.
That was soooo long ago. She poked her tongue out cheekily after pulling her head out from his winter jacket. Lol. This the vibe I want to see from IU again.
I believe IU can do comedy. It’ll be a hoot to see her pull out SIG’s hair like how Kang Mina is doing to his Nam Han Joon character.
so that polls and rumours are all true
reject Park Jieun like this demonstrate how IU is really one of most requested actresses right now
she also met Kim Eun He early 2021
now some rumours about her being requested on the next Im Sang Choon drama
IU, Suzy and HSH are the current troika of actresses that are the most in demand. They have amazing star power and are all A list celebs with hits under their belts.
LOL. How about KTR which has a more successful movie and TV career than these 3?KTR is the JJH of her gen.
No doubt IU and Suzy are A-listers, but is HSH considered an A-list actress now? I’m genuinely asking not out of malice, just want to know. I see her more as a current It girl/rising actress than a certified A-lister but I’m open to be corrected
i still hate myrrana but I agree with her this time. I’d replace HSH with Kim tae ri and you have the perfect late 20s/early 30s troika of a-listers
I think it should be :
1. IU
2. KTR
3. HSH/Suzy
KTR is an amazing actress and I think a lot of writers or directors want her too, but for the star/hallyu power, I think they will go to choose IU because she has them and she’s also considered a good actress by looking at her previous projects (My Mister & Hotel del Luna, where she nominated as Best Actress at Baeksang for this two projects).
@Lulu – of the ones listed, one of those is not like the rest tbqh – not in terms of acting ability, nor in delivering the numbers (ie viewership).
I don’t know about putting IU on top of that ranking unless you mean it in terms of popularity, which is undeniable. but she has, to her credit, had two hit dramas in the last five years and may not be considered the best actress out there but it’s widely agreed that she is a good one. Park Ji Eun may write a meh drama here and there but the casting for her dramas has always had actors who are at least decent to good, and she also worked with IU before as a second lead – coming back to her as a lead suggests a vote of confidence. I would have loved to see it but it looks like scheduling conflicts with her other projects means this didn’t work.
@Royal We
TBH, Park Ji Eun dramas has always had amazing actors instead of decent to good. In her past 4 dramas she somehow managed to bag GHJ, CTH, IU, HB, SYJ, JJH (twice) and KSH (potentially trice). Even her second leads are amazing – SHS, PHJ SSR, etc. Would’ve really loved to see IU in this one because while we literally have no clue what it’s about other than “Chaebol” – the writer is quite good and attracts some of the best actors in Korea. Also, the PD is quite strong here too.
surely, shin hye sun is somewhere in the top 3 too. she is possibly the strongest actress in the age group along with kim tae ri. i think it’d be more like:
1. kim taeri
2. shin hye sun
3. iu/suzy
han sohee is lacking in both experience and star power compared to these 4. she is definitely making waves as the new it girl, that is undeniable. but only time will tell if she’s here to stay.
@mimimi – I agree, Shin Hye Sun is definitely among the top three – she’s a good actress and has delivered hit dramas but she gets underestimated by international fans. Which is ridiculous considering her rise over the last 5 years.
@Butterfly – that’s my point, they’re at least decent to good and that’s a conservative assessment because some are amazing, imo not all though. Either way PJE doesn’t play when it comes to acting skills for her cast!
Good for her. Among the S-tier writers in terms of popularity, Park Jieun is my least fave along with KES. But at least KES has the masterpiece Mr. Sunshine under belt, although it might have been her ghostwriters lol. Hope to see IU work with Noh Hee Kyung or even Park Hae Young again.
Well she chose Han Jae Rim’s Money Game as her comeback drama after 3 years, and it will start filming soon. She also has 2 big movies coming out this year, so it makes sense that she declined the offer.
I feel IU is a bit over-rated but she is now the most in demand now. If Suzy gets casted I hope she shows some improvement like IU did. But I am hoping for someone else to be chosen.
I somehow miss Park Bo Young. Was disappointed with her last drama choice.
i have never been a fan of iu but can admit she’s done very well for herself in the last decade. i don’t think she’s the pinnacle of young female actresses though. that has to be kim taeri, followed by shin hye sun. not sure who will ultimately become the fl, but i’m curious about the ml too. i don’t see kim soo hyun taking this on. he has shifted focus to more serious dramas since his discharge.
it could be park bogum since he’s fresh out of the military. possibly nam joo hyuk, who has room to squeeze in one drama if he really wants to before his enlistment though it would be very tight. who else?
omg i would love njh in this. or in anything on the lighter side so that it can wash away the pain poor baek yijin’s arc left me in T_T
i just want him to be happy in his dramas for once! apparently it’s too much to ask for. 🙁
Lol KSH has done 2 dramas since his discharge. One of them being a “healing drama” so I dunno why that would be an indication he won’t take on a rom com. I think it depends on the role. He’s also quite close to Park Jieun and already worked with her twice (both being super successful too). He convinced JJH for YFAS and accepted Producers before even reading the script…
As for female lead, we dunno anything about the age range. PJE could go with someone a little older like HHJ or MCW. Those would be solid picks to me.
ksh is being very intentional about the scripts he chooses. he picked iotnbo from a near unknown writer bc it spoke to him. one ordinary day is also different from anything else he’s worked on before. i did forget that he had worked with this writer before so perhaps he will come back to be her male lead again, but i won’t be surprised if he continues to choose scripts with more depth. the male lead, whoever it is, would be following in the footsteps of hyun bin so i’m sure there are a lot of eager interested candidates.
i would love for moon chae won to make a splash again, so would love to see her in this. such a beautiful and talented actress, who looked ready to become a top actress so not sure what happened.
@mimimi
KSH is careful about picking his roles, definitely. And I agree with you in essence other than the assumption that he will somehow reject this because it’s a rom-com. If the role “speaks” to him as you mentioned, then he’ll take it I believe.
It is also another assumption that the script has no “depth” or isn’t a challenge. JJH’s best role will forever be Cheon Song Yi. Cindy was an amazing character for IU and so was Baek Seung Chan for KSH himself. But yup, there will be a lot of eager candidates – I like NJH a lot too so if KSH does reject it, I’d love for him here. What I’m getting it is that there’s nothing that indicates to me right now that KSH won’t take it up. But let’s see.
As for MCW – yea full agreed. She needs a big drama on her belt. Something like TPM to really get her back to the top. She’s fantastic, but maybe she needs a strong rom-com for a change…
@Butterfly, I don’t think Kim Soo Hyun will take this either. From the title, it sounds like a female centric drama, hence IU was casted first. According to his agency, he hasn’t even received the script. Don’t know why they are jumping the gun with the casting news when it’s just in the preliminary stage.
@Ume
We’ll see. Hyun Bin had quite literally the same exact response (literally – we got asked the sched but didn’t receive any official offer) back when CLOY has announced ??♀️ Also KSH never shied away from female centric dramas lol. But anyway we shall see! The speculation is the fun part of any drama casting imo lol
@Which of his drama/film is female centric? I don’t consider YFAS female centric since both leads have equal importance in story. He seems to have more projects that are either ensemble cast or male centric cast (Secretly Greatly, One Ordinary Day).
I would say that IONTBO is female-centric. SYJ stole the limelight in that one and KSH was okay with taking on the less flashy role.
@Ginkgo No, IOTNBO is not female centric. All three leads have their own story arc and ML has two, one with his brother and one with FL. Loud and flashy do not mean her role is heavier in weight. Female centric is something like IU’s role in Hotel Del Luna.
IU will definitely get a boost from her next movie. She’s in a Koreeda film with Song Kangho, Kang Dongwon, and Bae Doona so she’s going to get to act with people with a lot of experience and skill. I’m kinda sad that she doesn’t do a lot of lighthearted work because I’d like to see her in something fun but she seems to be in her element when she does something heavy like My Mister
I just remembered that Shin Hye Sun has already worked with Park Jieun in Blue Sea! I think she’s a very strong candidate because PJE generally likes to work with actors she’s casted in the past. She and KSH (if he takes this) will be an amazing pairing actually. I can really see that working out very well.
SHS is already committed to a reincarnation drama and a movie.
I think every actress mentioned in the comments is already committed to a project.
kim jiwon should be wrapping up filming for my liberation notes soon if she isn’t already done. ?
She hasn’t confirmed that drama as far as I remember. It was just “one of the projects she’s offered” which is their blanket statement for everything seems like.
MCW doesn’t have anything lined up. HHJ is likely almost done with the drama with JIS too since it’s been a while since they started shooting it. PBY is free too (tho I don’t dig the pairing with KSH if he accepts).
Moon Chae Won got cast in some time travel drama. Park Boyoung is filming a Netflix drama. A lot of actresses are booked right now.
I wouldn’t mind a KSH and Seol In Ah combi.