So Kim Soo Hyun will be getting two new actress costars he’s never worked with before in his next drama Knock Off. Earlier it was announced that Kim Si Eun would be the female lead and now Jo Boa joins as the second female lead. Kim Si Eun is an up-and-comer with solid rising cred while Jo Boa has been female lead in multiple dramas already to mixed results. If this is the confirmed main cast I’ll keep my mind open that it will deliver the viewership ratings and interests that any Kim Soo Hyun drama is sure to generate.
I find Jo Boa beautiful and she’s not a bad actress, but I just find her lacking in charisma and screen presence, like, she’s just not exciting to watch onscreen in my opinion. Can’t say I’m a fan of this pairing for now, but let’s see if she’ll surprise me.
Again, just my opinion
It sounds like Kim Si Eun is the female lead who is Kim Soo Hyun’s business partner in the drama. Jo Boa plays his first love but I don’t think there’s a love line so they’re not a “pair”. If you follow KSH’s filmography, he always take on projects without romance after one with romance.
I think her problem is that despite her beauty and technically decent acting abilities, JBA doesn’t suit the standard kdrama female lead type roles – which was exactly what she was playing in Tale of the Nine Tailed, Forest, My Strange Hero etc, and came across rather bland.
But there was a bit in TOTNT where she was meant to be possessed by the villain and she instantly came alive in a way she hadn’t through the rest of the drama. Same with her earlier work where she was playing a quirky weirdo mermaid, manipulative high school student (Innocent Thing) etc, she does well in roles that give her something to actually do, otherwise she’s just pretty and bland.
Totally agree with your assessment of JBA.
She’s a very good actress but I find her terrible with generating romantic chemistry. I also think she is doing herself a disservice by picking roles that need her to be docile, sweet, or candy-ish. Like you said – standard kdrama female lead. I can’t quite think of another actress who suffers from the same issue, but YSH on the actors side is comparable. Amazing actor (one of my favourites in fact) but he shines the most in action, sageuks and projects where he can show his acting skills. He was utterly spellbinding in IMY as a the sweet SL turned psychotic villain. JBA needs that kind of role. Not exactly sure this is it, but for her sake, I hope so!
I completely agree. That part you talked about in TOTNT,where she was possessed was so impressive. I hadn’t thought of it like this before, but now that you said it,I can totally agree. I hope she sees it too, and since she isn’t the female lead in this drama, maybe they’d give her more character than just being nice and all.
@Butterfly – yeah JBA’s track record on romantic chemistry is….not great, though in Shut Up Flower Boy Band and the mermaid drama (can’t be bothered to wiki right now) she had fantastic chemistry with Sung Joon and Song Jae Rim, same with Jang Hyuk in Innocent Thing despite how creepy the concept is.
She actually has taken roles that don’t have such a focus on romance e.g. Military Producer Doberman and I guess now this, which suits her strengths as an actress much better than playing some spunky-candy kdrama lead. And I do hope this particular role won’t be written like a typical kdrama 2nd female lead i.e. a one dimensional hate figure. She deserves better than that.
and yes, you’re spot-on about YSH, he’s a good actor but as a lead, he’s a romantic chemistry dead zone unless it’s with Chae Soobin (who could generate chemistry with even a tree and deserves more credit for I’m Not A Robot). The truth is, being a good actor and handsome or pretty doesn’t mean someone will make a good romantic lead, chemistry is a funny thing that way and just not in some people’s skill set. To take another example, Lee Je Hoon as a drama romantic lead is even worse than YSH – when even chemistry goddesses like Chae Soobin and Shin Minah can’t manage to sell a romance with him in their dramas together, his decision to focus on crime dramas makes more sense in hindsight.
This drama isn’t about romance drama so it’s fine for me and I believe this drama will be focus about KSH’s character. I think it’s gonna be itaewon class 2.0
I like her. She’s really beautiful and natural. She had a great chemistry with Rowoon in DyW.
It will be fun to watch her with Lee Jae-Wook in the meantime.
Jo Bo Ah is nasty…she will accepted a role as a 2nd female lead or even 3rd lead role or even an extra role..as long as she know Kim Soo Hyun is in a drama…all the female actress this day just accepted everything KSH is in..thats is a fact!!
Wtf?
🤡
Yeah… it’s being nasty to want to work with great people.
You know who’s nasty? Y O U
After shitting on KHY, you are now after JBA. I genuinely can’t tell if you are just an obsessed KJW “fan” out for KSH’s new costars, a shipper or a troll. But you need to get a grip.
@Dudu
You embarassed KJW fandom under her post, now doing the same with KSH fandom… You look not like their fans but as some troll.
Joo Woo Jin and Lee Jung Eun just confirmed their appearance as well. I like this line up so far!!
Yoo Jae Myung and Kim Eui Sung as well for the supporting casts
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Jo Woo Jin. Not since Goblin actually. He’s amazing and still gives me the creeps. This drama has such a strong cast!
Boy oh boy and I glad this is not a romance drama and that the writer is not known to write romance. KSH always has good chemistry, but my god JBA is the exact opposite. She is undoubtedly a good actress but is so much better when she is not forced to have romantic chemistry.
This cast is solid solid solid. I love everyone in it and everything about it so far. YJM, KSE, JBA and KSH. I hope they add another actor for the bromance side of things lol. I have a long wishlist, but honestly, anyone is fine. I just want some bromance.
If the drama is aired either on terrestrial or cable, it’ll no doubt be one of the marquee upcoming dramas. KSH is such a ratings magnet and with the added monetary fund crisis background and the interesting synopsis, it’s sure to pique a lot of interest. According to the K Media articles, Jo Boa is the female protagonist and KSE is the other female protagonist. So we don’t know who is 1st and 2nd lead officially. I would hazard a guess it’s KSE though as she has been bagging all the best new actress awards on the movie side in the past year. Jo Boa needs a career reform of sorts and working with the hottest kdrama star is a good thing for her. I’m here for the 90s costumes and ~hair~ eeeps! If it’s a pineapple head, I’d be willing to dish out some cash.
Pineapple head?! Blasphemy!! 🤣
I’m picturing Do Ming Su from Meteor Garden rn. Undecided if even KSH can rock that and can’t make up my mind if it’s worth finding out…
Its not… its really really not lmao. Okay, okay, maybe as a 5 sec reel in a fast forward a few years section. I’m admittedly a little intrigued LOL.
Ah Si from 2001 MG fame pineapple head? Gosh it brings back great memories!! I was obsessed with Ah Si and Shan Cai for yeeears!!!
No comments on pineapple hairstyle but…
Ah Si x Shan Cai forevah.
I like her in Military prosecutor Doberman , she played a badass role . I think that she enjoyed the role , she could show another side of her way more interesting than playing a romance .
she was amazing in military prosecutor doberman and had excellent chemistry with ahn bohyun despite the show not being a romance drama
It is a one-top drama so I did not expect two female leads in the cast list actually. Jo Boa is being reported as his first love and Kim Sieun as his partner. I am indifferent on who gets first bill since really, everyone is a sub in a one-top drama technically.
Some new unconfirmed info on the broadcasting is that it will be 8 episodes on D+ but last night the news articles confirming the supporting cast was saying they are looking at broadcasting platforms. We just have to wait even if I am bad at that hahah
I just hope both length and D+ info is wrong really since the episode weekly release is so meh. Really, if it’s not a one part of two part release, what is the point of being OTT excl?
Huge huge project for Jo Bo-ah. This is Kim Soo-hyun’s follow up to Queen of Tears so it will have all the hype leading up to it. I personally did not care for her any of her previous choices but Knock off / Nock off is likely going to be a winner.
KSH and Jo Boa costarring a black comedy drama was not in my 2024 bingo card but I love it. According to twitter, she plays a customs employee so pls be badass so we can get lots of tension filled sarcastic exchanges while they try to outsmart each other. When is it coming out again??
so exciting! not sure when the show is coming out but it’s supposed to begin filming in june or july. i think it might be a little later because jo boah is currently filming a historical drama with lee jaewook
Shooting will likely start after KSH is done his Asian tour so maybe around end of Aug. If we get lucky, it might even air end of year or Jan. Highly depending on if it ends up tv broadcasting or ott excl.
I didn’t watch her dramas, so don’t know about Jo Bo Ah acting skills, but she seems charismatic person, and I already can sense chemistry by looking at them. Anyway, this drama isn’t romcom, and their relationship won’t be centric plot.
One thing about Kim Soo Hyun, is that he mostly choose scripts where whole cast can shine. Even in One Ordinary Day actress who played his one-night love interest in 1st episode, was remarkable.
Don’t know about script and how good this drama will be, but that about acting and cast, I think everything will be good.
Why do you guys always like to pit stars against one another and compare them to each former costars? You guys have so much free time. Get a life. It’s just entertainment at the end of day.
I don’t really care who the female lead is, but can they release a proper synopsis instead? The crumbs we have are all speculation. At least tell me what kind of Character Soohyun is playing. Is it an Zampano or a Ryuhwan…?
Took me a hot second to get what you meant by Zampano vs Ryu Hwan haha. I believe the character is more a Zampano. He will be going through a crisis due to the IMF explosion and head starts the counterfeit industry in bags/ shoes which ultimately makes him the #1 con artist. My memory fails me so I cannot remember if it is dc info or official. Theres so many rumors and speculations filtering through from fans really.
Knock Off? What an interesting title!!! What is the genre of this drama? Shouldn’t be any old school K romance focused? I hope not. LOL. I hope to see KSH away from storylines highlighting his romance with someone. Rather, a male centric plot with a lot of suspension will be intriguing.
Actually dont think her role is that big. I recon it’ll be a short but emotionally impactful character as the show itself is male lead centric. Anyhoo, the support cast lineup was released and it’s packed to the rafters. Acting party much!? Yoo Jae Myung, Jo Woo Jin and Lee Jung Eun are all baeksang nominees and/or winners. Kim Si Eun is a Baeksang new actor winner. Kim Soo Hyun needs no intro. It could be a movie line up with how strong the cast is. I’m so up for this drama!
I remain unimpressed and underwhelmed by the male lead in this Drama, but as for Jo Bo Ah I scanned the comments here and was disappointed (though not surprised) to see no mentoi9n of my favourite role of hers. For me, she was OUTSTANDING in Goodbye to Goodbye, high in my top 10 K Dramas of all time, of the ~300 I’ve completed.
+1
The whole supporting cast & the two FLs are good and the plot sounds promising but I just can’t get myself to like KSH’s acting no matter how hard I try, he just appears stone faced 60% of the time
I agree. All the supporting casts & the 2 FLs are promising but I just can’t seem to warm upto KSH’s acting style. He appears stone faced 60% of the time, no micror expressions no nuance. And to think he is going to do comedy which is not his forte boy I am already turned off
Unless I was living under a rock and “60%” + “stone faced” + “2 FL are promising” are all very common phrases to use in one single para, I’d hazard a very daring guess and say Kat and Trim are the same person lmbo.
Its ok to not like someone and feel slightly despo to express it when they are the newly re-minted golden boy. Even the best actors have haters afterall… but at least you could have changed your words a tad to make it less obvious. GPT chat is free for all…
Shots fired!!! I didn’t want to feed these trolls but thank you still
Super excited. This is a unique premise to begin with. Never seen a kdrama set in the counterfeit world. How fascinating would the PPL be. It’s high profile and would automatically attract luxury brands but how will they feature Gucci or Cartier, etc. when the main character is starting the counterfeit industry. I can’t imagine how it will look for some reason and that makes it a must watch for me.
++ Kim SooHyun. Definitely Kim SooHyun!
you had me at kim soo-hyun. hoping for it to arrive soon. so many big dramas to look forward to like jjh and kdw drama and kes new drama and gy coming back too. but now this is my #1 most anticipated because ksh hehehe
Curious if you are referring to Trunk (with SHJ) or the new NHK drama with SHK? I am a huge GY fangirl which is why i hope he does not do that NHK drama… just not his forte :/ I want him in a Goblin like role instead.
I’m not a huge fan of Jo Boa as an actress. Her acting leaves me kind of cold but that might be because she usually plays the type of thankless, bland love interest roles. I see lots of good comments about Military Prosecutor Doberman and how she is much better in it as a strong character so I might give that a try. I also think she looks much better with the short hair from that drama.
If she is a lead role here it’s a big get for her. She’s been an unremarkable but solid B-list actress so scoring a lead opposite a top of the top actor like Kim Soo Hyun would be a huge leap in career for her.
Her casting came out with the rest of the supporting cast so doubt she is the female lead. It’s a male centric plot so both actresses probably play supporting roles. Kim Si Eun most likely has bigger role since her casting was announced after KSH.
Lol wtf. B-list actress? She has acted in so many dramas as female lead than your favorite. And she was in so many variety shows than your fav. She is the fucking A-list actress for your information.