Top Actor Namgoong Min’s Next Project a Melo Romance K-drama Airing on tvN in March 2025

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• NGM is the only late 40s actor who does a lot of romance dramas or am I forgetting someone? I wish he did more comedies where he is the strongest. But equally curious on the production team and the female lead of what he chose. If it’s a melo, would love to see him with SYJ, GHJ or SHJ. And sure damn hope it’s not yet another OTT exclusive.

  • Awaken, The Veil, One Dollar Lawyer, Hot Stove League weren't romance. Lastly, there is only My Dearest and it was more than a romance.

    • My Dearest was as romance as a kdrama can get and if it goes ahead, he’s picking romance again. Haven’t seen Awaken or Veil, but he was so fantastic in Lawyer and Good Manager so that’s my preferred genre for him.

  • Good Manager and Undateables are comedies. Enough said....

    • ??? Where do you see me saying he did not do comedies? I said I wished he did more. Enough said…

  • So Ji Sub at one point did back to back rom coms. And Lee Dong Wook too but he’s much younger. I would counter that NGM is good at mixing genres up but I guess in some ways part 2 of My Dearest dipped in melo romance territory. But I trust this will be difference and it’s modern day too (I guess?)

    P.s. imo his best performance is in still HSL but Chief Kim is a close second!

    • Wow have not heard of SJS in forever. His choices lately have not been my cuppa but hope he picks up something fun soon!

  • Actually for years after his 2018 romcom The Undateables flopped he didn't do any romance dramas at all (2019-20222: Doctor Prisoner, Hot Stove League, Awaken, The Veil, One Dollar Lawyer, Taxi Driver 2). I thought it was on purpose because he of 'The Undateables' flopped or maybe he had an agreement with his girlfriend but, interestingly, since he got married he started taking on romances again: first, 'My Dearest' and now this romance drama. Maybe he is being offered better romance scripts now?

• Ji Sung

  • Acting national treasure too? Was that what you meant to say?

    • Yes but also because he did some romances as Kill me, heal me, Secret love, Familiar wife...before doing suspense , thriller,... dramas . Ji Sung is for me as great as NGM . It was a reply to @Caro who said that NGM was the only one doing romances in his late 40's . Ji Sung is the other .

    • @cahill, I haven't watched as many JS's dramas as NGM's. But JS in KMHM is iconic. No one, men and women alike, not in K-ent, nor in C-ent that I have more exposure to, have ever surpassed him in similar roles so far. I actually was planning to watch his new drama, Connection, but got distracted by other dramas. You reminded me to check out Connection later.

      Geez, I have a long list of good recommendations to take a look. This gets me excited. LOL. I think this is one of the rewards from following my life motto to always put off gratification before hard work - having excitement afterwards. Now I'm seeing one of the values from this philosophy of my Asian side. Asian schools and families teach this kind of values, not so much in the modern US though. At home, I have to make extra efforts to pass down those good Asian values to my kids cos they don't learn that from schools. I guess perhaps most of the EU countries are similar to the US in this aspect. I may be wrong. The years when I quit entertainment, mainly dramas and movies (cos they were so addictive and distracting LOL), my day were pretty dry and stressful. Now I'm all back with a lot of excitement but worry free.

      Thanks drama god never stop making good products. LOL

• The man looks so alluring in the 2nd still. LOL. I gave several shots to My Dearest thanks to NGM but unfortunately had to quit cos it just looked like a copycat of Gone with the Wind. I definitely will check out this new drama.

  I have been on a slew of binge watching NGM's dramas. I like Hot Stove League a lot but not so much of Chief Kim. Good, one comment recommended other dramas of him that I should check out soon. Now I'm trying to finish Lovely Runner (finally LOL) and found it just ok that I fast forwarded and skipped many scenes of repetitive school romance (not my cup of tea) but now finally got it why there's hype around the ML BWS. LOL.

  2024 K dramas have been dull for me while C drama has given me a pleasant surprise LOL. Luckily I still have a full plate of good old K dramas to catch up.

  • @Somebody: Speaking of Hot Stove League, the Dreams team had a little meet up last week. Some of them meet up every year and seems like most of them are still good friends :)
    https://www.koreastardaily.com/tc/news/153855

    • Oh yeah I read that blog. Such a great cast with my favorite actress in there too.

      I started to watch One Dollar Lawyer. I think I should be able to enjoy this one more than Chief Kim based on synopsis.

    • NGM's One dollar lawyer character did a cameo in Taxi 2, @Somebody , i recommended you Hot stove League and Beyond Evil a few months ago and i'm happy that you liked both .I like One dollar lawyer because of NGM but the drama gave me an incomplete taste . The role that helped NGM becoming an A list actor was when he played a villain in Remember : war of a son , the drama was meh but he outshined Yoo Seung Ho, Park Min Young,... before he used to be the second lead .

    • @cahil, yes! You recommended so many good dramas that are now in my favorite list including Hot Stove League and Beyond Evil. I think you also mentioned Flower of Evil, Children of Nobody, and Fiery Priest all of which I love so much.

      I did see Remember in his resume. But I avoid that bcos of YSH. As of today, NGM as a pyscho in A Girl Who Sees Smell is still one of my favorite antagonists. Yes, I do have a list of favorite antagonists. LOL.

      Oh thanks for recommendation of SYJ's dramas. I'll check them out. She impressed me in It's Ok Not to Be OK, more than KSH himself.

    • @Somebody,don't waste your time with Remember:war of the son , i was naming it because of NGM . To be honest with you , i'm french but my grandparents are Portuguese so they lived during Salazar's dictatorship , so i had a strict education in which work comes first ! My friends see me as a psychorigid but wanting to leave in a clean and tidy house is a must for me . I 'm not asian but when people come to see me they have to take off their shoes !

    • @cahil, I just read your habit of taking off shoes inside your house. LOL. My American friends also think we Asians are so weird being so extra. LOL. But this has saved me lots of time vacuuming floor. Nice to know you have Portuguese blood. The Portuguese were actually the first Western settlers who discovered Taiwan where I'm from. But they did not colonize Taiwan while the Dutch and the Spanish established colonies on the island for a brief stint later on before the Chinese settlers came over. Many had no idea of the history and thought Taiwan used to be colonized by the Portuguese too. Even worse, many falsely claim Taiwan part of China since the beginning of human history LMAO. There're actually European genes running in my family blood that's verified by my kid's blood test. Taiwan still has some European relics left from centuries ago.

  • @somebody: I'm glad you understand the BWS hype now😀 I was thinking about it the other week and I think another thing that makes Sunjae in Lovely Runner so appealing is that aside from his looks, he has an actual personality. In a lot of these types of romance dramas, the girl always falls for the male lead with the cold personality and poker face but we quickly realise that Sunjae is the opposite of that.

    • I finally wrapped up Lovely Runner. Woohoo! BWS did not impress me until halfway through LR. My attention in the first few eps were all to Kim Hye Yoon. BWS was just there waiting KHY to save him LMAO. Besides, his visuals aren't up my alley TBH. But I found his acting was more consistent than KHY from the beginning to the end, so was his character, Sun-Jae. KHY was still the focus of the story and she was decent with very strong chemistry with BWS. But at some points I was annoyed by her high-pitched voice and deer in the headlights look when she was shocked. LOL. She is a lovely actress and I like her natural look. She looks charming with specific hairstyles from certain angles Nonetheless, I think BWS had more charisma on screen in LR than KHY. Yes, I finally got all the hype around him. LOL. This is one case where I could be biased about an actor without watching the whole drama. I admit it.

    • @somebody , if you like actress Seo Ye Ji , i liked Save me and for an easy watch Lawless lawyer in which she plays with Lee Jun Ki.

    • @cahil, I started Lawless Lawyer. The plot doesn't seem as complicated as other legal dramas but I really like both LJK and SYJ in there. Plot-wise, I like One Dollar Lawyer better but the FL isn't up my alley. I'll watch ODL for NGM.

      @Sunny, I'm in the mood to watch more romance after C drama the Double and Lovely Runner but can't find another one interesting for me to watch. My mood for romcom and melo usually pretty short lived. LOL.

    • @Somebody: I agree about One dollar Lawyer female lead. Apparently, she was chosen by Nam Goong Min because he liked working with her on his previous drama 'The Veil'.

      I need to watch The Double as I keep hearing so much about it! Let me know if you have any recommendations. It's very rare I find a romance drama I actually enjoy tbh. That's why LR was such a pleasant surprise for me!😊

• First time seeing news on a drama that’s not an adaptation but has no writer or PD attached. That’s odd but excited nonetheless. Taming that till we hear more but one thing is certain - NGM has a great eye for scripts.

• If melo romance means melodrama, I’m in. It’s been a while since Korea got it right with the genre. If it’s “healing” however, that’s dicey. To me that just means boring af. But let’s see. Oh and I hope they get an actress who can act but also with a sane fanbase.

• In my eyes, this man can do no wrong. Aside from being undeniably talented, I trust this man's ability to pick good scripts. I'll always at least check out his dramas/movies. Will wait for this

• So I first saw NGM in a movie with my total bias Jo In Sung and Lee Bo Young called 'A dirty carnival' 2006 but he looks nothing like he does today. However I absolutely loved 'My Dearest' part 1 and 2 and I am stoked he won Best Actor at the Baeksang awards this year -well deserved and finally! Anyway I hope he gets an amazing leading lady for this mod rom drama -a suggestion; Honey Lee or Son Ye Jin? Or even Lee Bo Young? The ladies are all happily married with children so I guess at least we won't have any shipping wars lol.

• Sorry I was meant to add HA JI WON to the list as well.