Taecyeon and Seohyun Cast in Period Romance K-drama First Night with the Duke

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• Sounds fun!
  Just a correction: Taecyeon was never in SM. He was part of JYP's boy group 2PM :)

  • Yes....Not SM but JYP Entertainment. He may have left JYP Entertainment now but he is still part of 2PM.

    • Since SM was notorious to cast looks over (initial) talent and to from their artists through rough and relentless training, he could have been in SM, too. SM also pushed the hardest for their KPop idols to transition into acting at the same time as JYP's Taecyeon did. If I'm not mistaken there where at least CF collaborations between the group Girl's Generation (Seohyun) and group 2PM (Teacyeon). Maybe that's why Taecyeon got mixed up to be with SM by Mrs Koala. Those second generation Kpop idols did alot of cross appearances with other idols.

    • @ejc, That may be so but the likelihood is slimmer as he only went to JYP's audition due to his sister persistent persuasion in US. And it just so happen YJP was running a audition in New York.
      The team liked him, they ask him to flew to South Korea for rest of audition. He stayed with JYP for over 10yrs till 2018.

• I am looking forward to this pairing...hope script is good.

• I can understand the era set up change but there seems to be a million to one webtoons or webnovels from Korea with similar stories so my assumption unless it’s an anime they probably can’t make a live action to replicate said story. Should be interesting how they interpret it.

• This pairing immediately reminded me of Junho-Yoona. I like the premise as long as they don’t complicate it (W - looking at you!). Taec has never been a good actor to me, but I am fond of him anyway lol. Hope it’s good!

  • Same! And it’s not even the 2PM-SNSD connection for me. It’s just rare in recent years to have two idol actors casted as main leads. Acting will be subpar at best as I think even Taecyeon and Seohyun fans know their limits. But it’ll likely be popular on the basis of romance, kpop fans and the premise.

• I’m not confident with adapting western based story into joseon… well I guess it would be difficult bringing that setting into reality in korea

• I don't like neither of them in main lead...

  • Yeah neither can act and are below average. This probably isn't a very high budget drama

• So who's gonna do the acting?

  • Probably a really, really talented actor who is always stuck in supporting roles. I'd nominate Im Joo-eun, but she is now so far gone that she is doing villain roles in daily dramas.

• As somebody who read the webtoon, the casting is not it.

  The female lead Ripley is the cute and petite type. She was originally a supporting character who is in cahoots with the resident villainess. So her overall image is somebody who looks unassuming at first glance but she becomes charming with her spirit and warmth. I actually pictured her as Amybeth McNulty who played Anne in "Anne with an E". I might sound critical but Seohyun has not yet mastered the acting of an everyday heroine who is a slight klutz.

  I know that Taecyeon has challenged himself with his villain role in "Vincenzo", but he definitely isn't the male lead Xerones. The initial impression of Xerones is a cold and unapproachable duke who has risen to his position after surviving many bloody power struggles and is a cunning politician and feared warrior in the battlefield. He was at first interested in the female lead because she was brazen enough to approach him and flirt with him (albeit in a drunken state), but he grows to love her genuinely once he is infected by her liveliness and wit.

  Also personally I think the setting of Joseon has been done to death in historical fiction dramas. Plus, the appeal of the story (and the other novels of the genre "romance fantasy") is the (largely simplified) Western culture and fashion. So it would be more interesting if the story was set in Joseon after Westernization, which would explain the nobles wearing gowns and suits, and how the nobility is more powerful than the royal family.

  • Last drama I saw of taecyeon was the one with kim so hyun about ghost and for seohyun it’s the bdsm movie love and leashes. The image in those is vastly different than the one this story. I agree that the casting isn’t looking good.
    Making the setting after westernization is actually good idea. Most work set in this era is usually in the perspective of rebels so that would be a breath of fresh air

  • @Daymare, do you have any ideal candidates among K actors to be the ML and the FL of this adaptation? I love fantasy romance. There have been very few dramas in this genre though.

    • I personally see "The Matchmakers" co-stars Heo Nam-jun and Jung Bo-min as Xerones and Ripley. The former could sell as the merciless duke who becomes soft-hearted and romantic under Ripley's sunny disposition, and the latter as your everyday heroine who radiates warmth but is also tenacious.

• Nah, this pair isn't the level of Junho-Yoona, not comparable YET or NEVER. Although a 2PM fan, I've never liked the idea of forcing idols into acting. Junho didn't impress me at all until The Red Sleeves. TBH, TRS is the only drama of him in the pivotal roles that has impressed me so far. Junho was so awkward as a shrewd antagonist in Chief Kim. LOL.

  Has anyone done any survey about the success rate for idol-turn acting? Even there are IU, Suzy, Siwan, Junho, and Hyung-sik etc. high profile idols successfully leaving a footprint in the acting department, I'd rather K-ent gives more jobs to good actors other than idols-turned pool. There are many out there whose supposedly leading jobs were robbed by inept idol dolls. I don't have to name those. Such a shame!

  • Agreed. It really is such a shame when there are so many talented actors and actresses who could play these roles 100 hundred times better. I think if there were a survey the success rate for the idol to actor pipeline would be pretty low

  • Ahem, yeah. I hope this blog is not frequently visited by 2PM FD. If this is on twitter, there would already be full FD breakout war.

    I thought 2PM was an old idol group, there won't be any FD wars and imagine full of fans sharing things intimate to them.

    Nada, I think wrong.
    There are at least 1 fight/month between Junho new fans and other members biased Hottests. I have to close my eyes and ears.

    • Talent wise,Junho has this natural acting talent since Cold Eyes.

      Popularity wise, Taecyeon has kind of longevity. (What I mean is everyone from old days know him as 2PM Taecyeon and drama fans have known him since Dream High. )
      Junho may be the most popular member right now, but people see him as a breakout star than a senior.

  • I have to disagree about Junho, I've always thought he was good, I didn't even suspect that he was an idol when watching him in Chief Kim and Just Between Lovers lol, I just thought he was one of those underrated actors always stuck in supporting roles. But we all have our opinions, of course, so I respect yours.

    I do agree that talented actors and actresses should be the first choice in casting instead of idol-actors. So many talented ones who deserve to break out, it's a shame they haven't got the chance yet and some of them probably never will. But to be honest, I don't think casting directors will stop casting idols any time soon, so might as well these idol-actors play supporting roles first. It's no coincidence that the best idol-turned-actors/actresses are those who went through supporting roles first. If idols really want to move to acting, they should start with small roles first, hone their skills, and work their way up once they're skilled enough to play lead roles. If Suzy can improve, so can the others, but they gotta stop using dramas as their practice ground by playing lead roles right away. So many good dramas ruined by an idol's amateur acting as lead lol

    • Haha..Junho was actually my 2PM bias during their hey days. He's been solid as supporting roles. But for crime/legal dramas, I have watched a lot and enough excellent acting of antagonists to say so about him in Chief Kim. His aura just didn't fit that sneaky character. LOL.

      Agreed about using lead roles as idols' practice ground. Suzy had been dinged badly for years until the critically acclaimed drama, Anna. I believe she didn't have to take away FL jobs from many more professional actresses to achieve that excellent review of Anna.

• I like them both as personalities and want to root for them as it gives nostalgia feels from my era of k-pop but honestly if they weren't popular idols neither of them would be getting these main roles. Both of them are weak actors who should stick to supporting roles at best. Seohyun is a snoozefest onscreen and Taecyeon struggles with conveying any kind of subtle emotion.