By now, I am watching the casting of Secret Agent War with all the avidness of a trainwreck-spotter

[dangermousie]

Apparently this is the secondary guy in Secret Agent War:



Name of Hwang Chan Sung. I know nothing of him other than he is (a) an idol (b) born in 1990.

He is supposed to woo Choi Kang Hee as Joo Won's rival.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let this sink in.

Choi Kang Hee, born in 1977, and looking every day (and more) her age, was never going to work for me as a love interest for Joo Won, born a decade later. But now she is going to be in a love triangle with someone who is barely out of high school and 13(!!!!!) years her junior?!

You know, CKH. Plain, older than her years, comedian CKH. Not a 30-something goddess like Kim Tae Hee or anything. In a love triangle with a 22-year old and 25-year-old. And playing a deadly sexy secret agent.

Ahahahahahahahahahahhahahaaaaaa the casting people must have been taking some amazing drugs.

Clearly, this drama was thought out with a much younger female lead in mind and somehow they got CKH and never adjusted.

Now I am almost tempted to tune in to see this. This is going to be glorious. Glorious.

Comments

[spunspider.livejournal.com]

i've never seen choi kanghee in anything but lol what is this casting, for this kind of premise it is a terrrrrible idea. chansung is a hot piece of ass though. he had like a two-sec cameo in dream high.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Seriously, that is insane casting for that premise. I mean, if the drama was some sort of artsy study of older woman- younger man relationships and their stigma or a zany romcom about a secretary schooling two immature spoiled chaebol heirs (sort of like Protect the Boss) with much younger men, or even a sageuk where any age difference either direction would not surprise me, I might still not care for it but it would at least make sense and not elicit an utter wtf!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Choi Gang-Hee can look good with great effort and if the make-up artists are good. If TPTB for this new drama wanted an older actress they should have gotten Kim Hee-Seon, or Ha Ji-Won or Kim Ha-Neul who all look beautiful for their age and I can actually imagine a 20plus guy falling for them.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Exactly. For me to believe two good-looking way younger guys would fall for her, she has to be someone who looks like Ha Ji Won or Kim Hee Sun or Soo Ae or Kim Ha Neul. There is no lack of gorgeous 30+ actresses in kdramas. Why they picked CKH is beyond me.

[(Anonymous)]

i'm curious as to how a drama with joo won ended up with CKH?
His careers on fire post gakistal so how come they couldn't find even a semi respectable actress close to his age to act with him?

Is it because its a remake?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

This is severely bizarre to me, agreed

[mszesty.livejournal.com]

I love spy dramas. LOVE them. So you can imagine my dismay at this news. Joo Won is this fantastic, dynamic actor who kills every scene he's in and this is the best they could do for his costars?!?! Oh well, guess I'll have to wait for IRIS 2.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've written this off and am waiting for IRIS2.

[algelic.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHA all the news regarding this drama sound like terrible jokes. Can you spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R? xD

Mark my words Mousie... I'm betting Joo Won will quit the drama before it airs due to some "accident" (truth: coming to his senses, saving his career).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hope he quits! To come off Gaksital to star in what promises to be a genuine disaster is not good.

Also, not only is secondary guy 22, he is an idol with little acting experience. That just piles on, on top of everything else wrong with this drama.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

unless new dude is Lee Min Ho mk. II, the words 'idol' and 'little acting experience' do not bode well for this at all.....

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

But Lee Min Ho was not an idol, so I am afraid it's more likely to be Kin Hyun Joong mark 2 ;)

[algelic.livejournal.com]

The only thing that could make this drama even worse is if they also cast Kim Hyun Joong and Koo Hye Sun. You know... for their "talent"...

[winegums.livejournal.com]

welp it looks like I had it wrong for almost 4 years now, I could have sworn read somewhere that he was a singer....

and Kim Hyun Joong isn't nearly as expressionless in Playful Kiss as he was in BBF, but I will not buy it that his characters are that way and that is what makes him look wooden - especially after watching Joo Ji Hoon play icy repressed prince in two dramas before him and deliver without needing the excuse that it's ok to not emote because his character has trouble with showing feelings.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Nope, LMH is "just" an actor ;)

Oh, KHJ - how I want him to not act again.

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

Oh my. Are they going to use the older woman being a younger-guy magnet thing as a theme, because that's the only way to explain this casting.

I think a lot of how she will look depends on makeup and lighting as well, so, you know.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am basically skipping this one 100% because there is no way this will work for me.

[village.livejournal.com]

So Choi Kang Hee was actually chosen? That wasn't just a rumour? Oh God. Like, how do you cast Joo Won in such a promising role and then totally shit the bed with the rest of the cast? I won't judge something before actually seeing it because it could still be great but I'm genuinely scared of it being a complete disaster.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes she was. Not enough WTF in the world.

I am skipping this entirely.

[(Anonymous)]

Just looking at the picture,the first thing that popped into my head was..."So that's what happened to Michael Jacksons glove!"
If I was the one who was giving Joo Won advice on his career, I'd tell him to get out of this NOW! Even if he has to break his own leg!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOLOLOL yes to every word

[hanjae.livejournal.com]

Oh god, Chansung?! He was in Kaito Royale, where he was required to do nothing but look cool (he did that well enough), but acting chops? I desperately want to be proven wrong, but all I can imagine in my head is CKH being wooed by him and her just cracking up in his face. I mean, really?

I'm now hoping that Joo Won would drop out of this so that I won't feel obliged to give this a go. I don't have a problem with CKH herself (aside from her incredibly manly voice, which ruins whatever romantic images you can conjure up with her costars), but my head breaks whenever I try to think of her paired with Joo Won and it gets increasingly hilarious when you throw Chansung into the picture. Oh, what could have been...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I really hope this is all a huge practical joke but alas...

[fishncake.livejournal.com]

Harboring hopes for frenemies/bromance btwn Joo Won & Chansung instead.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Slashing the two is probably the only way I can survive.

[(Anonymous)]

Although this is weird casting, but I think I can take it because tvn's "I Love Lee Tae Ri" is the most disturbing to me by far.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh God, that was creeptastic beyond belief. I almost managed to forget it :)

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry for reminding you about it. I need to scrub it off my brain. Just wish I never accidentally stumbled on it and knew of its existence. Lol.

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

I remember reading interviews of Joo Won in which he said he wanted to play a character his age and that had a sweet romance for a change. Somehow, I don't think things turned out the way he expected.

Fact is, Secret Agent War is no longer the drama he signed up for since the script had to be somewhat altered because of CKH.

But I don't think there's any way in hell he's in a position to pull out. He's still too much of a newbie to "survive" intact and, from watching him in 1N2D, I don't think it would be in his nature anyway.

Best case scenario would be that CKH herselfs gives up but I don't think that's likely either. It boggles the mind but Korean netizens are super excited at the thought of watching her together with Joo Won.

And now this casting news.... Yeah.... I do like JW a lot and was very impressed by his performance in Gaksital but there's no way I'm wasting my time on this trainwreck in the making.

[(Anonymous)]

So the KHS/LMH pairing had gotten way more flack in Korea than this pairing?

It boggles the mind.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I do NOT get Korean netizens - it's funny, in the international fandom, the reaction to this is 99% negatuve.

I am skipping this. It's going to be the first Joo Won drama I am skipping, but no way...not even for JW,

[(Anonymous)]

Korean netizens are soooooooo weird. That's just putting it lightly.

[leslie (from livejournal.com)]

reading this, they shouldve casted Go Hye Sun as the main lead lol

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes. I never thought I'd say this, but YES.

[sisterjune.livejournal.com]

and here when I saw this picture I thought you were going to write about how this boy has a striking resemblance to Matsujun lol. Oh wait a minute, I just checked his name again...thats chansung from 2pm! XD Haha he actually doesnt always look as young and delicate as he does in this pic. He's got a big fit body like the rest of 2PM ie he looks like a grown man lol. (which technically he is a grown man but you know there's so many delicate pretty faced idol guys out there that look deceptively young so) I dunno if that helps u any tho lol. Frankly I'm more offended Chansung's casting cause I cant stand 2PM. They couldnt have picked one of those cuties in Infinite? at least 3 or 4 of them can do acting decently enough! *ahem* anyway. I remain unfazed by all of this. and I actually dont care when plain janes or older women or plain jane older women get hot dudes because why not? Yeah its maybe not super believable but it DOES happen in real life sometimes and even if it never did isnt it nice for a woman to have that fantasy? So many ugly/old/fat guys etc get to have the fantasy of the gorgeous young woman being in love with them or marrying them via films and television (admittedly this happens more in western tv but it does happen in kdramas too) come true so to speak so why not women too? I mean the only thing I'd be concerned with is whether CKH can play her role well. and I think they cast her because of her comic chops, they prob want her character to be more funny than sexy (altho u CAN be both imo) but anyway I'll withhold judgement till I see the drama (this reminds me of my sister being rly grossed out by Ben/Leslie ship on Parks and Rec which is an american sitcom dunno if u watch it or even like sitcoms lol. But its basically Amy Poehler and Adam Scott, they both do comedy roles usually but Adam is younger and more conventionally attractive than Amy, so my sis didnt get the pairing but she also never watches the show and if you do they are actually an excellent match and Amy's character Leslie is so amazing and funny and vibrant like it would make less sense if everyone DIDNT fall in love with her frankly. But anyway I mention this cause while I dont think CKH has the charm of Amy Poehler she might be able to make her character charming and lovable enough that it makes sense why Joo Won falls for her at some point even if she's not super pretty or his age)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ehhh, I am allergic to stories with ugly older men being a chick magnet too (every Kevin James movie ever made).

I do want my stories to at least be emotionally realistic and to have two really young guys going for a much older plain woman breaks my belief meter. I might have been better with it if it wasn't a sexy spy mileau. When I think of sexy spies, I think of the actors in IRIS franchise, not Choi Kang Hee (who I admittedly dislike. I'd not like her in this drama if her leading man was her age, either).

[jennyhime.livejournal.com]

I'm seriously baffled over this casting, I have no problems with Choi Kang Hee she's quirky, funny and a good actress but yes looks very much her age so I would have imagined her being maybe a mentor to the one of the main characters.
Of course they might have great chemistry together but yeah this casting is very confusing.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

This just seems completely incomprehensible to me.