Min Hyo-rin headlines Mnet music drama

13 November 20, 2014February 5, 2015

by girlfriday

Cable network Mnet’s upcoming music drama Persevere Gu Hae-ra has lined up its main cast, following the initial casting of supporting players earlier in the week. Singer-turned actress Min Hyo-rin (Gone With the Wind) has signed on to headline, and will be returning to her first drama since 2011’s Romance Town. I actually forgot that she was even a singer to begin with, since she’s mostly been an actress in film and television. She’s never truly wowed me in anything, but a teen drama about pop-star hopefuls seems like a natural choice for her, and I can see it being a good fit.

Starring opposite her will be relative newbie actor Kwak Shi-yang, who played the sweet half-brother loner in the weekend family drama Feel-Good Day. He only has one other credit to his name (the movie Night Flight), but I thought he was a whole head above the idol actors he was always sharing scenes with in Feel-Good Day. He earned this part through an open audition at Mnet, and beat the odds to become Persevere Gu Hae-ra’s leading man. Also joining the cast is Seo Min-ji, who played Kim Kang-woo’s ill-fated sister in Golden Cross. She’ll play the second lead, the daughter of an agency president who becomes a successful singer.

The youth music drama will star Min Hyo-rin as the titular Gu Hae-ra, an aspiring singer who doesn’t have the requisite profile to be signed at an agency, who dreams of releasing her father’s posthumous work to the world. She’ll be loved by twin brothers, Kwak Shi-yang and B1A4’s Jinyoung, and the story begins with the three of them entering the reality audition program Superstar K2. Super Junior-M’s Henry, Ulala Session’s Park Kwang-sun, and Yoo Sung-eun (Voice of Korea) costar.

Persevere Gu Hae-ra will premiere in January.

Via Enews24

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1 alua

November 20, 2014 at 3:22 PM

Kwak Shi-yang is brilliant in Night Flight – and he played a very tough role.

'nuff said. (Well, I will add that Night Flight is the best of Leesong Hee-il's films yet.)

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2 RenaLoh

November 20, 2014 at 3:26 PM

yay I'm so happy for KSY! I like him in feel good day :))
I only saw hyo rin in romance town, so I can't say much about her. But I will give this drama a shot (at least for the first 2 eps)!

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3 girlatsea

November 20, 2014 at 3:39 PM

Oh I actually remember Kwak Shi-yang from the little I watched from Glorious Days (maybe one day ill get the time to actually finish it :///)! He definitely had screen presence.

I'm mostly excited for this for B1A4’s Jinyoung. Although, he started acting before Baro he definitely hasn't gotten as much attention for it as Baro. But maybe there are some people who will remember him from Miss Granny.

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Chesquared

November 20, 2014 at 7:26 PM

Baro got lucky when he landed Reply 1994. I think Jiyoung is definately the better actor. He seems much more natural than Baro. I hope he shines in this :)

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naylime

November 24, 2014 at 9:42 PM

I'm very excited for jinyoung as well! I thought he was great in Miss Granny and im hoping he'll be able to showcase more with this role :)

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4 Chesquared

November 20, 2014 at 7:24 PM

Aaah. Really hope this goes well! I like Min Hyo Rin! Lol probably a very unpopular opinion but I enjoyed Triple a lot! ;) my lovely crack drama. Though I have only seen it once.

Never seen Mr. Kwak before in anything but in that picture he looks quite adorable! Can't wait to see Henry and Jiyoung either.

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5 ultramarineblue

November 20, 2014 at 8:25 PM

I actually loved min hyo rin in Sunny so I'm looking forward to this and I love Jinyoung so good news all around!

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6 CrazyRedHairMireu

November 20, 2014 at 9:23 PM

I like MHR in Sunny and Jinyoung in She is Wow and Miss Granny. I'm excited for a new Mnet drama. I hope they end it properly this time because the ending of Monstar was disappointing and didn't match up to the greatness of the first half of the series. And I must be really dirty minded because I keep reading the title as Peverse Gu Hae Ra. Lol which would hint at a whole other kind of drama...

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7 Mina

November 20, 2014 at 9:39 PM

I really liked Jinyoung in she is Wow, crazy drama but hilarious. Looking forward to it.

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8 risa

November 20, 2014 at 10:53 PM

Hmmn. Min Hyo-rin isn't a very strong singer without digital enhancement. Here she is singing live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_6PpwjSRik. She has trouble hitting the high notes and doesn't use her breath properly~ hopefully she'll get some vocal coaching for the drama.

OTOH, I really liked Kwak Shi-yang in Feel Good Day, and I'm keen to see him in a different role.

I hope the music choices for this drama are as wide-ranging as they were in Monstar. I still listen to some of the songs from Monstar~ especially Barami Bunda (Lee Sora).

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Requiem

November 21, 2014 at 9:11 AM

Wow. You're totally right. She's not good at all....

Ugggh, really liked Monstar's first half, and I've thought of a similar storyline for a drama I planned in my mind, but if she's supposed to be a good singer in the drama.... She doesn't even have the presence needed to be a good singer let alone the voice.

Even though the leads in Monstar didn't have great voices either, they used them pretty well, but she just.... ugh....

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9 gogummaa

November 21, 2014 at 12:31 AM

Kwak Shi Yang! Im always wondering why this boy aint getting drama roles. Now this has become exciting for meeee!

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10 bean

November 21, 2014 at 3:25 AM

hah, yeah, i forgot she was a singer before she was an actress, too.

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