Go Ah-sung’s part-time blues in Radiant Office

by javabeans

Stills are out from the first shoot for MBC’s upcoming Radiant Office, featuring lead actress Go Ah-sung (Heard It From the Grapevine) as a young woman who makes a complete 180 in her life when diagnosed with a terminal illness, transforming her from a timid, down-on-her-luck type into a bolder, take-charge personality. It’s a setup that sounds serious on the surface, but the drama promises to tell a refreshing story, and it sounds like the gratification will come in watching how the diagnosis gives her a newer, freer lease on life.

Go Ah-sung’s character starts out as the familiar Candy-with-a-zillion-jobs, going from one part-time gig to another: convenience store, restaurant, parking lot—she does them all. She’s so dejected by the constant rejections from full-time jobs that she attempts to end her life, winds up in the hospital, and discovers her illness. Shortly thereafter, she gets a temporary office job in a marketing department and, armed with her new attitude, she’ll navigate the new surroundings alongside fellow rookies, quirky co-workers, and uptight bosses.

These stills from the initial shoot are from the character’s pre-office life, working at a snack shop where she gets whacked in the head with a roll of kimbap. She looks alternately morose and indignant in the scene, and it’s enough to get me excited for the turnaround when she decides that life’s too short to be bossed around all the time.

Below, we also have photos from the drama’s recent script reading, featuring the primary cast which includes, in addition to Go Ah-sung, Ha Suk-jin (1% of Anything) playing a prickly manager (of course—you expect him to play uptight at this point, though I’d love to see him go against type one of these days). Lee Dong-hwi (Entourage) and Hoya (Mask) play Go Ah-sung’s fellow rookie employees who have opposing personalities; Lee Dong-hwi gets underestimated because he has no specs to speak of, though he does have a pure romantist’s heart, while Hoya has the perfect specs that somehow haven’t carried him into a sterling career.

Jang Shin-young (Twinkle Twinkle My Heart) plays a strict manager and working mom, while Han Sun-hwa (Rosy Life) will use her feminine wiles and aegyo skills to her advantage in the office. Oh Dae-hwan (Shopping King Louis) will no doubt put in another great turn making an annoying character amusing, playing an assistant manager whose work habits rely on kissing up to superiors and passing work off to others.

All in all, sounds like a diverse mix of characters, and uplifting workplace comedies seem to be popular these days, so I’ll be hoping this series will be satisfying and funny. It’s probably a good thing it won’t be competing directly with current workplace comedy Chief Kim—at least not for long, since there’ll be a couple weeks where they overlap. Radiant Office follows MBC’s current Wednesday-Thursday series, Missing 9, and premieres in mid-March.

Via IS Plus, Star News

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