Film ingenue Kim Tae-ri cast opposite Lee Byung-heon for Mr. Sunshine

143 July 6, 2017July 5, 2017

Film ingenue Kim Tae-ri cast opposite Lee Byung-heon for Mr. Sunshine

by javabeans

Interesting choice! The lead actress for star writer Kim Eun-sook’s (The Lonely Shining Goblin, Descended From the Sun) much-anticipated upcoming drama, Mr. Sunshine, has been cast, and it’s a rising film actress making her drama debut, Kim Tae-ri. She’ll be joining longtime industry veteran Lee Byung-heon (Inside Men), giving this TV drama a boost of Chungmuro starpower.

Kim Tae-ri’s acting debut came in the 2015 film Moon Young so she’s very much still a rookie, but she put in an impressive performance in Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden last year, for which she won new actress awards at both the Blue Dragons and the Buil Film Awards. It was very much a star-making turn—I thought she was remarkable as the handmaiden, who provided the eyes through which we entered the bizarre and mysterious world of that movie. And upon further thought, the casting makes sense in that it seems to echo the dynamic that made Goblin such a success, pairing a promising film rookie opposite a familiar leading man with oodles of screen presence.

Mr. Sunshine is set in the late years of the Joseon dynasty in the early 1900s, during the time when Japan was aggressively asserting dominance over its neighbors, particularly Korea (which it annexed in 1910). The human melodrama tells the story of “the righteous army that went unrecorded in history but which must be remembered.” Lee Byung-heon plays one such soldier, who as a child was taken to the United States following the Shinmiyangyo incident of 1871, in which an American expedition turned into armed conflict, resulting in over 200 Korean deaths. He returns as an American soldier to “the country that abandoned him” when he’s stationed in Joseon, and there he meets a young aristocratic lady.

Kim Tae-ri will play the last in the lineage of the prominent aristocratic Go family, which was one of the pillars of the Joseon nation. Kim played a lowly servant who fell in love with the aristocrat’s daughter in The Handmaiden, so it’s fitting that she’ll get to turn the tables and be the aristocrat’s daughter for Mr. Sunshine. (Ironically, her character in this drama is called simply “Aegisshi,” a term referring to a noble young lady that’s a variant of “agasshi,” which is The Handmaiden’s Korean title.)

Sounds ambitious and potentially epic. I have to say I have my reservations about Lee Byung-heon (I think he’s a powerhouse actor but his personal stuff icks me out), but I don’t know if I can stay away from this fighting-for-freedom-against-colonial-overlords storyline, especially since Kim Eun-sook is probably going to rip our hearts out, reduce us to sobs, and make us like it. Mr. Sunshine is being planned for an early 2018 launch.

Via Joongang, Hankook Ilbo

143

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51 Victoria

July 6, 2017 at 6:38 PM

Kim Tae Ri girl, I was so looking forwards to your new projects and you decided on this one, urgh. Please come back soon to Chungmuro, I heard Bong Joon Ho is working on his new movie. :(

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52 Napkiin

July 6, 2017 at 8:49 PM

A sageuk set in late Joseon dynasty written by Kim Eun Sook? Take all my money

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53 cheekbones

July 6, 2017 at 10:03 PM

I dropped DOTS after several episodes because I couldn't stand the over-the-top cheesiness.

I'm watching Goblin at the moment, and I do feel a bit uncomfortable seeing Gong Yoo having romantic feelings for a teenager (I keep grumbling to myself "must she be a high schooler ?").

I'm gonna pass this one.

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54 michykdrama

July 6, 2017 at 11:51 PM

Everyone is bemoaning the casting but I frankly am quite pleased because now I have no interest in the drama whatsoever and therefore won't be embroiled in the nastiness that will unfortunately happen thanks to his reputation and her age being younger than him. Nothing against her, I just don't like her enough to make me watch.

Im mainly fascinated to see if KES can write a story and rise above all this, and prove her critics wrong; or whether this will mark her first unsuccessful kdrama.

Any idea what others dramas will be going up against this Goliath? Maybe Signal writer's Kingdom zombie drama with possibly SJK? That would make for an entertaining ratings war- give KES a run for her money. And make my life easy because I'd know which one I'll be watching.

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55 mariflower

July 8, 2017 at 1:10 PM

I think Kim Taeri is versatile actress who can be compared to a lot of seasoned veterans despite her rookie status so I'm SO excited she's cast in a drama because I thought she would only do films, and very selective ones at that. But...I'm not on board with Lee Byungheon cast as her male co-lead...people are definitely still going to watch this drama because he's still a HUGE name in Korea despite all of his negative reputation, and maybe acting with her will help with his image along the way but I can't shake off their age difference...NINETEEN YEARS

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56 ramonathepest

July 9, 2017 at 5:06 AM

You all are trippin'. I'm assuming most people here are from Western culture. If that's true, I didn't see Brad Pitt's movies being avoided. Or Ben Affleck's. Or Billy Bob Thornton. Or Ms. Man Stealer herself, Angelina Jolie. And many, many...many... others. From what I know of LBH's scandal, he's guilty of flirting. The fact that he didn't actually cheat is why he refused to be blackmailed. I don't approve of married men flirting, but his "scandal" is not enough for me to not watch something that I know I'll probably find enjoyable.

As to Writer Kim, I'm all about her and feel exactly the opposite about the fact that the relationship will be front and center with history as only the backdrop. Remember the American movie Pearl Harbor? No hard facts history lesson there.

Writer Kim is a romance rom-com writer. Why should I expect a full on history lesson? I wouldn't want one and I hope she ignores the criticism. I would hate for her to change her style and bore me with too much history or too much time apart from the romance.

I loved Chicago Typewriter and it made me curious enough to read up on the background of Japanese annexation of Korea. I loved Healer and it inspired me to read up on the uprisings during the '80's (and I finally have the courage to watch Sandglass. But Sandglass, while interesting, is not making me desperate to see the next episode and I know I'll never watch it again unlike Healer or Chicago Typewriter or any of Writer Kim's dramas, especially the fantasies Secret Garden and Goblin and if people want to consider DOTS fantasy, I don't care. I'll probably rewatch it twice before 2017 is over).

How many saeguks do we watch that are built around a couple but use history as merely a backdrop: Scarlet Heart; Oh Jung; Tree with Deep Roots; Shine or Go Crazy; Chuno - heck, too many to list. And half the time, we Westerners have no idea the real history behind the saeguk that we can't stop binge watching and clicking "next episode" (or can't wait for next week's episode).

Until LBH commits an actual crime or actually cheats on his wife, I'm going to continue to push his personal character to the side and enjoy the characters he creates on screen.

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57 midnightmint

July 10, 2017 at 4:12 AM

oh no. The thing that turned me off in goblin was that I felt like the chemistry between gong too and kim go run felt forced, and I thought it was mainly because of the age gap. And this, again. :(

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