The lovely Lee Na-young (Runaway Plan B) and noona-killer Lee Jong-seok (While You Were Sleeping) will be starring in tvN’s Romance Is a Bonus Book, which just held its first script reading at the end of last October. PD Lee Jung-hyo of Life On Mars and Good Wife fame and I Need Romance series writer Jung Hyun-jung will be teaming up for this new tvN rom-com. Romance Is a Bonus Book will take place with the backdrop of a publishing company, and will tell the story of people who still make print books.
It’s Lee Na-young’s first television drama after a nine-year hiatus (other than the frequent CF’s), that included her marriage to Won Bin. She’s got a fantastic partner in Lee Jong-seok because that boy can really sell noona-romances with his puppy dog eyes. I Hear Your Voice and W—Two Worlds are but a couple dramas where he blew me away.
Lee Na-young plays an overqualified unemployed writer who pretends to be a high school dropout in order to get a temp job at a publishing agency. There, she meets Lee Jong-seok’s character, the youngest-ever editor-in-chief who is a writing genius.
Amongst the supporting cast are Kim Yoo-mi (Can We Fall in Love?) and Kim Tae-woo (Secret Mother), who each play respectively the cold chic director and a strange but comically funny CEO. Then there’s Jung Yoo-jin (Thirty But Seventeen) who plays the straight-laced member of the Content Creation Team who has been singled out for having the most potential.
Wie Ha-joon (Matrimonial Chaos) plays a man that is gentle but direct with his charisma. Kim Seon-young (Dance Sports Girls) plays a refreshing realist and working mom. Jo Han-chul (100 Days My Prince) plays a hot-blooded senior editor. Then rounding out the cast as maknaes of the publishing house team, there’s Kang Ki-dong (About Time) and Park Kyu-young (The Third Charm). Kang’s character is always at the right place at the right time, while Park’s character is carefree and immature.
Both PD and writer explained that their goal was to have a happy time on set. PD Lee said, “Our goal is to work happily until the end. We want to become a team that will have a hard time parting with smiling faces.” And writer Jung added, “I feel happy to be working with such talented people, and I wish to work happily with everyone until the end.”
The production team were enthusiastic in their praise of Lee Jong-seok and Lee Na-young, saying that they could see why both actors were so successful: “With their unique charisma, they exuded a synergy that was electric and a pleasure to behold,” and “There’s no room for boredom with these actors who really make their characters come alive. The talented actors transformed into these characters with individual personalities, and had a strong dynamic that led to warm laughter and expectation for more varied fun to come.”
tvN’s Romance Is a Bonus Book will air during the first half of next year.
