Make way for Cha Joo-young (The Real Has Come) and Lee Hyun-wook (Song of the Bandits) as tvN has pronounced them our Joseon queen and king, setting off the promo procession for The Queen Who Crowns with the sageuk’s first script reading stills and an epic short teaser.
The story delves into a well known piece of history that has been covered many times before, with KBS’s The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won being a recent example. But as suggested by the title, this historical will be shifting the spotlight to make Queen Won-kyung (Cha Joo-young) our central character. The first teaser — with its gorgeous costumes, music, and hints of our queen — sets the stage perfectly.
We’ll thus be following our heroine’s romance with husband Lee Bang-won (Lee Hyun-wook) and as they strive to create a better world together, she helps to place him on the throne. But life in the royal palace is far from peaceful and we’ll be diving into the messy aftermath of what happens once Bang-won becomes Joseon’s third monarch, King Taejong.
As with most sageuks, we can expect a large cast to fill out the world both within and beyond the palace walls and, in supportive roles, we have Lee Yi-dam (Daily Dose of Sunshine) in the role of Chae-ryung, a concubine who used to be Won-kyung’s maidservant. Lee Shi-ah (The Goryeo-Khitan War) takes on the part of another ambitious concubine named Young-shil who notably has a child with the king.
We also have Choi Deok-moon (Chief Detective 1958) and Park Yong-woo (Tracer) playing government officials, while Park Ji-il (Hide) plays Won-kyung’s dad. The long lineup includes So Hee-jung (Family by Choice) and Hwang Young-hee (Queen of Tears) among other talents as well.
Reuniting the Money Game duo, production has PD Kim Sang-ho (Hwajeong) directing with scripts by Lee Young-mi. Beginning the new year in tvN’s Monday-Tuesday slot, The Queen Who Crowns will be premiering on January 6.
