Seo Ji-hoon, Noh Jong-hyun, Ahn Ji-ho
Upcoming drama Youth has announced its casting lineup of fresh-faced youngsters: Seo Ji-hoon (Men are Men), Noh Jong-hyun (Old School Intern), Ahn Ji-ho (Nobody Knows, House of Us), Seo Young-joo (Nobody Knows), Kim Yoon-woo, Jung Woo-jin (Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned), and Jeon Jin-seo (A Couple’s World). The drama tells the story of how these different youths mature through adversity and become a seven-member band.
Based on the stories from the BTS Universe (a fictional alternate reality inspired by the actual K-pop band BTS), the drama Youth will explore the brilliantly shining moments of the boys’ lives. Disclaimer: I have not yet been initiated into the BTS Army, so please bear with me if any BU-related details are incorrect.
Seo Ji-hoon plays a character named Kim Seok-jin, who seems like the perfect son, but he lives in the shadow of his congressman father. When he switches schools, he meets the other boys and begins to express his emotions more freely.
Noh Jong-hyun plays Min Yoon-ki who is the target of many malicious rumors. They say that he killed his own mother by setting fire to his house. He seems aloof, but he’s actually quite warm-hearted. His mother was his entire world, but now he’s left alone with only an old piano for comfort. Jeon Jung-kook approaches him without any prejudice, and they help heal each other’s wounds. Jung-kook will be played by Jeon Jin-seo; he is a depressed character who has an unstable family situation. He can’t seem to feel any happiness and doesn’t see any meaning in life or death.
Ahn Ji-ho is a relatively new face in dramaland, but he’s earned a reputation as a rising Chungmuro talent and he’ll be playing Jung Ho-seok. Despite being abandoned at an amusement park when he was young, Ho-seok is an optimistic, energetic dancing machine. Similarly, Park Ji-min (played by Kim Yoon-woo) always has a bright smile, but his smile hides secrets. Because of his overprotective family, he’s had to deal with so many lies about his childhood that he’s at a point where he has difficulty understanding himself.
Seo Young-joo plays Kim Nam-joon who dreams of having an ordinary life because his life has been so difficult and full of thorns. Although he works multiple part-time jobs, he’s never slipped from the top academic ranking in school thanks to his commitment and sense of responsibility. Finally, Jung Woo-jin plays Kim Tae-hyung, who has many emotional scars due to his alcoholic father. However, he still has hope that his father will beat his addiction and go back to being the gentle dad who threw ball with him, before his mother ran away.
Youth, directed by Kim Jae-hong (My Neighbor’s Wife, Yoo-na’s Street) and written by Kim Soo-jin (Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo), will air sometime in 2024.
Jeon Jin-seo, Jung Woo-jin, Kim Yoon-woo, Seo Young-joo