Actors Ji Jin-hee (Misty, Second To Last Love) and Kang Hanna (Familiar Wife, Just Between Lovers) have been offered parts in a new drama planned for tvN, Designated Survivor.
The drama will be a remake of the American show, ABC’s Designated Survivor, which first aired in 2016. Its second season ended earlier this year and the show was then cancelled by ABC in May. However, thankfully for fans, Netflix picked up the next season and is currently set to release next year.
The original story is a political drama about a character called Tom Kirkman (played by Kiefer Sutherland), a lower level cabinet member, who suddenly becomes President of the United States. He had been named designated survivor at a State of the Union Address when a catastrophe destroys the US Capitol. Among the survivors, Tom is next in the line of succession and, thus, immediately appointed as the next President. The show follows Tom’s presidency in the aftermath of the attack and the complications that arise thereafter.
A Korean remake could be promising as tvN was fairly successful in adapting The Good Wife a few years back. I tuned in more for the acting (I love Jeon Do-yeon) as I never watched the American original. However, I can definitely see myself doing the same for Designated Survivor if Ji Jin-hee signs on. He’s really great at showing restraint while still expressing so much with just his face. Although his last drama, Misty, just ended in March, for some reason it seems really far in the past. I can’t wait to see him in something new! Kang Hanna was more recently in a project as Familiar Wife concluded its run in mid September.
tvN’s Designated Survivor is currently being planned to air in the first half of 2019.
