Casting has been a bit chaotic for the remake drama Absolute Boyfriend, which has tossed around a number of different names before finally settling down and confirming that the new series will be headlined by Yeo Jin-gu (Reunited Worlds) and Girl’s Day’s Minah (Beautiful Gong Shim), with Hong Jong-hyun (The King Loves) in a supporting role. (At one point Chun Jung-myung and Song Ji-hyo were in contention, but they’re no longer in the mix.)
That means dramaland’s robot trend will be continuing for the foreseeable future, as Yeo Jin-gu joins Seo Kang-joon (Are You Human Too) and Chae Soo-bin (I’m Not a Robot) in playing a TV android. This project actually pre-dates the others by a while; I’ve heard rumblings of a Korean version of Absolute Boyfriend for years, although it’s never made it out of development hell (remember when the title was courting Kim Haneul and T.O.P?). The original property was a manga with the same (translated) name, also known as Zettai Kareshi, which was made into the Japanese drama series in 2008 starring Hayami Mokomichi and Aibu Saki. In 2012, a Taiwanese version was also made, called Absolute Darling and starring Jiro Wang and dramaland’s own Gu Hye-sun.
Yeo Jin-gu has confirmed taking on the lead role of “Yeong-gu” aka “Zero Nine,” a robot with a warm heart (what?) who falls into a “sweet and electric romance” with a human woman whose heart has become frozen because of painful past experience with love. Of course they would be opposites, and of course the dynamic is set up in the way that defies nature. K-dramas, I love you, never change.
Hong Jong-hyun will play the role originally offered to Chun Jung-myung, a top star named Ma Wang-joon who harbors a pain of his own. The only person to really understand it is the sisterly stylist played by Ha Jae-sook (On the Way to the Airport, Birth of a Beauty), who cleans up Wang-joon’s messes, humors him, and soothes his temper when necessary.
Absolute Boyfriend will be directed by PD Jung Jung-hwa of Flower Boy Next Door and written by Yang Hyuk-moon of Mirror of the Witch. Those credentials are solid, and I’m generally onboard with the casting, although the one that has me most curious (and an itty bit concerned) is Minah, who is adorable when she’s playing warm-hearted, bubbly, very human characters. We’ll see how she’ll do playing cold and professional.
The drama was once looking at a run on OCN, but that has since fallen through. It will be entirely pre-produced and aims to begin filming in July.