Kim Young-ok, Won Mi-kyung
Man, I feel like this show is determined to have me drown in my own tears. The remake of Noh Hee-kyung’s 1996 drama The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World has recently confirmed a time slot, as well as a director and some key cast members. I’m both ecstatic and slightly nervous to announce that there’s several Dear My Friends reunions in the mix of updates. Ecstatic because that show was heartbreakingly good, but also slightly nervous because of the level of emotions the drama wrung out of me.
Due to the strike over at MBC, The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World had to find a new station, and tvN has added the remake to its winter lineup. It’s somewhat unfortunate, because it would have been nice to see the station that aired the original house the new remake. But I can’t complain, because that also means PD Hong Jong-chan, who helmed Noh Hee-kyung’s most recent drama Dear My Friends, will be directing the remake, making this a reunion of sorts.
PD Hong isn’t the only Dear My Friends alum, either: Kim Young-ok will be starring in The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World as the mother-in-law to the main character, who has Alzheimer’s. She was actually part of the original cast—and in this same role for that matter—in the 1996 drama, and it’s kind of insane to think she’s going to play the same character 21 years later.
Actress Won Mi-kyung (All’s Well With a Happy Home) will play the lead character in the show, a wife and mother diagnosed with late-stage terminal cancer who has devoted her entire adult life to her ungrateful family. Originally played by another Noh Hee-kyung favorite, Na Mun-hee, Won Mi-kyung will be the emotional center of this show, and her diagnosis serves as a wake-up call to her family, bringing them together for the first time.
The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World will follow Revolutionary Love in the Saturday-Sunday slot on tvN, which places its premiere in December. I’ll just get started amassing my supply of tissues ‘til then.