Jin Se-yeon did pretty well in the sageuk realm with her last drama, 2016’s MBC weekend series Flower in Prison, and may be heading back to the Joseon era for her next project, having been offered a new project in the works titled Grand Prince, to air on cable channel TV Chosun. The story is centered around one woman who gets caught up in a bloody romance with two princes, which is a familiar setup but can be quite convincing when done well (see: Seven Day Queen).
The drama will tell the story of a man who would kill even his younger brother to have the object of his love, the woman who wants to keep the world at a distance, and the intense desires and pure feelings that they experience. Touted as being more than just a simple good-versus-evil showdown, the drama purports to intertwine the bromance between the royal brothers with both love and hate, and also tell of the fierce rivalry among the women of the royalty in claiming the ultimate position of queen. If that still sounds a little vague to you, it may help you draw a mental picture to know that Grand Prince will be written by the writer of Maids (which offered an upstairs-downstairs look at the lives of servants in great households), Jo Hyun-jung. Directing is PD Kim Jung-min of Princess’s Man and Joseon Gunman—so at the very least, I expect this show will look beautiful.
The role Jin Se-yeon has been offered is that of a young woman beloved by all named Sung Ja-hyun, the daughter of a prestigious government official. She’s so famous for her beauty that she has prospective suitors lined up from all over the country vying for her hand. She’s inherited her scholarly father’s personality; she possesses a strong sense of compassion and righteousness, and tackles things with passion.
I can’t say I’ll ever be thrilled to hear of a Jin Se-yeon casting, since she’s always been dogged with a lot of acting criticism, which in my opinion has been deserved (see: Doctor Stranger, Age of Feeling, Five Fingers, It’s Okay Daddy’s Girl). But Flower in Prison was the first time I heard her acting performance receiving general praise, so she seems to be on the upswing, and I won’t write her off. I’ll wait to hear of the casting of the princes before getting too excited, though!
Grand Prince is aiming for a January 2018 broadcast on TV Chosun.