Girl group Gugudan’s Kim Se-jung has been confirmed as School 2017’s new lead heroine, the role that Kim Yoo-jung (Moonlight Drawn By Clouds) was originally offered. However, Kim Yoo-jung’s agency, SidusHQ, announced that she decided to decline, and while that’s too bad, the School series does have a history of giving rookies a chance to become breakthrough stars. Some notable School alumni who got early starts in this franchise include Jang Hyuk, Bae Doo-na, Kim Rae-won, Jo In-sung, and Ha Ji-won.
This upcoming season tells the coming-of-age story about the complicated and secretive lives of 18-year-old high school students who are more often called by their school rank than their real names. Despite their frustrations, they find out how to make their own way in this world that seems to be a stagnant cycle of school and home.
School 2017 will be Kim Se-jung’s debut drama project, although she’s been active in many variety and music programs as a popular idol member. Her character’s name is Ra Eun-ho, an optimistic cheerful girl who has kept her place as rank six of 280 students at her high school, solely to fulfill her dream of becoming a campus couple with her college-age crush.
The character has a unique talent for drawing web comics, which is the major she wants to pursue at university. One day, while trying to find a new inspiration for her comics, she somehow is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and gets marked as a delinquent student. Then begin all her adolescent-life struggles that are explored throughout the drama. The production team for School 2017 said that Kim Se-jung was chosen for her naturally bright personality and vivacious energy, which made her a perfect match for Ra Eun-ho.
Directed by PD Park Jin-seok (Naked Fireman), KBS Monday-Tuesday drama School 2017 will begin in July after Fight My Way finishes its run.