Lee Min Ho Saves ‘Faith’ with Casting Decision

Lee Min Ho Saves ‘Faith’ with Casting Decision

  

Lee Min Ho proved that he has the power to save any drama from floundering.

Lee Min Ho recently confirmed he would be appearing in the upcoming SBS drama Faith in August for a small screen comeback.

What’s notable is that Faith was drama that was shunted from channel to channel for three years.

Ever since 2010, director Kim Jong Hak’s Faith had sent out offers to Lee Joon Gi, Song Seung Hun and Kang Ji Hwan for the lead role, but because the 3D medical drama seemed too extravagant, production continued to be delayed. As casting for the male lead became tangled, Kim Hee Sun, who chose to act as the female lead, had to push back her small screen comeback for three years along with the drama.

Kim Hee Sun had waited for Faith since its beginnings, but the drama was unable to settle down due to the lack of a proper male lead, making it wander between MBC and SBS.

At this, the producers continued to send in love calls for Lee Min Ho, and at news that Lee Min Ho had finally taken up the offer, SBS confirmed it would give Faith a time slot.

Lee Min Ho was favored by SBS’ drama division as he had led the success of City Hunter last year, and had won the Best Acting Award at the year-end drama awards. From Boys over Flowers to Personal Taste and City Hunter, Lee Min Ho continuously boasted an ability to gather interest and viewership ratings, pitching drama production companies in a war to get Lee Min Ho to appear in their dramas.

Thus in the eyes of Kim Jong Hak Production, Lee Min Ho is truly a savior for the much-maligned drama.

A rep from Lee Min Ho’s agency Starhaus said, “The new synopsis with scriptwriter Song Ji Na was better than the original Faith synopsis. It also gained trust in that it was a collaborative piece between Song Ji Na and director Kim Jong Hak, who produced the hits Hourglass and The Legend.”

Lee Min Ho also said, “As soon as I read the script, I became so absorbed that I instantly read through to the sixth episode. I usually like traditional dramas, and I was considering appearing in one for a change in image, so it’s like I met a suit of armor that fit me perfectly. I wanted to try working with people I always looked up to,” showing his ‘faith’ in the writer and director.

Faith is a fusion period piece that talks of how a warrior from the Goryeo Dynasty and a female doctor from the present come together to bring up a king that cures all his people. The drama is set in King Gong Min’s time, and Lee Min Ho will be playing Choi Young of the King’s personal guard, a man who later becomes the famed General Choi Young.

The piece will feature Song Ji Na’s brand of realistic settings with fast-paced thrill, detective work and humor, as Choi Young’s cold charms and Eun Soo’s (Kim Hee Sun) unpredictable ways are expected to come together in a comical combination. It’s also interesting how Kim Hee Sun will approach her love relationship with Lee Min Ho, who is younger than her, just like Han Ga In did in MBC’s The Sun and the Moon.

Faith will start airing in August following Ghost, which stars So Ji Sub and Lee Yeon Hee.

CJ E&M enewsWorld Lee, InKyungTranslation Credit : Erika Kim

source: http://www.enewsworld.com/enews/contents.asp?idx=5049

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