SBS‘s new drama The King: Eternal Monarch, starring Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun, is under controversy after it was revealed the drama removed an actor from their role without notice, simply because the script changed.
According to an exclusive report from Market News, the production team of The King: Eternal Monarch failed to keep their promise made with an actor who was initially cast in the drama. The actor’s casting and participation in the drama was changed without any prior discussion or notice. Instead, the drama’s production team decided to remove the actor without notice. The actor’s time spent preparing for their role was wasted. The reason for the change was due to the changing of the script, so the actor had to be changed too.
For an actor, it is an opportunity of a lifetime to be cast in such a hyped drama. Regardless of the size or importance of the role, the actor spent a lot of time preparing for their role. With such a once in a lifetime opportunity, the actor did not reach out to other works, in order to focus on The King: Eternal Monarch.
Unfortunately, this situation is not uncommon for the drama industry. Such cases are frequent and ends up resulting in psychological damage to the affected actors. Many actors who are trying to get their foot in the industry are afraid of being back-stabbed by the producers. Even if they get a promise to appear in a drama, there is already a crack in the idea of trust.
The King: Eternal Monarch is scheduled to begin airing on April 17. It is a story about a Korean emperor, Lee Gon (played by Lee Min Ho) who tries to shut the doors to a parallel world opened by demons and a detective, Jung Tae Eul (played by Kim Go Eun) who tries to protect the people she loves.
In response to the report, The King: Eternal Monarch stated that they would be looking into the report.
We are currently looking into the report about the casting controversy.
— The King: Eternal Monarch production team
The drama is written by Kim Eun Sook, famous for her numerous hit dramas such as Mr. Sunshine, Goblin, Descendants of the Sun, The Heirs, and Secret Garden. It is directed by Baek Sang Hoon, who directed School 2015, Descendants of the Sun, and Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, as well as Jeong Ji Hyun, who directed WWW.
You can watch the 2nd preview for the drama below:
