“Beauty Inside” confirms Lee Min Ki, Seo Hyun Jin, Ahn Jae Hyun and Lee Da Hee

I could not be any more excited by this news.  Lee Min Ki and Seo Hyun Jin’s new drama “Beauty Inside” has just signed on Ahn Jae Hyun and Lee Da Hee for the secondary leads and begun shooting.  The drama is planned to air September 17, which is much earlier than expected too. (Update 09/17/18: drama was postponed until October 1)

Based loosely on a movie by the same name, “Beauty Inside” is the complex tale of a top actress forced to spend one week out of every month in a different body, and a man without the ability to recognize people’s faces.

Characters:

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Han Se Kye, Seo Hyun Jin(Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim), is a woman forced to change faces for one week each month. She is a notorious troublemaker who is surrounded by rumors.  But she is also an accomplished actress who is capable of portraying her roles with great variety.  (No doubt thanks to her time spent looking like different people.)  In fact, her viewers call her the “actress with a hundred faces,” although not because they know her condition, but because of her varied acting.  However, her world changes the day she meets a man with his own secret.

Seo Do Jae, Lee Min Ki(Because This Is My First Life), is an executive at an airline company with a dark secret.  He is blessed by all the most desirable traits: good looks, high intelligence, and sexy height(because Lee Min Ki.  duh.)  However, he suffers from prosopagnosia, a disorder which prevents him from recognizing people by their appearance.  Because of his condition, he focuses intently on learning people’s mannerisms and other details to help identify them.  His constant focus on these details has made him highly perfectionistic.  Ironically however, he is able to recognize Han Se Kye.

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Kang Sa Ra, Lee Da Hee(Queen of Mystery 2), is Seo Do Jae’s step-sister.  Like Han Se Kye, she is an already accomplished actress, but this doesn’t satisfy her.   Particularly, she feels threatened by Han Se Kye’s fame, so she tries doggedly to uncover her rival’s secret.

Ryu Eun Ho, Ahn Jae Hyun(Reunited World) is Han Se Gye’s closest friend.  A priest in training, he is a calm rock in the storm for Han Se Gye.  When rash Kang Sa Ra tries to unveil Han Se Gye’s secret, he wants to protect his friend.  However, even this potential priest can’t resist Kang Sa Ra’s charm and feels himself falling for her.

Writing/Directing Team:

Perhaps the most exciting part of this drama is the writing and directing team.  Writing will be Im Meari, one of the writers for Descendants of the Sun.  She has also worked with Kim Eun Sook on some her earlier projects.  I feel so safe that this writer will create a memorable, competent, and interesting story for us.

Interestingly, the PD for “Beauty Inside” is none of other than Song Hyun Wook, the PD for “Oh Hae Young Again” another drama starring Seo Hyun Jin.  Song Hyun Wook’s dramas always have a bright atmosphere and sensitive humor which should translate well with this story.  And although Song Hyun Wook has had as many misses (Revolutionary Love, My Shy Boss) as hits (Marriage Not Dating, Oh Hae Young Again,) I have always believed the misses were the fault of the writers and not his.  

Drama vs. Movie:

Aside from the basic premise, most of the storyline of “Beauty Inside” has been changed from the original.  In the movie the man changed every single day when he slept and never had the same face twice.  But in the drama it is the woman changes and only for one week each month before going back.  I can understand the need for the change.  Casting several dozen leads for a two-hour movie is far more doable than casting several hundred leads for a sixteen hour drama.  Plus, I think having a single actress that we return to may anchor the character in viewers’ minds — although that may be missing the point of the story entirely.

Also, in the movie the male lead was a furniture designer and the female was a furniture saleswoman.  While in the drama the female lead will be an actress and the male will be an airline director.  This change I find entirely ironic.  In the movie there is a scene where the female lead asks a friend if she believes a person who changes faces every day could exist.  To which the friend replies, “Of course!  Look at the actors and actresses.  They change faces every day.”  Ironic.

Thoughts:

I’m curious how the writer is going to adapt the movie’s plot to a full length drama.  The plot in the movie was very sparse and built entirely on the premise of his changing faces.  For a full-length drama they will need to add a lot of secondary storylines if they are going to get enough story out of it.  Although, I think they have a good start by changing the lead’s professions.  Since in the drama the male lead was a reclusive furniture designer, he didn’t have to face many personal obstacles with people not recognizing him.  Having this new version be a high-profile actress adds an element of danger which could be both intense and hilarious.

The original movie “Beauty Inside” was a deliciously beautiful story of love without limits.  Surprisingly, it placed its focus on the struggles not of the man who changed faces but on the woman who loved him and how difficult it was for her to love someone who was never the same twice.  It was an interesting perspective which really made us consider how we ourselves change, so I sincerely hope that the drama adaptation doesn’t loose the focus of the original.

In any case, this drama is going to the top of my “want to watch” list.

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[Sources: Herald Pop, Korea Daily, Asianwiki, Soompi, Dramabeans]