Character stills from Flames of Ambition

Yoo Seung-ho has certainly grown up — or at least his image has — for his latest role. He plays husband to Seo Woo in the upcoming MBC weekend drama Flames of Ambition, which used to be called A Woman Only Loves Once In Her Life. In a nutshell, the drama explores the themes of greed, power, and ambition in one family, though we could have figured from the title.
You can’t talk about the pairing of the young couple without taking note of the ages (and age gap) of the stars; Yoo Seung-ho just turned 17, still a minor, while Seo Woo, despite her young face, is 25. Seo Woo plays an actress who has simultaneously the most anti-fans and the most die-hard fans, who’s on the fast track to success. Yoo plays the son to Jo Min-ki and is described as a warm, good-hearted guy.

But the main star of the show is Shin Eun-kyung (love her!), last seen in White Lie, who plays an ambitious woman who’s capable of doing “whatever it takes” to get what she wants. Described as a chameleon, the character can run both hot and cold depending on what she wants at the moment, making her a force to be reckoned with. I don’t doubt she can pull it off; already she looks like a different person in the stills below — I didn’t even recognize her at first glance as the same actress from Mom’s Dead Upset, Bad Couple, and My Wife Is a Gangster.

Other cast members include Lee Soon-jae, Kim Byung-ki, and Lee Hyo-choon. Flames of Ambition will premiere on October 2.

Via OSEN

Yoo Seung-ho gets villainous for Warrior Baek Dong-soo

My interest level in upcoming fusion sageuk Warrior Baek Dong-soo just shot up about a million points with the addition of Yoo Seung-ho, aka Little So Ji-sub, aka Korea’s Little Brother, aka poster boy for the Inappropriate Crushes on Much Younger Men Club.
The Joseon-era drama will feature its martial arts angle pro
minently, which’ll come into play as the secret group planning the assassination of King Jeongjo clashes with Jeongjo’s team of bodyguards. Yoo Seung-ho will play Yeo-woon, a core member of the secret organization, an assassin who’s a master of swordsmanship, archery, horseback riding, and martial arts.

Interestingly, Yoo was reportedly offered the lead role of Baek Dong-soo but chose to play Yeo-woon instead, and the Dong-soo role has since gone to Ji Chang-wook (Smile Dong-hae, Sons of Sol Pharmacy). It’s a little surprising at first glance because even at 17 years old, Yoo is a much bigger star than 23-year-old Ji, who’s just starting to make his name known. One would automatically expect that Yoo would take the hero’s role and Ji would play second fiddle.
However, according to one source with the drama, the Yeo-woon role is “a character appealing enough to even surpass Baek Dong-soo,” which makes it not unlike Go Hyun-jung’s awesome Mi-shil in Queen Seon-deok. A rep with Yoo’s side said, “Yoo Seung-ho decided that as an actor, the villainous Yeo-woon role would be a big help in expanding his acting range, which is why he chose to take it.”
A male Mi-shil? Yoo Seung-ho playing a sword-wielding, ass-kicking, secret-harboring bad guy? Preferably all scruffed up, shaggy-haired, and wearing lots of black? Yes, yes, YES please! I’m picturing him pulling a Yoo Ah-in as the dark assassin in 2008′s (mediocre, sadly) fusion fighting sageuk Strongest Chil-woo — and I’d like to take this moment to tell y’all that I TOLD YOU SO. You’re welcome.
So, in short: Ji Chang-wook is the noble good guy defending the king, and Yoo Seung-ho is the mysterious baddie plotting to kill him. Two beautiful boys, going at it with swords and fists and all manner of fighting techniques. Yup, this one’s on my list.
Warrior Baek Dong-soo plans to air in July on SBS.

Ji Chang-wook

Via Yonhap News

Yoo Seung-ho back in uniform for iRiver

Yoo Seung-ho may be playing a few years older than his age in his current drama Flames of Desire (his first adult role), but he goes back to school for his new shoot advertising iRiver mp3 players. In fact, he looks like he’s stepped right out of his 2010 drama God of Study, where he played a wayward high school senior buckling down in a special class to attempt to get into the nation’s top university.

For those viewers of Flames who are currently trying to forget that Yoo Seung-ho is only 17, I’m not sure this ad campaign is going to help neutralize that Inappropriate Crush on a Much Younger Man. Not that that’s a bad thing…

Flames of Desire broadcasts on Saturdays and Sundays, and recently enjoyed a little surge in ratings once Secret Garden bowed out; I think it’s safe to expect its numbers to keep growing from here on out.
Ah, they grow up so fast… (and yet not fast enough?)

Via SSTV

Kim Haneul and Yoo Seung-ho wrap Blind

Happy faces abound on the set of upcoming summer thriller Blind, as the three-month shoot comes to an end. Kim Haneul (Road No.1) stars as a blind woman who witnesses a murder, and Yoo Seung-ho (Flames of Desire) plays the other witness who gets dragged into her plot to solve the murder.
What kind of witness solves a murder themselves, you ask? The kind who used to be a cop, or rather, an almost-cop, before the accident that blinded her for life. Because she learned to live without sight, her other senses are heightened, which becomes a key factor in how she goes about solving the case. Yoo Seung-ho plays a punk who gets dragged in despite his great unwillingness to help, but soon becomes her eyes when the two face danger on the case.


It’s actually more action-oriented than you’d think, for a story revolving around a blind woman, but Kim is no stranger to the action blockbuster. The trailer below looks delightfully tense, as she uses her other heightened senses to get closer to the killer, at her own greatly increasing peril. At the end she says in voiceover: “This isn’t the first time you’ve killed, is it?” Chills. I knew it was a thriller going in, but I was still surprised and happy at the tone of the teaser, which sets up a dark game of cat and mouse. The poster below is the tagline for the film: “I am a witness to a murder.” Hm, one noona-killer sidekick to catch a real killer is great and all, but let’s hope she’s also got lady luck on her side.
Kim Haneul said, “I have such affection for [this character], so it saddens me the most that I have to send her off.” She even bought Yoo Seung-ho a present on the last day of filming — an electric bicycle, which he’s riding in the photo below. How CUTE is it that his noona bought him a bike? It’s just… PERFECT. I almost wish it had streamers and a little bell. *brrring! brrring!*
Blind is gearing up for a summer premiere.

Via NoCut News