Goong/Princess Hours: English Language Casting

So sometimes I watch Korean dramas. And sometimes I develop unhealthy obsessions with them. My favorite is Goong (which means "Palace" but is often referred to as "Princess Hours" in English), and because I am me, I couldn't resist casting an English language version. The plot revolves around a royal family, so I couldn't think of any way to transfer to America. Besides, I love British people! So: a British show it is!



Summary: In an alternate version of Korea that has a constitutional monarchy, the king is dying. His family’s keeping it a secret, but they’re worried because the monarchy appears to be weak. What if when the king dies, the people decide that monarchy is just too old-fashioned and decide to do away with it altogether? That just will not do. So the king, queen, and queen mother hatch a plan: they’ll marry off Shin, the crown prince. (Somehow this is supposed to restore stability. I don’t know either. Just go with it!)

Shin proposes to Hyo-rin, his girlfriend, but she’s a dedicated ballet student, and she doesn’t want to sacrifice her future, so she refuses him. That doesn’t stop the adults, though: they remember that the former king (Shin’s grandfather) had a BFF, and the two of them had promised that the king’s grandson would marry the BFF’s granddaughter.

So one day the authorities come knocking at the door of Chae-kyeong. She’s just an average girl, but apparently her grandfather was secretly friends with the former king! Pretty crazy! And now they want her to marry the prince! Chae-kyeong isn’t too pleased by the idea—she’s only 19! She’s still in high school! She’d have to leave home! But then her family gets into some money trouble, and like heroines throughout the ages, she agrees to marry so that her family will be taken care of.

Meanwhile, still more trouble’s brewing within the monarchy. The current king’s older brother had been the heir, but he died fourteen years before. There’s an inexplicable rule that only the heirs can live in the palace, and so the original son’s wife Lady Hwa-Young and his son Yul have to leave. Lady Hwa-Young is pretty pissed and sweeps off to England where she raises Yul and ~plots her revenge~. Now that fourteen years have passed and Shin is getting married, she decides it’s the time to act. She packs up Yul and brings him back to Korea. And she’s bent on getting him to be the crown prince again.

What follows is lots of shenanigans involving plotting for the throne, Chae-kyeong trying to adjust to being a princess, a love square that’s less annoying than most (since it actually feels like it’s character driven and not just for the sake of drama), and people learning and growing together. And most of Lauren’s bulletproof narrative kinks being hit left and right. GOOD. TIMES.

( and now for the cast! featuring many of the usual suspects because I am nothing if not predictable )

Goong/Princess Hours: English Language Casting

So sometimes I watch Korean dramas. And sometimes I develop unhealthy obsessions with them. My favorite is Goong (which means "Palace" but is often referred to as "Princess Hours" in English), and because I am me, I couldn't resist casting an English language version. The plot revolves around a royal family, so I couldn't think of any way to transfer to America. Besides, I love British people! So: a British show it is!



Summary: In an alternate version of Korea that has a constitutional monarchy, the king is dying. His family’s keeping it a secret, but they’re worried because the monarchy appears to be weak. What if when the king dies, the people decide that monarchy is just too old-fashioned and decide to do away with it altogether? That just will not do. So the king, queen, and queen mother hatch a plan: they’ll marry off Shin, the crown prince. (Somehow this is supposed to restore stability. I don’t know either. Just go with it!)

Shin proposes to Hyo-rin, his girlfriend, but she’s a dedicated ballet student, and she doesn’t want to sacrifice her future, so she refuses him. That doesn’t stop the adults, though: they remember that the former king (Shin’s grandfather) had a BFF, and the two of them had promised that the king’s grandson would marry the BFF’s granddaughter.

So one day the authorities come knocking at the door of Chae-kyeong. She’s just an average girl, but apparently her grandfather was secretly friends with the former king! Pretty crazy! And now they want her to marry the prince! Chae-kyeong isn’t too pleased by the idea—she’s only 19! She’s still in high school! She’d have to leave home! But then her family gets into some money trouble, and like heroines throughout the ages, she agrees to marry so that her family will be taken care of.

Meanwhile, still more trouble’s brewing within the monarchy. The current king’s older brother had been the heir, but he died fourteen years before. There’s an inexplicable rule that only the heirs can live in the palace, and so the original son’s wife Lady Hwa-Young and his son Yul have to leave. Lady Hwa-Young is pretty pissed and sweeps off to England where she raises Yul and ~plots her revenge~. Now that fourteen years have passed and Shin is getting married, she decides it’s the time to act. She packs up Yul and brings him back to Korea. And she’s bent on getting him to be the crown prince again.

What follows is lots of shenanigans involving plotting for the throne, Chae-kyeong trying to adjust to being a princess, a love square that’s less annoying than most (since it actually feels like it’s character driven and not just for the sake of drama), and people learning and growing together. And most of Lauren’s bulletproof narrative kinks being hit left and right. GOOD. TIMES.

( and now for the cast! featuring many of the usual suspects because I am nothing if not predictable )