Mun Ka Young has reportedly chosen the upcoming drama Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid as her next project. Set in 1926 during the Japanese occupation of Korea, the drama is a reimagining of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen.
As reported by My Daily on July 30, Mun will play Heo Su A, a 17-year-old maid working for a wealthy pro-Japanese family in Gunsan. She spends her days quietly doing chores and swimming in the sea, her one escape from reality.
Her life changes when she finds a wounded independence fighter, Kang Ui Hyeon, washed up on the beach. Su A hides him and nurses him back to health, beginning a quiet but powerful connection between two people on opposite ends of society.
However, a failed murder attempt on Uihyeon’s life by his own comrade leaves Su A seriously injured and permanently mute. Determined not to remain a victim, she sets off alone to Gyeongseong (modern-day Seoul) in search of revenge.
There, she becomes involved in a world very different from the one she came from, one filled with people fighting for freedom and struggling to survive.
Choi Woo Shik is currently in talks to play Kang Uihyeon. The actor recently starred in the 2024 Netflix thriller A Killer Paradox and Melo Movie, which premiered in February. If he joins, it will be his first historical drama in a while and his first time working with Mun Ka Young.
Mun is currently appearing in tvN’s workplace drama Law and The City and chose Whale Star as her next project following its strong script and unique setting. Her previous roles include The Interest of Love and Link: Eat, Love, Kill, and My Dearest Nemesis.
Produced by Take One Studio, Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid will be directed by Heo Jin Ho and filmed by Choi Yoon Man, the cinematographer behind My Mister and The Interest of Love.
