‘Trash husband’ is gone, and the innocent island bachelor ‘Bong Ban-jak’ is here.

Actor Lee Yi-kyung is showing signs of going beyond the womanizer image he displayed in the global hit tvN drama ‘Marry My Husband’, and presenting a new ‘life character’(life character) in just 9 months. In Channel A‘s new Saturday-Sunday drama ‘Marry Me’(Marry You), which first aired on the 16th, he successfully gave viewers a ‘shock surprise’(?) by presenting the affectionate and comical Bong Ban-jak character, which is 180 degrees different from his previous work.

Lee Yi-kyung plays the role of Bong Cheol-hee, who raises his twin nephews and acts as a problem-solver in the island village of Cheongdo. The heartbreaking romance between him and Jo Soo-min, who plays the role of the single civil servant Jeong Ha-na, as they become entangled in a ‘marriage fraud promotion project’ is the core of the drama.

In just two episodes, Lee Yi-kyung transformed into the perfect ‘is bachelor’ with his fluffy curly hair, ‘a harmless smile’, and his pure charm that makes his hand tremble when he links arms with Jo Soo-min. In addition, he properly demonstrated his power as a ‘romantic comedy lead’ by forming an unexpected love triangle surrounding Jo Soo-min and his ex-boyfriend Choi Ki-joon, Goo Jun-hoe.

The ‘one-top comedy’ that he draws while speaking in a savory dialect as he is actually from Cheongju, Chungcheong Province, is also something to watch. In the scene where he skillfully manipulates a bucket to collect fish that have accidentally floated high into the sky by the fisherman next door, he strikes a cool pose like the main character of a ‘hero movie’ and makes people laugh.

Lee Yi-kyung devoted herself to filming, even postponing her gum treatment, to portray a ‘pure character’, which is different from her previous work. In a recent online production conference, he confessed, “My gums receded right before filming and I was about to have surgery, but I thought it wouldn’t look realistic if my island bachelor character had teeth that were too neat, so I intentionally postponed the treatment,” receiving applause from his colleagues and the production crew.

The drama is not only a clean romantic comedy with no villains, but is also receiving favorable reviews for its objective look at marriage and single life, which are emerging social issues.

A representative example is the scene where the marriage fraud promotion team that Jo Soo-min belongs to specifically goes over the ‘reasons men and women avoid marriage’.

Director Hwang Kyung-sung said, “It‘s a good drama that you can watch comfortably because it doesn’t have the ‘villain’ that all romantic comedies have. It doesn‘t divide marriage and single life into two, but it also conveys everyone’s perspective, so it will be an opportunity to reconsider our views on marriage.”


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com