Gong Hyo-jin, the ‘Guaranteed Ratings Check’ of the small screen, is returning.

Gong Hyo-jin will make a comeback with the tvN drama ‘Ask the Stars’, which will first air on January 4th next year. This will be her first return to the small screen in six years since ‘When the Camellia Blooms’ in 2019, and her first resumption of activities in three years since marrying Kevin Oh in 2022.

‘Ask the Stars’, which she has chosen as her next project after a long time, is a romantic comedy drama that depicts the love between a tourist and an astronaut who meet on a space station, set in space.

With a production cost of 50 billion won, it is considered the most anticipated tvN drama as it is the first domestic drama set in a space station.

Gong Hyo Jin has recorded the highest viewership ratings and become a box office hit in every drama she has starred in, including ‘Pasta’, ‘The Greatest Love’, ‘Master‘s Sun’, ‘It’s Okay, That‘s Love’, ‘The Producers’, ‘Jealousy Incarnate’, so attention is focused on whether Gong Hyo Jin will be able to replicate her box office power.

In particular, as she has shown particular strength in the ‘romantic comedy’ genre, viewers are curious to see what kind of charm she will show in her new work.

It is also a hot topic that she has teamed up once again with writer Seo Sook-hyang, who wrote ‘Jealousy Incarnate’.

In the drama, Gong Hyo-jin plays Captain Eve Kim, a perfectionist who does not tolerate even a single mistake and a top astronaut. Her counterpart is Lee Min-ho, an obstetrician and gynecologist.

In the recently released teaser video, Gong Hyo-jin caught everyone’s attention by showing off her extraordinary charisma. She portrayed the image of astronauts living in a zero-gravity space in a familiar way, while also lightly dominating Lee Min-ho with her gaze.

Gong Hyo-jin said through the production team, “I was attracted to the freshness of a space-based drama,” and “This character, unlike my previous roles, has no affection or interest in people and is only interested in experimental life forms, so I thought it would be fun.”

Gong Hyo-jin also tried action using wires. It is known that she spent a considerable amount of time hanging on wires as all the scenes are based on zero-gravity conditions.


Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com