Here’s one for the K-Pop fans. Jisoo, erstwhile member of Korean super group BLACKPINK, is set to make her screen debut in the hotly anticipated Snowdrop, a new 16-episode series for Disney+. The show will premiere via the streamer on February 9. The platform describes it as a “period drama that explores the forbidden love between a young couple trapped in a time of political turmoil,” and casts her alongside Jung Hai-In, star of Tune in for Love and While You Were Sleeping.
The much anticipated K-Drama dropped to good reviews in its native Korea back in December, but as Variety notes, hasn’t been able to escape controversy owing to its politically divisive content. That’s because — spoiler alert — it centers on a liaison between Jisoo‘s South Korean student and Jung Hae-In‘s North Korean spy. “Many viewers in Korea, watching on JTBC, were quickly outraged by alleged inaccuracies. The show’s main sponsors Teazen and Puradak Chicken withdrew their support, denied that they knew of Snowdrop‘s political content, and made groveling apologies to consumers,” notes Variety. Petitions were also put together to have the show taken off-air, with one accruing 325,000 signatures.
Director Jo Hyun-tak had this to say about the upcoming show:
“Snowdrop is a heart-warming fictional melodrama about a young couple in love, and as the story unfolds, find themselves enduring an unbearable pain that one rarely encounters in a lifetime. I hope global audiences find this heartfelt series also gripping and suspenseful as the two come to face their fate.”
Despite the controversy, Snowdrop was among the top 5 most watched titles in Asian markets on Disney+ across its first month in the service in the territory.
Here’s the official synopsis for Snowdrop:
“When a blood-soaked man (Jung Hae-In) bursts into the dormitory of a women’s university in Seoul, Korea, Eun Yeong-ro (Jisoo) will go against her better judgement and risk being expelled to hide the man from his attackers and tend to his wounds. Unbeknownst to Yeong-ro, the man has a harrowing secret that threatens to put her friends’ and family’s safety at risk, and the two young lovers will have to work together to overcome the obstacles.Centered around the forbidden romance of a young couple, “Snowdrop” features Jisoo’s debut-starring performance in a Korean drama that will take viewers on an emotional rollercoaster full of excitement, action, and romance. The series follows Yeong-ro as she goes against her family and her country to help the man she loves, while Jung Hae-In puts everything on the line to save the only thing he loves more than his country, Yeong-ro.”
via Collider