Park Bo-young is back and this time, she’s blonde, bolder, and taking on the most complex role of her career. On April 15, tvN unveiled the first still cuts of Park Bo-young from its upcoming weekend drama “Unknown Seoul,” where the beloved actress is set to portray not just one, but four different versions of her character in a high-stakes tale of identity, deception, and redemption.
Premiering May 24, the romantic coming-of-age drama follows twin sisters Yoo Mi-ji and Yoo Mi-rae who, despite having the same face, lead vastly different lives. When a twist of fate causes them to switch identities, a tangled journey toward love and self-discovery begins. As the twins impersonate each other, Park Bo-young is tasked with embodying both sisters and their swapped personas, effectively playing four unique roles.
Mi-ji, the younger twin, is portrayed as a tough but optimistic woman who once dreamed of becoming a star sprinter. An untimely accident shattered that dream, leaving her to pick up various short-term jobs to get by. Her life, seemingly stuck in neutral, may be poised for a dramatic reboot and so might tvN’s weekend drama track record.
In the released images, Park Bo-young is seen as Mi-ji working tirelessly through her day with a signature bright smile, exuding charm and grit. But it’s her platinum blonde hair—a career first—that’s stealing attention. The dramatic look has sparked intense buzz online, with netizens commenting, “Most anticipated series,” “She looks amazing with blonde hair,” and “She’s a completely different person with that hair.”
Park is joined by co-star Park Jin-young, who plays Lee Ho-soo, a cool, composed top-tier lawyer who quietly yearns for an ordinary life. The pair’s chemistry, alongside Park Bo-young’s powerful duality, is expected to fuel much of the drama’s emotional weight. With Park Shin-woo (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Don’t Dare to Dream) directing and writer Lee Kang (Youth of May) behind the script, the drama has already attracted major attention even before its premiere.
The stakes are high. Once a weekend ratings powerhouse, tvN has seen recent high-profile flops including Gong Hyo-jin and Lee Min-ho’s “When the Stars Gossip” and “Potato Research Institute,” which struggled to crack 1% viewership despite strong casts. All eyes are now on Park Bo-young, hoping she can lead “Unknown Seoul” to not just critical acclaim, but also revitalize the channel’s flagging weekend slate.
Amid the collapse of the reputation of tvN's Saturday-Sunday drama, which was once a box office guarantee, Park Bo-young, a blonde from "Roco Queen," will appear. Park Bo-young, who is trying to play four roles for the first time in her life, will be a reliever, with Gong Hyo-jin and Lee Min-ho's 50 billion-won masterpiece "Ask the Stars" and the Potato Research Institute featuring new trends Lee Sun-bin and Kang Tae-oh also leaving with a 1% humiliation rating.
Through tvN's new Saturday-Sunday drama "Unknown Seoul," which is set to air on May 24, a romantic growth drama unfolds in which twin sisters, who are all different except their faces, find real love and life by lying in exchange for life. Park Bo-young will portray twin sisters Yoo Mi-ji and Yoo Mi-rae, whose everything is different except for their face in the play. As Yoo Mi-ji and Yoo Mi-rae change their lives for some reason, they will portray a total of four lives, including Yoo Mi-rae pretending to be Yoo Mi-ji and Yoo Mi-ji pretending to be Yoo Mi-rae.
In particular, twin sister Yoo Mi-ji is a neighborhood energizer with a strong body, mind, and strong lifestyle as well as an optimistic and cheerful personality. Although noted as a sprinter due to her accidental discovered talent in school, she has stuck to her life as a short-term contractor since she came down from the track of her dreams early on due to an accident. Expectations are high on whether Yoo Mi-ji, whose heyday of life ended too quickly, will be able to run vigorously on the track of life again.
Park Bo-young's stills, which were slightly released, showed the daily life of professional worker Yoo Mi-ji, who lives hard every day. Above all, Park Bo-young's new face, which melts into the character of Yoo Mi-ji along with her first blonde styling since her debut, is also interesting. Park Bo-young, who has been favored by men and women of all ages and has resonated with viewers with her delicate emotional performance, foretells warm comfort and empathy by playing the character Yoo Mi-ji and her twin sister Yoo Mi-rae, who leap over hurdles and leap back toward the finish line of her life.
Attention is focusing on whether to renew another life character with her ever-changing charm, whether it will be just a transformation of appearance, or whether Park Bo-young's performance will revive tvN's Saturday-Sunday drama. The first episode will air on the evening of May 24, promising an intriguing mix of identity play, emotional growth, and romance as audiences wonder if Lee Ho-soo's heart will be swayed by Mi-ji or Mi-rae.
As the premiere date approaches, the excitement surrounding Park Bo-young's multifaceted performance continues to grow. Can her bold transformation in both hair and character bring back tvN’s golden era of weekend dramas? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: viewers are eager to see what unfolds in "Unknown Seoul."
