Not Hyun Bin, the male lead role of “Secret Garden” was first offered to this actor but his company forced him not to take it?

tuleconghoaJuly 10, 2022Last Updated: July 10, 2022

1 minute read

Hyun Bin almost did not play the male lead of hit K-drama “Secret Garden”.

Released in early 2010s, “Secret Garden” achieved great success and kickstarted a glorious new era for Korean dramas. “Secret Graden” is also a classic work that made Hyun Bin a top actor. However, the iconic male lead role of Hyun Bin could have been taken on by another actor.

The process of casting the male lead for “Secret Garden” once sparked much noise. Before Hyun Bin was selected to portray Kim Joo Won, the drama’s production crew offered the part to Jang Hyuk. However, he reportedly found himself not suitable for the role in “Secret Garden” and had more interest in “Midas” at the time, thus turning down the role.

However, what actually happened behind the scenes was more complicated. Many sources revealed Jang Hyuk let go of the role in “Secret Garden” because his former company, SidusHQ, forced him to. This happened after Jay Park, who was also under SidusHQ, left the cast of “Secret Garden”. Jang Hyuk’s career back then was affected by the controversy related to his company.

*Both Jay Park and Jang Hyuk, who were managed by SidusHQ at the time, left “Secret Garden”*

This is how Hyun Bin was eventually picked for the part. Before “Secret Garden”, Hyun Bin was not considered an A-list actor yet despite having debuted for 7 years, but the huge success of “Secret Garden” changed it.

As for Jang Hyuk, he once shared that he did not regret giving up on “Secret Garden”, as well as not discussing more about the incident with Sidus HQ. After all the controversy, Jang Hyuk returned in 2010 with “The Slave Hunters”, the film that helped him receive a Daesang at the KBS Drama Awards and a prestigious Emmy nomination. Since then, the career of the star born in 1976 has been reborn strongly.