''W'' () is a 2016 South Korean television series, starring

Lee Jong-suk Lee Jong-suk (, born 14 September 1989) is a South Korean actor and model. He debuted in 2005 as a runway model, becoming the youngest male model ever to participate in Seoul Fashion Week. Lee's breakthrough role was in ''School 2013'' (2012). ...

and

Han Hyo-joo Han Hyo-joo (Korean: 한효주; born February 22, 1987) is a South Korean film and television actress, model and singer. She is best known for her leading roles in television series such as ''Heaven & Earth'' (2007), '' Iljimae'' (2008), ''Brill ...

. Consisting of 16 episodes, it aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 ( KST) on MBC from July 20 to September 14, 2016. ''W'' centers on the clash between "two worlds": the real world and an alternate universe inside a

webtoon Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

, from which the title of the television series was taken. The series received praise for its unique premise and ranked first in Content Power Index in its premiere week. It achieved modest ratings of 11.63%, topping viewership ratings in its time slot for its entire run.

Plot

A romance takes place between Kang Chul (Lee Jong-Suk), who is super rich and exist in the webtoon “W,” and Oh Yeon-Joo (Han Hyo-Joo) who is a surgeon in the real world.

Episodes

Cast

Main

as Kang Cheol :The lead character of the popular comic series ''W''. He is the co-CEO of the e-commerce company JN Global, owner of broadcasting channel W, and an Olympic gold medalist in

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

in his youth. His family was murdered by an elusive murderer, yet Kang Cheol was immediately suspected to be the killer due to his shooting background. After being proven innocent, Kang Cheol seeks vengeance on the murderer through his broadcasting channel W. When he is stabbed on the rooftop of his penthouse by the murderer, he meets Oh Yeon-joo who saves his life and with whom he falls in love. *

as Oh Yeon-joo **

Hyun Seung-min Hyun Seung-min (; born September 17, 1999), known professionally as Jung Ji-so () is a South Korean actress. Hyun made her acting debut as a child actress in the 2012 television drama ''May Queen''. She is best known internationally for her rol ...

as teenage Yeon-joo ** Park Min-ha as child Yeon-joo :A second-year resident cardiothoracic surgeon in Myung-sei Hospital. She is the daughter of the Oh Seong-moo, author and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

of the famous webtoon ''W''. A fan of her father's work, she goes to his studio to investigate his sudden disappearance. There, she is pulled into ''W'''s alternate universe and meets its protagonist Kang Cheol, with whom she eventually falls in love.

Supporting

Characters from the webtoon ''W''

Kim Eui-sung Kim Eui-sung (; born December 17, 1965) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in films ''The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), ''Office'' (2015), '' The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo'' (2015) and ''Train to Busan'' (2016); ...

as Han Sang-hoon :The real killer of Kang Cheol's family. His identity is not revealed until much later, and his face resembles the comic series's author Oh Seong-moo. Before Seong-moo gives him a name and face, he mostly appears as a shadowy, faceless human form. *

Jung Yoo-jin Jung Yoo-jin (born February 19, 1989), also known as Eugene Jung, is a South Korean model and actress. Career She started her career as a model at YG Entertainment. She is known for her roles in Korean dramas, such as '' Heard It Through th ...

as Yoon So-hee :Kang Cheol's long-time secretary and his friend since they were in high school. Her romantic feelings for Kang Cheol are subtly alluded to throughout the series through her actions and behavior around him, which lead to readers’ general expectations of their marriage. Originally intended to be the main female character who would later become Kang Cheol's love interest, she is replaced by Yeon-joo when Kang Cheol falls in love with her. *

Lee Tae-hwan Lee Tae-hwan (; born February 21, 1995) is a South Korean actor, model and singer. Since his acting debut in 2013, he has starred in television dramas and web series, notably '' Pride and Prejudice'' (2014) and '' W''. He is a member of 5urpris ...

as Seo Do-yoon :Kang Cheol's loyal bodyguard and close friend. Using his knowledge of martial arts, he trained Kang Cheol to fight and is always alongside him in beating bad guys. *

Park Won-sang Park Won-sang (born January 20, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television Theater Ambassadorship *Ambassador for 1st Democratization Movement Memorial Park Joint Memorial Cultural Festival (2022) References External ...

as Han Cheol-ho :A secondary antagonist of the webtoon. He is a power-hungry prosecutor and a member of Congress who is also the presidential prospect of a new democratic party. To gain political popularity, he becomes the prosecutor in charge of Kang Cheol's case when the latter was accused of his family's murder. * as Son Hyun-seok :The director of Project W, a program specializing in criminal investigation, and the general manager of the broadcasting channel W.

People around Oh Yeon-joo

as Oh Seong-moo :Yeon-joo's father and a famous artist who created the webtoon ''W''. Once a failed webtoon artist, alcoholic and divorcé, he gains popularity from ''W''. However, he notices that his webtoon and its characters have taken on a reality of their own. As a result, he perceives Kang Cheol as a monster and seeks to eliminate him. *

Lee Si-eon Lee Si-eon (born Lee Bo-yeon on July 3, 1982) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his comic supporting role in the popular campus drama ''Reply 1997 ''Reply 1997'' () is a 2012 South Korean television series that centers on the liv ...

as Park Soo-bong :An apprentice of Seong-moo and confidante of Yeon-joo *

Nam Gi-ae Nam Gi-ae (Korean:남기애; born on 13 September 1961) is a South Korean actress in Chung-Ang University, Department of Theater and Film. She made her acting debut in 1998, since then, she has appeared in number of plays, films and television ...

as Gil Soo-sun :Yeon-joo's mother and Seong-moo's ex-wife. * as Park Min-soo :Cardiothoracic surgeon and Professor at Myung-sei Hospital. He is a passionate fan of ''W'' *

Kang Ki-young Kang Ki-young (born October 14, 1983) is a South Korean actor. He is well-known for his supporting roles in a number of popular Korean drama Korean dramas (; RR: ''Han-guk deurama''), more popularly known as K-dramas, are television serie ...

as Kang Suk-beom :Second-year resident cardiothoracic surgeon at Myung-sei Hospital and Yeon-joo's friend * as Gil Soo-young :Yeon-joo's aunt *

Ryu Hye-rin Ryu Hye-rin is a South Korean actress and model. She is known for her roles in dramas ''How Are U Bread'', ''Two Cops (TV series), Two Cops'' and ''The Game: Towards Zero''. She also appeared in movies such as ''Sunny (2011 film), Sunny'', ''Bi ...

as Sun-mi :Seung-moo's apprentice * as Yoon-hee :Seung-moo's apprentice

Extended

Special appearances

* as Kang Yoon – Cheol's father *

Kim Na-woon Kim Na-woon (born May 11, 1970) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in 1987, and is most active as a supporting actress in television dramas. Filmography Television series Film Variety/radio show Music video ...

as Yoon Mi-ho – Cheol's mother (episode 1) *

Seo Shin-ae Seo Shin-ae (born October 20, 1998) is a South Korean actress. She made her entertainment debut in 2004 in a commercial for Seoul Milk. Seo then became known as a child actress, notably in the film ''Meet Mr. Daddy'' (2007), and the television ...

as Kang Soo-yeon – Cheol's sister (episode 1) *

Choi Min-young Choi Min-young (; born 9 October 2002) is a South Korean actor. He made his acting debut in 2014, since then, he has appeared in number of television series. He is known for his role as child actor in 2016 revenge series '' The Promise'' and 20 ...

as Kang Joon-seok – Cheol's brother (episode 1) *

Hwang Seok-jeong Hwang Seok-jeong (born February 2, 1971) is a South Korean actress. She has mostly played supporting roles in films and television series, notably '' Secret Love'' (2013), '' Misaeng: Incomplete Life'' (2014) and ''She Was Pretty ''She Was P ...

as Webtoon Writer (episode 6) *

Ahn Se-ha Ahn Se-ha (born Ahn Jae-wook on January 29, 1986) is a South Korean actor. Personal life On April 6, 2017, JUST Entertainment revealed that Ahn was set to marry his girlfriend of over a year. The prospective bride is his fellow college and an ...

as Kim Poong-ho – Yeon-joo's blind date (episode 6) * as Anchorman (episodes 1, 4) * Heo Il-hoo

Production

The series is helmed by director Jung Dae-yoon, who directed ''

She Was Pretty ''She Was Pretty'' () is a 2015 South Korean television series starring Hwang Jung-eum, Park Seo-joon, Go Joon-hee and Choi Si-won. It aired on MBC from September 16 to November 11, 2015, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00. The series was b ...

,'' and writer Song Jae-jung, whose previous works include '' Nine: Nine Time Travels'' and ''

Queen In-hyun's Man ''Queen and I'' () is a 2012 South Korean television series starring Ji Hyun-woo and Yoo In-na. The story centers around obscure actress Choi Hee-jin (played by Yoo In-na, in her first leading role) who falls in love with Kim Bung-do (played by J ...

''. The first script reading of the drama was held in May 2016. The drama is Han Hyo-joo's small screen comeback after six years.

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Charted songs

Album charts

Ratings

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. *Episode 8 was not aired on Thursday August 11 due to broadcast of the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This episode was aired on Wednesday August 17, 2016.

Other adaptations

A Thai remake of the drama, ''Switch On'' was aired on Channel 3 on November 19, 2021. An American adaptation, titled ''Angel City'' was in development at

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. The project will be produced by

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

with

Craig Plestis Craig Plestis is the President and CEO of Smart Dog Media, a reality programming production company. Plestis is an executive producer of '' The Masked Singer'' and ''I Can See Your Voice''. Career NBC Plestis was the executive producer behind the ...

as executive producer. ''W: Two Worlds'', a webtoon based on the drama was created in 2021.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
W
' at Daum *
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' at Naver Movies {{Works by Chorokbaem Media 2016 South Korean television series debuts 2016 South Korean television series endings MBC TV television dramas South Korean fantasy television series South Korean suspense television series South Korean romance television series Works about physicians Television shows about comics Fictional comics Television series about parallel universes Television series by Chorokbaem Media Television shows written by Song Jae-jung