My Love from the Star (2013)
Quick Take: My Love from the Star (2013), starring Kim Soo-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun. 9.0/10. 21 episodes, 60 minutes each.
Synopsis: Do Min-Joon (Kim Soo-hyun) is an alien who has lived on Earth for 400 years. He has amassed great wealth and has certain powers, but he never ages so he has to periodically change his identity. When he is almost ready to return to his own planet, he gets involved with an actress, Cheon Song-yi. She has becoms embroiled in a scandal that destroys her career and makes her the target of a killer. Do Min-joon protects her as much as he can, but refuses to allow a personal relationship to develop.
Review: My Love from the Star was hugely popular when it aired, and remakes have been done in Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines. The story is engaging, the special effects are effective, and Kim Soo-hyun is an A-list star for a reason. My only problem with this drama — but it’s a pretty big problem — is the casting of the female lead. Jun Ji-hyun looks too old for Kim Soo-hyun. IRL she is seven years older, though if he’s 400 years old, that shouldn’t matter. She was certainly convincing as an arrogant movie star, but I didn’t find her character very attractive even when she let all that go.
Both the leads are veteran Kdrama stars, plus the supporting cast includes several actors who went on to have lead roles of their own: Park Hae-jin (Cheese in the Trap, Man to Man, Forest), Yoo In-na (Guardian, Touch Your Heart), and Ahn Jae-hyun (Cinderella with Four Knights, The Beauty Inside).
Rewatchable - 4, Compelling - 4, Plot/ Story/Writing - 7, Acting/Casting - 8, Production - 10, Bonus - 7. Bonus points for originality and Kim Soo-hyun.
Notes:
Kim Soo-hyun
is one of the highest-paid Hallyu stars. He has been acting since 2007 and is best known for Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), The Producers (2015), and It’s Okay Not to be Okay (2020).
He also sings. The One and Only is from the My Love from the Star OST.
Ahn Jae-hyun
gained recognition when he played actress Jun Ji-hyun’s younger brother in My Love from the Star. He has since had major roles in Cinderella and the Four Knights (2016), The Beauty Inside (2018), and Love with Flaws (2019). He married actress Ku Hye-sun in 2016, but they divorced in 2019.
Yoo In-na
spent 11 years as an idol trainee but never managed to debut, so she turned to acting. She had a supporting role in Hyun Bin’s Secret Garden (2010) and then a lead role in Queen and I (2012). Besides My Love from the Star, she is also known for her roles in Guardian: The Great and Lonely God (2016), Touch Your Heart (2019), and Snowdrop (2021).