The Korean adaptation of the popular Spanish series, Money Heist or La Casa de Papel, is slowly coming together as Netflix recently announced its ensemble cast.
Established actor Yoo Ji-Tae has signed on to play the role of The Professor, the most interesting character in the series. In Money Heist, The Professor managed to pull off the greatest scam against a financial institution right under the noses of the police.
Yoo is best known for his movies like Oldboy (2003), One Fine Spring Day (2001) and Swindlers (2017). He's also one of South Korea's experienced actors and screenwriters.
Joining Yoo in the Money Heist adaptation is Jeon Jong-Seo, who has been cast in the role of Tokyo. She is the show's narrator and one of the more prominent gang members in the heist. Jeon was recently seen in the Netflix horror film, The Call. A relative newcomer in showbusiness, Jeon is proving to be a promising actress.
Park Hae-soo of Prison Playbook (2017) will play Berlin, the villainous character who became the viewers' favorite in the Spanish version. Rounding up the gang are Lee Won-jong as Moscow, Kim Ji-hun as Denver, Jang Yoon-ju as Nairobi, Park Jung-woo as Rio, Kim Ji-hun as Helsinki and Lee Kyu-ho as Oslo.
Meanwhile, South Korean-American actress Kim Yunjin, who starred in the hit American TV series Lost, was rumored to be in the cast a few months back as well and it has now been finally confirmed that she will play the lead police detective who is trying to foil the heist. In the original series, her character ended up falling in love with The Professor. King Sung-o, Park Myung-hoon and Lee Joobeen are also in this adaptation in supporting roles.
It's unclear if the South Korean version will follow the storyline to a T. However, Money Heist creator Alex Pina said that he is excited about how the Koreans will develop his show into their own. Incidentally, the original series is in the middle of filming the fifth and final season and will likely be out on Netflix later this year.
Money Heist Korea, on the other hand, will start production in May under BH Entertainment and Zium Content under the direction of Kim Hong-sun. Ryu Yong-Jae adapted the storyline for the local audience.
The Korean version was first confirmed in late 2020 as a 12-episode series. The original version premiered on Netflix in 2017 and easily climbed to 65 million viewers by the fourth season's release during the pandemic. Netflix said that the immense popularity of Money Heist proves that there is much clamor for shows in different languages or cultures on their platform.
