On the 20th, JTBC confirmed the main cast for its new series "Everyone Is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness" (working title): Koo Kyo-hwan, Go Youn-jung, Oh Jung-se, Kang Mal-geum, and Park Hae-joon.
The drama tracks one man’s frantic search for peace as jealousy and insecurity fester among his more successful peers. With “anxiety” as its key theme, the show aims to flip the red light of worthlessness into a life-affirming green light for anyone who’s ever felt stuck.
Hype is high thanks to Park Hae-young’s return―her piercing, empathetic writing on "My Mister" and "My Liberation Notes" sparked cultural moments in Korea and beyond. This time, she turns her lens to “worthlessness,” promising another potent conversation starter.
Director Cha Young-hoon ("When the Camellia Blooms," "Welcome to Samdal-ri") is at the helm, bringing his warm, human touch and keen eye for the quiet bonds between ordinary people. His gentle, restorative mise-en-scene paired with Park’s incisive prose hints at a collaboration built to soothe even the coldest realities.
The cast is stacked. Koo Kyo-hwan―known for his singular presence―takes on his first lead in a TV drama as Hwang Dong-man, an aspiring filmmaker and the only member of the industry circle “Group of Eight” who has yet to debut. He masks constant anxiety―like an uninvited guest hovering at the edge of every room―with motor-mouth bravado and swagger. Expect Koo to render Dong-man’s messy, lovable scramble to hide his perceived worthlessness with his signature offbeat energy, turning the character into a beacon that quietly flips viewers’ inner signals from red to green.
Go Youn-jung, celebrated for her cool, controlled delivery that cuts straight to the heart, plays Byun Eun-a, a producer at the film company Choi Film nicknamed “The Axe” for her razor-sharp script notes. Eun-a longs to be an unshakable center, yet when emotional overload hits, she suffers sudden nosebleeds as she battles buried trauma. Go will trace the fury and abandonment fears beneath Eun-a’s calm exterior with precision―and through Dong-man, who looks like a washout by society’s standards but holds surprising inner steel, Eun-a begins to heal, ultimately reframing his “worthlessness” as something quietly brilliant. It’s a green-light arc tailor-made for Go’s soulful gaze.
Oh Jung-se plays Park Kyung-se, a director at GoBak Film and Dong-man’s bittersweet frenemy. He’s helmed five features and tasted success, but after his latest flop, he’s tormented by how easily he’s rattled by “nobody” Dong-man. Oh will map Kyung-se’s layered mix of touchiness, pride, and spiraling envy with expert control―setting the stage for a sharply funny, hyper-real “inferiority battle” between the two men.
Kang Mal-geum anchors the ensemble as Go Hye-jin, head of GoBak Film and Kyung-se’s wife. She runs the restaurant that serves as the Group of Eight’s hangout, meeting Dong-man’s endless monologues with patience and wide-open tolerance―yet she’s also a blunt, decisive producer who keeps everyone in line. Kang balances pragmatic spouse and clear-eyed mediator, grounding the show’s emotional center.
Park Hae-joon adds gravitas as Hwang Jin-man, Dong-man’s older brother and a former poet who hit the limits of his talent and broke down. Now living on day labor and numbing himself with TV and booze, he drifts like a shadow through the house. Park brings restrained power to Jin-man’s hollowed-out quiet, and the strange kinship and shared ache between the brothers promises a heavy, resonant pulse.
“The series focuses on people stalled by worthlessness who learn to breathe again by embracing one another’s gaps,” the production team said. “By looking squarely at jealousy and envy―feelings we all share―we hope to deliver deep catharsis and genuine comfort.” They added, “With powerhouse performances from Koo Kyo-hwan, Go Youn-jung, Oh Jung-se, Kang Mal-geum, and Park Hae-joon―plus Park Hae-young’s piercing insight and Cha Young-hoon’s warmth―we aim to make even life’s smallest, shabbiest moments feel meaningful.”
"Everyone Is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness" is slated to premiere in the first half of this year on JTBC.
[Photo Credit: Namu Actors (Koo Kyo-hwan), MAA (Go Youn-jung), Prain TPC (Oh Jung-se), Ace Factory (Kang Mal-geum), Pleo E&T (Park Hae-joon)]
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)
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