The cast of GIFT has gathered around one table for the first time, reading through the script of the baseball drama that will put a disgraced professional coach in charge of the worst high school team in the league. Adapted from the webtoon of the same name, the series follows a former pro pitching coach whose life collapses after a false accusation and an accident — and who walks away from that accident with a gift he never asked for.
Kim Woo-bin stars as Jung Min-yong, once a pitching coach for the professional Manders, whose career ended when he was falsely accused of verbally abusing his players. The accident that followed left him able to read a player's baseball talent on sight, and that ability lands him a job he never planned on: head coach of Deokcheon High School's baseball team, a squad stuck at the bottom of the standings.
At the reading, Kim Woo-bin leaned straight into Min-yong's confidence and competitive streak, and he credited the room itself for how well the session went. "Today was the first time I met and greeted all the actors, and the atmosphere was really great. The students brought so much energy to the set. Thanks to them, the script reading was so enjoyable."
Seo Eun-soo plays Yoon Seo-jin, the head of Deokcheon High School's baseball team and the person who has been protecting the team and its players from the inside. Where Min-yong judges everything by results, Seo-jin is built around the opposite belief — that the process of growing matters more than the scoreboard — which puts the two coaches on a collision course from their first scene together.
Seo Eun-soo came out of the reading already sold on her co-star's performance, saying of Kim Woo-bin, "As we read the script, I felt that he was Jung Min Yong himself."
Seo Hyun-woo plays Ahn Gi-man, the acting manager of the Manders and the professional rival Min-yong left behind. Gi-man evaluates players purely on performance and statistics, and his by-the-numbers approach puts him in direct conflict with Min-yong — a rivalry that now has a high school season waiting to pour fuel on it.
The student cast made its own impression on Seo Hyun-woo at the table. "Although it was my first time meeting them, they had such great energy that they made me want to become a real coach."
Around the team, the supporting cast includes Kim Won-hae as Deokcheon High School's principal, Yang Hyun-min as Coach Yang, Hyun Bong-sik as Son Hyung and Park Sang-nam as Oh Dong-jae. Lee Bong-ryun plays Seung-il's mother, and Park Ji-ah plays Chae-hwan's mother.
The Deokcheon lineup itself is played by Cha Been, previously known as Lim Su-been, as team captain Heo Seung-il and Han Si-hyun as hard-throwing pitcher Cha Tae-hoon, alongside Park Sung-hyun as Im Chae-hwan, Han Tae-ha as Oh Tan-hee and Kim Gun-woo as Kim Chan-young. The young actors rehearsed their chemistry on the spot, chanting the team cheer together during the reading — and two of them bring real experience to the diamond, as both Cha Been and Han Si-hyun played high school baseball themselves.
Cha Been shared, "'GIFT' will be like a gift to both viewers who love baseball and those who don't." Han Si-hyun added, "I'll do my best in every scene to tell the entertaining story of a high school baseball team filled with passion."
Kim Woo-bin closed the session on the same note it started, promising, "We'll bring together lots of positive energy to create an enjoyable drama, so please look forward to it. I hope we can connect with you all through the show." GIFT, co-directed by Kim Kyu-tae and Ham Seung-hoon from Jeong Iriiri's webtoon, premieres December 5 at 9:10 p.m. KST on tvN.
Source: Naver
