Coffee Prince is a 2007 South Korean television series starring Yoon Eun-hye, Gong Yoo, Lee Sun-kyun, and Chae Jung-an. Based on the novel of the same name written by Lee Sun-mi, the hit series aired on MBC's Mondays and Tuesdays at the 21:55 time slot between July 2 and August 28, 2007consisting of 17 episodes. The drama tells the story of an unlikely romance between a tomboyish woman, who dresses like a man in order to get work, and a young food empire mogul. It contains homoerotic elements, as the man does not initially know of the tomboy's true sex.
Synopsis
Choi Han-kyul is the grandson of chairwoman Bang of Dong-in Foods, a company that has a thriving coffee business. He has never had a job and does not care for responsibility. Han-kyul is hung up on his first love, Han Yoo-joo, who only sees him as a friend. Go Eun-chan is a 24-year-old tomboy who is often mistaken for a guy. Her father died when she was 16 years old and since then she has taken over as the breadwinner in her family. When Han-kyul and Eun-chan meet, he, not knowing that she is a girl, decides to hire her to pretend to be his gay lover so that he can escape the blind dates arranged by his grandmother. After getting an ultimatum from his grandmother, Han-kyul takes over a rundown old coffee shop, later renamed "Coffee Prince," to prove that he's capable, both to his grandmother and to Yoo-joo. In order to attract female customers, he only hires good-looking male employees. Eun-chan, desperate for money, continues to hide her gender to get a job at Coffee Prince. Soon, feelings start to develop between Eun-chan and Han-kyul. As Han-kyul is unaware that Eun-chan is a woman, he starts to question his sexuality and is thrown into turmoil. When Han-kyul finds out that Eun-chan is a woman, he gets angry. But soon, they make amends with each other and the two fall in love again. Eun-chan eventually leaves for Italy to study and Han-kyul supports her.
Cast
Main
Yoon Eun-hye as Go Eun-chan
Gong Yoo as Choi Han-kyul
Lee Sun-kyun as Choi Han-sung
Chae Jung-an as Han Yoo-joo
Supporting
Lee Eon as Hwang Min-yeop
Kim Dong-wook as Jin Ha-rim
Kim Jae-wook as Noh Sun-ki
Kim Chang-wan as Hong Gae-shik
Kim Young-ok as Han-kyul and Han-sung's grandmother
Kim Ja-ok as Han-kyul's mother
Choi Il-hwa as Han-kyul's father
Han Ye-in as Go Eun-sae
Park Won-sook as Eun-chan's mother
Lee Han-wi as Mr. Ku, a butcher who is infatuated with Eun-chan's mother
Kim Jung-min as DK, Yoo-joo's ex-boyfriend
Ban Hye-ra as Yoo-joo's mother
Choi Eun-seo as Ha Da Young, the girl who wants to learn to make waffles
Nam Myung-ryul as Myung Jae, Han-kyul's real father
Han Da-min as Han Byul
Yoon Seung-ah as girl playing cards with Han-kyul on the plane
Production
Filming locations
Many of the scenes filmed on location in Seoul are as follows:
The "Coffee Prince" was an old coffee shop in Hongdae area, which was remodeled for the filming. The eponymous cafe was reopened after filming concluded with the wall flowers painting by Han Yoo-joo and other props from the drama on display.
Seoul Animation Center at the foot of Namsan in Yejang-dong, Jung-gu: The roof top was used as the exterior terrace of Choi Han-kyul's house. You can see this rooftop garden thoroughly from this scene
The jogging course at Palgakjeong on the Bugak Skyway, Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu: Where Han-kyul goes jogging; and where he met Yoo-joo and Eun-chan who brought competing packed meals for him.
The interior and exterior of the Gwanghwamun branch of Kyobo Book Centre: Where Han-kyul buys books on coffee to encourage Eun-chan to become a barista.
Hongdae Playground in Hongdae area: Where Han-kyul bought Yoo-joo a hat from a street vendor.
Stone wall road between Duksung Girls High School and Pungmoon Girls High School, across the road from the start of Insa-dong Street that runs from Insa-dong to Samcheong-dong in Jongno-gu: Where Han-kyul helped Eun-chan in the rain, when she encounters a bully on her way home while carrying bags of dolls for sewing work.
In 2011, the Hongdae area and the coffee shop were featured in a National Geographic Channel-produced documentary on the Korean Wave titled Seoul's Got Soul.
Original soundtrack
Ratings
Source:
Awards and nominations
International broadcast
It aired in Japan on Fuji TV beginning August 11, 2010 as part of the network's "Hallyu Alpha Summer Festival." It aired in the Philippines on GMA Network from January 1 to March 19, 2008, and received high ratings during its run. The series was re-aired with English subtitles on Animax Asia in 2010, and on GMA News TV from September 19 to October 14, 2016 at 11:00pm. It aired in Thailand on Channel 7 beginning April 19, 2008. The series aired in Malaysia in 2010 on Animax Asia with Malay Dub and English subtitles. It aired in the Middle East on MBC 4 beginning December 8, 2013, dubbed as Makha al amir. It was dubbed in Tamil and aired in India on Puthuyugam TV beginning October 2014. It is currently aired in Chile on ETC beginning September 2016.
Remake
In 2012, the TV series was remade in Thailand, and the Philippines. In 2016, a Chinese remake of the series titled Prince Coffee Lab was announced, directed by Kang Shin-hyo of The Heirs. In 2017, the Malaysian remake of Coffee Prince directed by Michael Ang began airing on Astro Ria starting November 28.
