Script reading for tvN’s healing sports drama Mental Coach Je Gal-gil
by Jenzy
The cast of tvN’s upcoming drama Mental Coach Je Gal-gil (literal translation) have recently had their first script reading, and stills have been released.
The drama stars Jung Woo (Mad for Each Other) as the titular “mental coach,” Je Gal-gil. Gifted in taekwondo, Gal-gil was formerly on the national team until he was kicked out for unexpected reasons. Years later, he’s given the opportunity to return to the athlete’s village, except this time as a sports psychologist.
In her first leading drama role, Lee Yumi (All of Us Are Dead) plays a short track gold medalist, Cha Ga-eul. While her beauty, skills, and poker-faced ice princess persona won her many fans in the past, after leaving the national team, she has since lost her edge. As she gets treated by our mental coach, she seeks to find the strength to overcome her slump and make a skating comeback.
Kwon Yul (Dal-li and Gamjatang) plays Ko Tae-man, another former taekwondo athlete who was also Gal-gil’s greatest rival. Having caused the accident that took Gal-gil off the national team, he’s since risen the ranks from athlete, to gold-medalist, all the way to HR director of the national sports association. He’ll butt heads with our lead as a cold and ambitious man who believes the ends justify the means.
Rounding out the main cast is Park Se-young (Special Labor Inspector Jo) playing Park Seung-ha, another sports psychologist. In her past, she was formerly a doctor, but she decided to switch professions after treating her first patient, the then-athlete Gal-gil. Considering that Gal-gil dramatically changed the course of her life, she must now navigate the complicated feelings of having to see him every day as a colleague.
Written by Kim Ban-di (Special Labor Inspector Jo, Angry Mom) and directed by Sohn Jung-hyun (Should We Kiss First), this feel-good healing drama is set to air toward the end of this year on tvN.
