W (TV series)

Synopsis

Cardiothoracic surgeon Oh Yeon-joo's (Han Hyo-joo) father mysteriously went missing while writing the last chapter of his webtoon "W". Yeon-joo goes to his office and is shocked to see a scene of the dying Kang Cheol (Lee Jong-suk), the main character of W, on her father's computer. While reading a note left behind by her father, a hand from the monitor pulled her in and she finds herself on the rooftop of a building next to a bleeding man. She manages to save him and realizes that the person she saved was Kang Cheol. Yeon-joo later discovers that she can only leave the webtoon based on Kang Cheol's change in feelings. When that happens, the words 'to be continued' will appear and she will teleport back to the real world.

Principal

Lee Jong-suk as Kang Cheol

The lead character of the popular comic series "W". Calm, laid back and hardworking, Kang Cheol is JN Global's co-president, owner of broadcasting channel W and an Olympic Gold medalist in Shooting in the comic series. His family died from an unknown killer, yet Kang Cheol was immediately suspected to be the killer due to his Shooting background. After being proven innocent, Kang Cheol tries to find the murderer and seek revenge. He is later then stabbed on the rooftop of the hotel he is staying in by the killer. There, he meets the mysterious Oh Yeon-joo.

Han Hyo-joo as Oh Yeon-joo

Hyun Seung-min as teen Yeon-joo

Park Min-ha as child Yeon-joo

A second year resident doctor in the Thoracic Surgery department of Myung Sei Hospital. She is the daughter of the comic artist who writes the famous webtoon series "W". When she receives the news of her father being absent for a number of days, she goes to his house to investigate. There, she is pulled into the webtoon.

People around Kang Cheol

Jung Yoo-jin as Yoon So-hee

Kang Cheol's personal assistant and close friend. Her romantic feelings for Kang Cheol is hinted subtly throughout the series through her actions and behavior around him. She is loved by many fans of the comic series who adore the pairing of Kang Cheol and Yoon So-hee.

Lee Tae-hwan as Seo Do-Yoon

Kang Cheol's bodyguard and close friend. He is a martial arts instructor. He is loyal to Kang Cheol and in return, earned his trust.

Park Won-sang as Han Cheol-Ho

Inspector and a member of Congress who is also the presidential prospect of a new democratic party. He is the prosecutor of Kang Cheol, and looks for opportunities to imprison Kang Cheol and take him down. He joins hands with Han Sang woon, but later commits suicide through the drawings of Sung-moo.

Cha Kwang-soo as Son Hyun-seok

The director of a program specializing in criminal investigation and the general manager of the broadcasting channel W.

People around Oh Yeon-joo

Kim Eui-sung as Oh Sung-moo

Yeon-joo's father and a famous artist who created the webtoon "W". A failed webtoon artist and divorcee, he gains popularity from "W". However, he starts to realize slowly that his webtoon has gained a life on its own and the characters and all the set-ups have come to life in a different dimension. Realizing this, he starts to notice that his drawings are resisted by the characters and change on their own sometimes. As a result, he decides to end Kang Cheol's life by drowning him in water, which is resisted by Kang Cheol in the webtoon. He meets Kang Cheol in the webtoon when Kang Cheol was stabbed. At the end of the series, he sacrifices his life and stays in the webtoon world so that his daughter could live happily with Kang Cheol.

Lee Si-eon as Park Soo-bong

One of Sung-moo's disciple and right-hand man; and confidant of Yeon Joo. He initially did not believe Yeon-joo's theories, but later accepts everything. He is the only one, apart from the father-daughter duo, in the real world who is aware of the two worlds. He mostly voiced over at the beginning of each episode to inform the audience about the untold part of the webtoon that the readers in the real world are also unaware of.

Nam Gi-ae as Gil Soo-seon

Yeon-joo's mother and also owner of a massage-salon.

Heo Jeong-do as Park Min-soo

Thoracic surgeon and teacher of Myung Se Hospital. A passionate fan of "W".

Kang Ki-young as Kang Seok-beom

Thoracic Surgery's second year resident of Myung Se Hospital and Yeon-joo's friend and roommate.

Lee Se-rang as Gil Soo-young

Yeon-joo's aunt

Ryu Hye-rin as Seon-mi – Sung-moo's disciple

Yang Hye-ji as Yoon-hee – Sung-moo's disciple

Cameos

Park Choong-seon as Kang Cheol's father (episode 1)

Kim Na-woon as Kang Cheol's mother (episode 1)

Seo Shin-ae as Kang Cheol's younger sister (episode 1)

Choi Min-young as Kang Cheol's younger brother (episode 1)

Hwang Seok-jeong as webtoon writer (episode 6)

Ahn Se-ha as Kim Poong-ho – Oh Yeon-joo's blind date (episode 6)

Kim Jung-geun as anchorman (episodes 1, 4)

Heo Il-hoo

Production

The series is helmed by director Jung Dae-yoon who directed She Was Pretty and writer Song Jae-jung whose previous works include Nine: Nine Time Travels and Queen In-hyun's Man.

The drama is Han Hyo-joo's small screen comeback after 6 years.

Ratings

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

*Episode 8 was not aired on Thursday August 11 due to broadcast of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This episode was aired on Wednesday August 17, 2016.

International broadcast

In Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, the drama is available to stream on Viu with subtitles and is also broadcast on Oh!K with subtitles under the title, W-Two Worlds within 24 hours of the original South Korean broadcast.

In Thailand, it aired on True4U beginning November 14, 2016.