18 Again () is a 2020 South Korean television series based on the 2009 film 17 Again by Jason Filardi, likely inspired by the 1988 comedy movie of the (series') same name featuring George Burns. Starring Kim Ha-neul, Yoon Sang-hyun, and Lee Do-hyun. It aired on JTBC from September 21 to November 10, 2020, every Monday and Tuesday at 21:35 (KST). The series is available on iQIYI and Viu with multi-language subtitles.
Synopsis Jung Da-jung (Kim Ha-neul) and Hong Dae-young (Yoon Sang-hyun) are married and have a set of fraternal twins, Hong Shi-ah (Roh Jeong-eui) and Hong Shi-woo (Ryeoun). At first, they have a perfectly happy marriage despite having children at a very young age and having financial problems. Years later, their happy marriage starts crumbling when 37-year-old Da-jung files for divorce and their 18-year-old good looking twins start ignoring Dae-young, except for pocket money. Furthermore, Dae-young's life turns more miserable when he loses his job, after his boss promotes his nephew who has worked in the company for only 4 years, while relocating Dae-young to Busan.
Wishing he could go back in time and fix his life, Dae-young's 37-year-old body miraculously morphs into the body he had when he was 18 years old (Lee Do-hyun) but retains his 37-year-old mentality. He starts living a new life under his alias "Go Woo-young" and attends Serim High School, which is his twins' school, and also the school he and Da-jung attended 18 years ago. During Dae-young's life as the 18-year-old Go Woo-young, he learns that his daughter Shi-ah is working part-time in a convenience store without his permission and his son Shi-woo is being bullied at school by the basketball captain, Goo Ja-sung (Hwang In-youp). Dae-young also learns about his son's interest and talent in basketball that Shi-woo always hides from him. Dae-young eventually realizes the true reason behind his family's crumbling bond and gets to know more about his twins. He resolves to use this chance to protect his kids by befriending them and doing his best to be more present to the family despite his appearance as an 18-year-old boy.
Cast
Main Kim Ha-neul as Jung Da-jung (She is the drama counterpart of 37-year-old Scarlett O'Donnell (Leslie Mann) in the original film.) Han So-eun as 18-year-old Da-jung (She is the drama counterpart of 17-year-old Scarlett O'Donnell (Allison Miller) in the original film.) Hong Dae-young's wife, 37-year-old mother of twins Shi-ah and Shi-woo, and a JBC intern announcer. Da-jung was very popular among Serim High School boys (she is every male students' first love) and eventually dated her classmate and popular basketball player Hong Dae-young. But before they can complete high school, they had to get married as she got pregnant with Hong Dae-young's twins, delaying her dream job of being a news announcer and postponing her college education. In present time, she is a 37-year-old mother to a pair of teenage twins who is getting fatigued of her husband's behavior. She files for a divorce alongside her job application at JBC to fulfill her dream despite being a mother in her late 30s. She is talented in martial arts, which she demonstrated since she was 18 years old. She gradually became troubled by her attraction towards her twins' 18-year-old friend "Go Woo-young", without knowing that Woo-young was actually her husband whose body reverted to his 18-year-old self. She later found out Woo-young's true identity and eventually reconciled with her husband when he once again reverted to his 37-year-old physical self in the finale of the series. Yoon Sang-hyun as Hong Dae-young (He is the drama counterpart of 37-year-old Mike O'Donnell, played by Matthew Perry in the original film) Jung Da-jung's husband, 37-year-old father of twins Shi-ah and Shi-woo, and a senior washing machine repairman. Dae-young was a handsome, popular and talented basketball star in Serim High School. However, he decided not to pursue his basketball career and bravely took responsibility to marry his pregnant classmate and girlfriend Jung Da-jung and be a young father to their twins. In the first years of family life, he struggled to earn money for his family's sustenance, consequently losing his handsome, youthful looks due to combined aging, exhaustion from his multiple jobs, and unhealthy lifestyles like alcohol, smoking, and anger issues. In the present, he is a 37-year-old father to a pair of teenage twins both of whom inherit his good looks, harkening back to when he was young. His life started going downhill when Da-jung files a divorce paper against him and he gets fired from his job by his nepotistic boss. Lee Do-hyun as 18-year-old Hong Dae-young turned Go Woo-young (He is the drama counterpart of 37-year-old Mike O'Donnell turned Mark Gold (Zac Efron) in the original film.) Wishing he could go back in time and fix his life, Hong Dae-young's 37-year-old body miraculously morphs into his 18-year-old body but retains his 37-year-old mindset and mannerisms. Dae-young starts living a new life as his best friend Go Deok-jin's son "Go Woo-young" (he pretended to be a homeschooled teenage son of Deok-jin who lived in United States with his non-existent mother) and attends Serim High School, his twins' school, as a Class 2-7 student. At first, he wants to fulfill his dream of being basketball star and accepted into college through a basketball scholarship. However, by attending their school, he gets to know things about his twins that he never knew before and, later, the true reason behind the crumbling bond between him and the family. He resolves to use this chance to protect his kids by befriending them and to do his best to be more present to the family despite his appearance as an 18-year-old boy. Later, Woo-young was offered a chance to receive a basketball scholarship and get admitted into Hankook University, but Woo-young ultimately decided to give up this chance as he chose his family as the more important thing to him (after realising it), and he thus transformed back to his 37-year-old self after leaving the school (under the pretext of returning to the USA) and confessing his true feelings to Da-jung, who earlier tried to convince him to accept this chance out of guilt for making him giving up his dream for her 19 years ago.
Supporting Dae-young and Da-jung's family Roh Jeong-eui as Hong Shi-ah The older twin daughter of Hong Dae-young and Jung Da-jung; a student of Class 2-7 in Serim High School. A pretty and popular girl at school but with a strong and rebellious personality, she frequently schemes Dae-young for her pocket money. In order to pursue her dream of being a makeup artist, she also works part-time in a convenience store without her parents' permission while only her friends and twin know about this, only to be caught by her father who runs into her while being in his 18-year-old body. Because of the incident in the convenience store, she was hostile towards him, especially when she finds that he (posing as Go Woo-young) is placed in her class. The bad blood between them was aggravated by Woo-young scolding her for her misbehaviour towards her father when she unknowingly confessed these mischievous acts to her friends in Woo-young's presence (without knowing that Woo-young was her father in disguise). However, as the series progressed, she was gradually touched by Woo-young's caring attitude and kindness towards her and start to befriend him, though she later confused Woo-young's kindness as romantic moves (without knowing he is her father). Despite her rebellious nature, she deeply loves and cares about her family, even blaming herself for her parents' crumbling relationship. Because of her late night part-time job, she always comes late to school, and is frequently being seen picking up trash or running in the school field as punishment. Even though she attracted both Seo Ji-ho (her childhood friend) and Goo Ja-sung (the high school basketball captain), however, she ends up with Ji-ho, as unlike her twin, she was generally less forgiving of Ja-sung and rejected his feelings for Ji-ho's due to her still remembering what Ja-sung did to Shi-woo in the past. Her hostility towards Ja-sung remains (though lesser compared to the past) even after he had sincerely sought and received forgiveness for his actions. Ryeoun as Hong Shi-woo The younger twin son of Hong Dae-young and Jung Da-jung; a student of Serim High School. Unlike his twin sister and despite his handsome look, Shi-woo is a school outcast and frequently being bullied by Goo Ja-sung and the basketball team. He is very talented in playing basketball and loves playing it just like Dae-young but he hides this fact from him because he feels inferior with his father's basketball talent. Because of being bullied and his family life, he initially shows a very cold personality and appears mostly in a gloomy mood. He meets his turned-18-year-old father (posing as Go Woo-young) at school when the latter saves him from being bullied by Ja-sung. He becomes best friends with Woo-young, who protects him from the bullies, plays basketball with him and encourages him to push forward with his basketball career. Through Woo-young, Shi-woo is able to elevate his crumbled self-esteem after being bullied and regains his smile. He also forgives Ja-sung after he apologises to him for bullying him and becomes friends with him and later the other basketball players. He is later accepted into the Hankook University through basketball scholarship, and grows into a popular basketball player with a bright career awaiting him, just like what his father wants when he was younger. Kim Mi-kyung as Yeo In-ja Jung Da-jung's mother. In-ja was very upset with the fact that her daughter was pregnant when she was at school. At first, she wanted Da-jung to abort her twins, but later decided to support her decision in keeping the twins and treating Hong Dae-young like her son. However, she is very upset with Dae-young and Da-jung's decision to divorce without consulting with her. To comfort Da-jung and the twins after her divorce, she lived in Da-jung's house with her grandson and granddaughter for some time. Lee Byung-joon as Hong Joo-man Hong Dae-young's father who is supportive to Dae-young's basketball career. Eighteen years ago, Joo-man, together with his wife, had kept his wife's failing health a secret from Dae-young in order not to distract him from achieving his basketball career; this makes Dae-young very upset later on when his mother ultimately dies. He aggravated Dae-young's resentment against him when asked Da-jung to abort the pregnancy, which then leads to Dae-young deciding to leave home and live with Da-jung. However, despite the strained relationship between him and Dae-young, he silently supports him through Da-jung by frequently sending her money to support the financially struggling teenage family. He later reconciles with 37-year-old Dae-young at the time when Dae-young's body is still in its 18-year-old form, after Dae-young, who was disguised as Go Woo-young, and emotionally revealed to his father his true self during a meeting between father and son after Woo-young and Shi-woo's basketball match.
People around Dae-young and Da-jung Wi Ha-joon as Ye Ji-hoon