JTBC held a production presentation for its new weekend drama Reborn Rookie on the afternoon of the 28th at The Link Seoul in Guro District, and the cast and director used the event to show how the series will hinge on an unlikely pairing: a veteran chairman and a young soccer player whose lives collide.
The timing matters because the show is slated to premiere on May 30, and the presentation was the first public moment for viewers to size up Lee Jun-young’s much-discussed turn as Hwang Junhyun — the soccer player who joins Choi Sung FC and ends up swapping souls with Kang Yong-ho, the company chairman played by Son Hyun-joo.
Lee Jun-young, who spoke at the presentation alongside director Go Hye-jin and co-stars Lee Ju-myoung, Jeon Hye-jin and Jin Goo, described a hands-on preparation. He said he spent time with Son Hyun-joo before the script reading, watched many of the senior actor’s videos, and then trained on the pitch between shoots. “Whenever I had time between shoots, I went to practice soccer. I also took soccer lessons and practiced the celebrations,” Lee said, stressing the physical work behind the role.
Director Go framed the show’s premise plainly: it is a soul-swap fantasy that also aims to be a story about family and life. “It tells the story of a person who once stood at the very top joining the company as a low-level employee and looking back on the reality of the workplace, family, and life,” she said, adding that she wanted the series to make viewers say, “So this is what a Kim Soon-ok drama can be like.” The drama is based on the web novel Reborn Rookie by Sang Yeong, with Kim Soon-ok attached as creator.
Lee Jun-young was careful to draw the line between studying Son Hyun-joo’s manner and outright mimicry. He said he watched a lot of Son’s performances after meeting him but “rather than trying to imitate him or do a Son Hyun-joo impression, I naturally used his way of speaking in everyday life. I didn't try to force it.” That distinction matters because the role requires Lee to channel Kang Yong-ho’s personality while still playing a young athlete inhabiting another man’s memories and impulses.
The presentation also highlighted the show’s interpersonal stakes. Lee Jun-young said he will share a father-daughter dynamic on screen with Lee Ju-myoung — who plays Kang Bang-geul, a hidden member of the chaebol family — and praised her preparation and responsibility. He recalled Son Hyun-joo calling him on his first day of filming and telling him, “From now on, you're Kang Yong-ho, so just do whatever you want. Don't make it too difficult,” a remark Lee described as freeing rather than prescriptive.
Beyond the body-swap setup, the production positioned Reborn Rookie as a hybrid: soccer scenes and celebrations sit alongside a corporate succession battle at the center of the plot. The combination pairs Lee Jun-young, who has emerged as one of 2025’s breakout actors, with Son Hyun-joo, an established lead, and the presentation made clear the series intends to test whether that pairing can carry both the genre twist and the heavy family drama around it.
When Reborn Rookie premieres on May 30, viewers will deliver the verdict. Given Lee Jun-young’s visible training, the veteran endorsement from Son Hyun-joo and the creative team’s pitch at the production presentation, his performance is positioned to be the show’s hinge — the point that will decide whether the series cements him beyond his breakout roles or simply counts as another high-profile experiment.
