| Genre: | Romance Comedy Fantasy |
| Director: | Shin Woo-chul Kwon Hyuk-chan |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 80 minutes |
| Executive Producer: | Oh Se-kang |
| Producer: | Yoon Hye-rim |
| Starring: | Ha Ji-won Hyun Bin Yoon Sang-hyun Kim Sa-rang |
| Opentheme: | Secret Garden |
| Endtheme: | Appear by Kim Bum-soo That Woman by Baek Ji-young That Man by Hyun Bin |
| Music: | Choi Seung-wook |
| Country: | South Korea |
| Language: | Korean |
| Company: | Hwa&Dam Pictures |
| Network: | SBS TV |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
Secret Garden is a 2010 South Korean television drama starring Ha Ji-won, Hyun Bin, Yoon Sang-hyun, and Kim Sa-rang. It aired on SBS from November 13, 2010 to January 16, 2011, on Saturdays and Sundays at 22:00 (KST) for 20 episodes.[1] [2] [3] [4]
A rationalizing Cinderella story between Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won), a stuntwoman, and Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin), a high-end department store CEO.
While trying to resolve a scandal involving Joo-won's cousin, Oska (Yoon Sang-hyun), (a famous singer), Ra-im and Joo-won meet and he finds himself stunned by her coolness. Joo-won does not understand why Ra-im is constantly on his mind, and decides to pursue her. Though she initially is repelled by him, Ra-im gradually starts reciprocating his feelings.
As two different worlds collide, Ra-im and Joo-won gradually learn about each other's worlds. Joo-won's mother does not want them to love each other. Despite his mother's objections, they get married.
Meanwhile, Oska reunites with his first love, Yoon Seul (Kim Sa-rang), who has made a successful directing career for herself. However, Yoon Seul wants nothing to do with Oska, and instead has her eyes set on Joo-won. The story gets even more complicated and when Ra-im and Joo-won magically start switching bodies.
Tough but secretly lonely, Gil Ra-im works as a stunt woman for an action school that is run by director Im Jong-soo. Due to her father's death when she was in high school, she works hard and doesn't like relying on other people. Her one obsession is Oska, a famous Hallyu star. She meets the arrogant CEO, Kim Joo-won and although she initially dislikes him, their body swap brings about confusing feelings.
The CEO of a high-end departmental store, he is good-looking but arrogant. A childhood trauma caused him to have a defective memory and claustrophobia, causing him to be unable to take lifts. As a rational person, he always seeks answers and solutions to explain things that happen to him. When he meets the spunky Gil Ra-im, he is left confused as he does not understand why she is constantly on his mind. He also finds it hard to accept that she does not seem to care about him or what he is going through because of her.
A famous Hallyu star who is slowly losing his popularity. He is Joo-won's cousin, as well as the first love of Yoon Seul. Frivolous and free-spirited, Oska used to rely on his charming looks and money, but seeing Seul again and discovering new talent in a young man named Tae-sun triggers something inside him, causing him to change.
Oska's first love. She is a music video director. Unable to forgive Oska, she is bent on making him hurt as much as possible. However nearing the end of the series, they decided to give each other a chance to make dreams happen.
The director of an action school. Having studied abroad, Im Jong-soo speaks English fluently and is well connected with Hollywood. Despite his gruff and rough exterior, he cares about his stunt actors deeply and looks out for them. He holds a soft spot for Ra-im, who is oblivious to his feelings.
A young genius musician discovered by Oska in Jeju Island. Prickly and cold, he initially rebuffs Oska's attempts to recruit him. It is later revealed that he is gay and Oska becomes his muse.
Ra-im's best friend who shares a loft with her. She works at the department store Joo-won owns.
Joo-won's long-suffering assistant who has a crush on Im Ah-young.
Joo-won's mother.
Oska's mother.
Joo-won's sister who has a crush on Jong-soo.
Joo-won's grandfather. Chairman of Loel Department Store.
Joo-won's subordinate as well as great grand uncle. He aims to overthrow Joo-won as president and take over his position.
Moon Chang-soo's fourth wife, Park Bong-ho's sister.
Oska's long-suffering manager.
Oska's assistant.
Joo-won's psychiatrist and long-term friend.
Ra-im's senior (sunbae) at the action school.
Park Bong-ho's assistant.
Member of action school.
| Secret Garden OST | |
| Type: | soundtrack |
| Artist: | Various Artists |
| Label: | Sony Group Achieve Group DN |
The drama received positive response from critics and audience for its story, comedy, performance of cast especially of leads Hyun Bin, Yoon Sang-hyun and Ha Ji-won and production values. Secret Garden was a huge ratings success, with an estimation of more than 20 billion won worth of economic effect. Hyun Bin's portrayal as Kim Joo-won created a "Hyun Bin Syndrome" as his name and face were plastered everywhere, from newspapers to television and the internet.[5] [6] It won a number of awards at both the 2010 SBS Drama Awards and the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards, including "Grand Prize (Daesang)" for Hyun Bin.
| Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nielsen Korea[7] | TNmS[8] | |||||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul | |||
| 1 | November 13, 2010 | 17.2% | 18.3% | 16.1% | 16.5% | |
| 2 | November 14, 2010 | |||||
| 3 | November 20, 2010 | 18.2% | 19.8% | 17.9% | 18.9% | |
| 4 | November 21, 2010 | 21.5% | 24.1% | 20.0% | 20.8% | |
| 5 | November 27, 2010 | 23.6% | 25.5% | 25.4% | 26.3% | |
| 6 | November 28, 2010 | 20.9% | 22.9% | 25.2% | 25.6% | |
| 7 | December 4, 2010 | 22.2% | 24.1% | 24.1% | 24.7% | |
| 8 | December 5, 2010 | 22.3% | 24.3% | 24.6% | 24.8% | |
| 9 | December 11, 2010 | 24.7% | 27.0% | 27.0% | 27.8% | |
| 10 | December 12, 2010 | 25.1% | 27.5% | 28.0% | 28.7% | |
| 11 | December 18, 2010 | 23.7% | 25.3% | 27.0% | 28.2% | |
| 12 | December 19, 2010 | 24.7% | 27.3% | 28.2% | 29.2% | |
| 13 | December 25, 2010 | 22.1% | 23.3% | 24.4% | 25.0% | |
| 14 | December 26, 2010 | 24.1% | 26.1% | 26.5% | 27.1% | |
| 15 | January 1, 2011 | 26.6% | 29.5% | 23.0% | 29.3% | |
| 16 | January 2, 2011 | 26.9% | 29.9% | 23.9% | 29.9% | |
| 17 | January 8, 2011 | 28.1% | 30.5% | 23.8% | 30.0% | |
| 18 | January 9, 2011 | 30.6% | 33.0% | 27.4% | 34.1% | |
| 19 | January 15, 2011 | 33.0% | 35.3% | 29.1% | 35.0% | |
| 20 | January 16, 2011 | |||||
| Average | ||||||
It aired on GMA Network from May 2 to July 29, 2011, on weeknights at 22:00 PST.[9] Each episode runs 45 minutes including commercial breaks. The entire series was dubbed in Filipino.
It aired on B-Channel from March 17 to June 24, 2012, on weeknights at 21:00.
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama Special | |||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Special | ||||
| Netizen Popularity Award - Drama | Secret Garden | |||
| Netizen Popularity Award - Actor | ||||
| Netizen Popularity Award - Actress | ||||
| Top 10 Stars | ||||
| Best Couple Award | ||||
| 2011 | Grand Prize | |||
| Secret Garden | ||||
| Shin Woo-chul | ||||
| 6th Seoul International Drama Awards[11] | Outstanding Korean Director | Shin Woo-chul | ||
| Outstanding Korean Actor | ||||
| Outstanding Korean Actress | ||||
| Outstanding Korean Screenwriter | ||||
| Outstanding Korean Drama OST | ||||
| Grand Prize (Daesang) | Secret Garden | |||
| Best Director | Shin Woo-chul | |||
| Best Actress | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress | ||||
| Best Writer | ||||
| 24th Grimae Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Heo Dae-sun, Lee Seung-chun (camera directors) | ||
| Best Actress | ||||
| Best Lighting Director | Park Man-chang | |||
| Prime Minister's Award in the Field of Broadcasting |
Big Bang made a parody based on this drama with the title Secret Big Bang, starring G-Dragon as Ji Ra-im and T.O.P as Kim Joo-tap.[12]
In China, a film remake with the same title was released in 2012 starring Wallace Chung, Tan Weiwei and Korean singer Kangta.
In Thailand, a remake with the title Secret Garden Thailand was released in 2016 starring Ananda Everingham and Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul.[13]