Kim Go-eun cries better than almost anyone in the industry. It’s a fact. When she’s on screen in the cast of Little Women 2022 TV series, you aren’t just watching a character; you’re feeling the literal weight of poverty pressing down on her shoulders. That’s the magic of this specific South Korean adaptation. It took Louisa May Alcott’s 19th-century classic, threw it into a blender with high-stakes corporate embezzlement and a creepy orchid cult, and came out with something that feels dangerously modern.
The show works because of the chemistry. Honestly, if the casting had been off by even a fraction, the whole "blue orchid" mystery would have felt ridiculous. Instead, it’s a masterpiece.
Meet the Sisters: The Core Cast of Little Women 2022 TV Series
Kim Go-eun plays Oh In-joo. She’s the eldest. In-joo is obsessed with money, but not out of greed—it’s out of a desperate, bone-deep exhaustion from being poor. Kim Go-eun, who many know from Goblin or The King: Eternal Monarch, brings this frantic, jittery energy to the role. You see it in her eyes. When she finds that 70 billion won, you don't judge her for wanting to keep it. You kind of want her to run.
Then there’s Nam Ji-hyun as Oh In-kyung. She’s the middle sister and a total contrast to In-joo. In-kyung is a journalist. She’s stubborn. Like, really stubborn. Nam Ji-hyun has been acting since she was a kid, and it shows in her poise. She plays In-kyung as someone who would rather starve than lose her integrity. It’s a tough role because In-kyung can be prickly and even annoying to some viewers, but Nam Ji-hyun makes her righteousness feel like a survival mechanism.
Park Ji-hu rounds out the trio as the youngest, Oh In-hye. Fresh off her breakout in All of Us Are Dead, Park plays the "baby" of the family who is suffocated by her sisters' love. She’s a painting prodigy. She’s also kind of cold. She wants to escape the "poverty smell" of her home, even if it means selling her soul to a wealthy, villainous family.
The Man Everyone Was Talking About
We have to talk about Wi Ha-joon. Playing Choi Do-il, he became the internet's collective crush for a few months in 2022. Is he a villain? Is he a hero? Does he actually love In-joo, or is he just looking for the cash?
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Wi Ha-joon plays Do-il with this incredibly frustrating, subtle smirk. He’s a money launderer with a moral compass that points... somewhere. His chemistry with Kim Go-eun was so thick you could cut it with a knife, even though the show famously has almost zero actual romance. It’s all in the glances. That’s top-tier acting.
The Villains Who Stole the Show
A thriller is only as good as its bad guys. The Park family in this series is terrifying.
Eom Ki-joon plays Park Jae-sang. If you watched The Penthouse, you already know he’s the king of playing sophisticated monsters. Here, he’s a politician with a dark past. But the real standout? Uhm Ji-won as his wife, Won Sang-ah.
She is brilliant. Truly.
Won Sang-ah starts as this flighty, elegant socialite and slowly morphs into something much more sinister. The way Uhm Ji-won shifts her vocal tone when the "mask" slips is chilling. She manages to make Sang-ah sympathetic and utterly loathsome at the same time. It’s a masterclass in nuance.
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Why This Specific Ensemble Worked
Most people expected a cozy retelling. They got a noir mystery. The cast of Little Women 2022 TV series had to navigate a plot that involved "suicide by orchid," historical conspiracies involving the Vietnam War, and massive financial fraud.
- Kang Hoon played Ha Jong-ho, the childhood friend of In-kyung. He provided the only "warm" spot in a very cold show. His puppy-dog devotion was the palate cleanser we needed between scenes of people falling off buildings.
- Kim Mi-sook as the Great Aunt. She brought that "old money" gravitas. Every time she was on screen, the stakes felt higher.
- Chu Ja-hyun as Jin Hwa-young. Even though she’s technically a guest role, her presence haunts every single episode. She is the catalyst. Without her mysterious, tragic, and complex performance in the first two episodes, there is no show.
The production design helped, sure. The cinematography was gorgeous. But without the cast, it’s just a bunch of pretty people in nice suits talking about accounting. These actors made us care about the math of the plot.
The Connection to the Original Book
It’s interesting how director Kim Hee-won and writer Chung Seo-kyung (who wrote The Handmaiden, by the way) translated the archetypes.
In-joo is Meg, but instead of just wanting a nice dress, she wants a life where she doesn't have to check her bank balance before buying eggs. In-kyung is Jo, but her "writing" is investigative reporting that takes down corrupt empires. In-hye is Amy, but her artistic ambition is literal survival. Beth? Well, the show handles the "lost sister" trope in a way that’s much darker than a simple bout of scarlet fever.
Real-World Impact and Reception
When it aired on tvN and Netflix, it wasn't just another hit. It was a cultural moment. The "blue orchid" became an icon. The fashion—specifically the velvet shoes and In-joo’s cheap-but-trying coats—became talking points in fashion circles.
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Critics praised the cast for their restraint. In many K-dramas, the acting can get "big" or melodramatic. In Little Women, everything is simmering under the surface. It’s tense. It’s quiet. Then, it explodes.
Things You Might Have Missed
- Kim Go-eun actually did her own stunts in several of the more physical sequences.
- The relationship between the three sisters was built on genuine off-camera bonding; they often posted photos together during filming that showed a much lighter side than the show’s grim tone.
- Wi Ha-joon has mentioned in interviews that he deliberately played Do-il to be "unreadable" to keep the audience guessing until the final ten minutes.
If you haven't watched it yet, you're missing out on the best ensemble performance of that year. It’s 12 episodes of absolute precision.
How to Appreciate the Series Today
If you’re planning a rewatch or diving in for the first time, keep these points in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Watch the background characters: Many of the "minor" players in the Jeongran Society have connections that aren't spelled out until the very end.
- Track the money: The show is obsessed with the specific numbers. Pay attention to how the "70 billion" is discussed—it’s treated like a character itself.
- Analyze the color palettes: Each sister has a distinct color associated with her wardrobe and surroundings, which subtly shifts as they gain or lose power.
- Look for the "Handmaiden" influence: Since the writer worked on Park Chan-wook’s films, the themes of class struggle and female solidarity are woven deep into the dialogue.
The best way to experience the cast of Little Women 2022 TV series is to ignore the "adaptation" label and treat it as a standalone psychological thriller. It honors the spirit of the March sisters while giving them the agency to fight back against a world that wants to keep them small.