[TRANS] 180411 tvN drama ‘My Mister’ Press Conference - Director Kim Won Seok, Lee Jieun, Lee Sun Gyun, Park Ho San, Song Sae Byuk
On 11th April, director Kim Won Seok, Lee Sun Gyun, Lee Jieun, Park Ho San and Song Sae Byuk attended the press conference for tvN Wed - Thurs drama ‘My Mister’ that was held in Times Square, YeongDeungPo, Seoul.
Director Kim Won Seok said, “4 years ago before writing ‘Another Oh Hae Young’, writer Park Hae Young wrote 4 episodes of script for ‘My Mister’. I would have done such drama earlier if I knew it existed.”
On this day, the ‘My Mister’ crew showed up on the stage of the press conference and dressed in their drama characters. Actor Lee Sun Gyun explained, “We decided to hold this press conference after half of the drama being broadcasted. It was Jieun’s idea to dress in our characters. Though we could have dressed up more beautifully, we concluded that the idea of the drama will be delivered well if we dress like this.”
Later, actress Lee Jieun shared her first impression on ‘My Mister’. She said, “I received the synopsis of ‘My Mister’ last year. I only got to go through four episodes of the script because I had a hectic schedule at that time. Though the scripted lines were riveting and amazeballs, my mind was clouded with concern of my performances. ‘Will I be able to do well? Not only that I’ve never tried portraying a character like Ji-an, but I’m physically exhausted too.’ Because of that, I wavered a bit and couldn’t give an accurate response to the offer right away.”
Lee Jieun continued, “As a singer, I am aware of the controversy following an album I released as well. I thought that if I fall short to deliver the message in my work smoothly, and if I don’t introspect myself more as a producer, someone might get offended. I tried to be solid about it. That’s when I made a decision to have more self-awareness. So I asked the director, ‘Do you know about the controversy surrounding me? The drama might get involved and stand out more due to the controversy, so it is alright to cast me?’ I also thought about the negative impact I could have on the drama. As a reader, I couldn’t find any problem within the script. But I thought that if I am to portray Ji-an’s character, the drama will definitely have to suffer from unnecessary controversy all because of me, so I didn’t want to be casted at first.
If I felt that the script itself wasn’t good enough, and that the script couldn’t keep a clear conscience within itself when it got intertwined with my controversy, I would have turned down the offer. However, judging it from my perspective, it felt like a good script with no love but just great people. During our first meeting, the director reassured me too. The reassurance sounded so reliable to me, which boosted my confidence too. So I told him ‘If you really need me, I would do my best for it. The director reassured me that at the very least, I will be able to learn a lot and become more mature from this project when it ends. His simple words sounded so trustworthy. I trust him without question.”
When asked about her thoughts on her character, Lee Jieun said, “In the beginning, when I had to immerse myself in my role, Ji-an who has lots of scars from the past, I felt like I was assimilated and swayed away by her character. So the director gave me lots of help and advice. Just like Ji-an is meeting with elders and becoming more mature in the drama, my heart and thoughts are getting lighter and brighter too. I’ve been learning more than ever throughout the process of acting as Ji-an on the set of drama. Ji-an is a quick-witted protagonist, she goes around causing troubles, controversies and even put Dong Hoon in danger in the beginning of the drama. Ji-an isn’t the type to simply get more cheerful just because Dong Hoon told her that she was kind. I think every incident or event that begins with Ji-an is quite unique, so the plot intrigues me. Be that as it may, Ji-an is still right. The way she deals with everything objectively instead of justifying it is super enthralling too. So I thought I’d definitely learn and become more mature if I could pull off this character well.
After hearing actress Lee Jieun’s humble thoughts, director Kim Won Seok continued, “When I asked Jieun to appear in the drama, she asked me, ‘PD, there was such controversy surrounding me. Is it still okay for me to participate in this drama?’ So I told her I’m fine with it and asked her not to worry. Because of that, I feel so thankful and apologetic towards Jieun. Jieun contributed a lot to this drama. I feel bad that her old controversy is resurfacing again. Still, I think I made the right decision to persuade her to appear in this drama. There’s nothing much to talk about Jieun because no words can be used to describe her. But, I’ll say this one thing about her. Compare to how Jieun interprets and expresses Ji-an, my way of describing Ji-an’s character is always lacking.” Director Kim shed tears as he shared his emotional thoughts. Upon seeing that, the actors burst into laughter as they couldn’t handle his adorable side.
Lee Sun Gyun expressed his gratitude towards his co-star, actress Lee Jieun. He said, “It’s great to work with Jieun. As Lee Ji-an isn’t an easy character to portray, she even did a camera test before the first shooting. We stood in front of the camera and faced each other without muttering any lines. The whole atmosphere was kind of awkward since it was our first time meeting with the staff members too. Despite all of that, Jieun totally transformed into Ji-an. From what I saw, she was determined to usher in this project. Lee Jieun and Lee Ji-an were 100% in sync. Her hardworking side gave me reassurance, so I felt grateful towards her too.”
In the beginning, the drama got misunderstood for allegedly glorifying the act of having affairs. Also, it was criticized by viewers for including sensitive set up such as ‘phone-tapping’ and ‘female violence’.
In response to the issue, director Kim admitted that no doubt he felt pressured about it. He explained, “I felt highly pressured. Nevertheless, I think ‘My Mister’ is an extension of all the other works I’ve done so far. It is a story about life and people meeting with people. I wanted to tell a story that changes the lives of people bit by bit. I also took the male viewers into consideration when starting this project in hopes that men, especially Korean men would be able to watch this drama and relate to it too. ‘My Mister’ isn’t all about middle-aged men, though there’s a heroine too, it’s a story about man and woman meeting up, communicating and becoming a precious existence to each other.”
Director Kim continued, “Though lots of misunderstandings were solved, but not completely. We wouldn’t know if all the misunderstandings would be cleared up completely in the future or not. From what I felt, there are people who are finally starting to grasp the reason the drama is titled ‘My Mister’. Though there are people who use the “My” in “My Mister” to describe their love ones such as “My Man”, it could be used to describe someone who’s precious to us like ‘My Mom’, ‘My Friend’, ‘My Family’ or ‘My Neighbour’ too. That’s what I thought of while making the drama. The story is basically about one becoming someone precious to others. People who just don’t seem to fit each other, strangely go along well because of the precious feelings and emotions they have for each other. As I read the script, I fell in love with the emotions within it and was pretty much determined to direct this drama in hopes that the emotions could be delivered to the viewers too. As of now, writer Park Hae Young has completed 14 episodes of the script for ‘My Mister’. I’m working on to delivering the story in the best way possible to the viewers, so please do anticipate.”
Director Kim gave explanation for all recent misunderstandings. He clarified, “phone-tapping and violence are certainly wrong. It shouldn’t even exist in the first place. The purpose of showing all of the wrong-doings was neither trying to glorify nor rationalize them. It was a medium to make the story even more dramatic. In the case of ‘phone-tapping’, it was a set up used to get to know and understand someone completely. This equipment was used in other great movies too. I hope what we are trying to deliver with sincerity through phone-tapping and violence can reach the hearts of viewers one day.”
Lee Jieun shared her thoughts on the drama’s set up. She said, “Ji-an spies into Dong Hoon’s activities and is embroiled in violence. As I have to feel and behave like Ji-an, I focused on making out the reason behind all her actions instead of insisting to convey the message from it while expressing her character. Objectively speaking, I didn’t think those actions would lead the viewers to think that ‘Oh, let’s eavesdrop on someone’ or ‘Violence is great’. I thought the viewers would think of something like ‘That’s not right!’, ‘So such terrifying reality do exist huh? or ‘It’s unethical to do such things!’. I didn’t think people would assume that we were trying to shield or cover up such crimes too. So I just got into my role and acted everything out naturally. I’m sure everyone knows Ji-an’s action is wrong. After the drama ends, I hope the characters in ‘My Mister’ will continue to live well somewhere in this world too.”
Director Kim Won Seok added, “I think ‘My Mister’ is a comedy. Comedy is the most challenging genre yet something I wanted to do the most. To me, a smile that comes from an awfully harsh reality is what makes it a comedy. It’s a reality because it’s always tough and depressing, and consists of thousands of realistic stories. In fact, what I wanted to convey through these true stories is after all, ‘smile’. So this is something the viewers can look forward to as well.”
When asked him to predict My Mister’s ratings, director Kim replied, “I have a feeling that the ratings will surpass the ratings of ‘Misaeng’ and ‘Signal’. Truthfully, it was rather challenging to organize and schedule this drama in tvN. Regardless of all the obstacles, I think this drama will get high ratings too. The amount of calls I’ve received from the broadcast authorities because of this drama is distinctly more than any other works I’ve done so far.”
Translated by 4seasonswithIU (IUteamstarcandy)
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