NEW DELHI: Popular Korean superstar Lee Byung-hun, who is returning on Netflix after "Squid Game" with the new drama "Our Blues", says the multi-starrer series is about the scars that people carry with themselves and how they overcome these wounds.
A collaboration between popular writer Noh Hee-kyung and director Kim Kyu-tae of "It's Okay, That's Love" fame, "Our Blues" brings together an exciting cast of some of the biggest names in the Korean entertainment world.
Lee who has had an illustrious career with shows such as "A Bittersweet Life", "I Saw the Devil" and "Mr Sunshine" as well as Hollywood productions "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra" and "Red 2", will star as a Jeju Island-based truck maker in the omnibus-style drama about heartache and healing.
"People say every soul has a scar. This drama shows those scars and those scarred people. Living life means trying to forget those scars, trying to overcome them. People with wounds and how they overcome those scars will be manifested in the drama in a touching way and impart hope to the viewers," Lee told reporters during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday.
In the press conference that was live streamed on Netflix Korea's website, the actor also spoke about working with "Hometown Cha Cha Cha" star Shin Min-a for the third time.
Both the actors are paired together in the drama, which also stars Shin Min-a's real life boyfriend Kim Woo-bin.
"I first worked with Min-a in her debut piece. She was my younger sister and was it 'Beautiful Days? Yes, it was. Then we worked on "A Bittersweet Life" together where my character had unrequited love for her. Being in a romantic relationship or having our characters both like each other in a drama is the first time. It was amazing to work with her, we had great chemistry," the actor, who played the frontman on Netflix hit "Squid Game", said.
Shin Min-a, best known to Korean drama lovers for her role in shows such "My Girlfriend Is a Nine-Tailed Fox", "My Love, My Bride", "Oh My Venus", "Tomorrow, With You", "Chief of Staff" and "Hometown-Cha-Cha-Cha", said her chemistry with Lee is better this time.
Asked about taking on the role of a mother for the first time in her career, the 38-year-old actor said that was one of the main reasons for her to feature in the series.
"Min Seon-a (her character) is someone who is still dwelling in her pain. This was my first role as a mother of a child. There was more pressure on me to depict her emotional changes and how she overcomes her pain rather than the fact that she is a mother. Weirdly, I had an understanding of her character and mindset and I felt her pain and her will to overcome that."
"Seon-a's character was the biggest reason why I took on this piece. Her emotions and personality were relatable," Shin said.
Writer Noh, who is best known for penning shows such as "Live", "Dear My Friends", "It's Okay, That's Love", "That Winter, the Wind Blows" and "Worlds Within", said she decided to work on an omnibus format because she was tired to see stories revolve only around male and female pair in dramas.
"Omnibus style is something that I wanted to try on a drama series for over 10 years. I kind of got sick and tired of just seeing a male lead and a female lead. We're all the lead characters in our lives. But why is it that everything revolves around two people in a drama? Those questions led me to this style," the writer said.
Noh said she chose Jeju Island because there the Korean and local sentiments still remain intact and it has a closely-knit culture. Director Kim said the show felt like a hybrid between a drama series and a film and he decided to stick to the basics rather than go overboard.
"I got back to the basics and I wanted to go about it in the classic and sophisticated way. Nowadays we tend to see a lot of fancy video techniques or sometimes we just go for instant thrills and stimulus, but I wanted to focus more on characters, their stories and their emotions."
Actor Cha Seung-won, best known for hit shows such as "City Hall", "The Greatest Love" and "Hwayugi", plays the role of Choi Han-soo, who returns to his hometown of Jeju as a perfect urban man.
His first love is played by "Parasite" star Lee Jung-eun and her character owns a fish stall in the show.
The actor said there was no reason for him to say no to the drama that starred such great actors. "Director Kim told me that everyone here would be in it. I really couldn't believe that all of these actors would gather together to be in one drama. I feel happy and satisfied for the first time in a really long time."
Lee Jung-eun said she got a lot of help from senior actors whenever she felt stuck in a scene. She also learned the Jeju Island dialect as her character was born there.
Han Ji-min, who plays a newbie haenyeo, a term used to describe the female divers of the island whose livelihood depends on harvesting mollusks and seaweed, said it felt great to collaborate with writer Noh's again after "Padam Padam".
"Also this is my foray into an omnibus drama so the pressure is not just on me solely as I had a great cast to rely on," the actor, best known for romantic shows "Familiar Wife", " Hyde, Jekyll, Me" and "One Spring Night", said, Han said the best thing about writer Noh's shows is that her characters revolve around ordinary people and their lives.
"A Witch's Love" star Uhm Jung-hwa said it was in her bucket list to star in a show written by Noh and that became possible with "Our Blues". Her character in the series is a loyal friend to Lee's character. The tvN drama will start streaming on Netflix India from April 9.