The six actors of TV series "Bad Guy"

Director Lee Hyung-min talks about the six actors in TV series "Bad Guy"

Rain and Kong Hyo-jin in KBS TV series "Sang Doo! Let's Go To School", So Ji-sub and Lim Soo-jung in "I'm Sorry, I Love You", Hyun Bin and Sung Yu-ri in "The Snow Queen". Director Lee Hyung-min of TV series "Bad Guy" is one who possesses an exceptional form of "feeling" that has brought out maximum synergy effect from his lead actors in many of his previous hit dramas. Here the director talks about the respective charms of six interesting actors, whom he has gathered for "Bad Guy"; Kim Nam-gil, who has become one of the most sought-after stars after playing "Bi-dam" in MBC's "Queen Seon-deok"; Han Ga-in, who is making a comeback after a three-year hiatus; Oh Yeon-soo, who gave a convincing portrayal of a married woman in MBC's "Sweet Life"; Kim Jae-wook who has a unique and exotic character; newcomer Jung So-min, who studied theater at Korea National University of Arts; and young actress Shim Eun-kyung who has proved her acting skills in many dramas and films.

About Kim Nam-gil :
Kim Nam-gil is an actor who gives off a vibe that is hard to define -- he is an intense actor, regardless of the fact that he is good or bad. I think he possess an intense, primal image like the one Alain Delon showed when he was seducing women or sunbathing on a yacht in the film "Plein Soleil". I think he will do well in "Bad Guy" since he pulled off Bi-dam, but the character Gun-wook [in "Bad Guy"] will probably feel different from Bi-dam for him. When I was trying to come up with a title for the drama, I thought about how it would go with the actor and I felt "Kim Nam-gil's 'Bad Guy'" sounded good together. He is not very muscular but he has a great physique, and I like how he looks and moves wearing a fit suit.

About Han Ga-in :
I heard that she got good grades in school, and she really is smart and talks well. Jae-in is not a character that was often seen in previous dramas. There are some parts that have been glamorized since a drama has to be liked by many viewers, but Jae-in is an extremely realistic and materialistic character, who shows a certain aspect of an average woman living in Seoul. To describe her in a crude way, she is from the north side of the [Han] river who dreams of making it to the Gangnam district and something happens in her life that lets her express that desire. Up until now, Han Ga-in has had a very pretty and clean image, like a crystal, but she is working hard to transform her image in this drama and I am incredibly satisfied as her director. But she doesn't have to try so hard to seem real, like wearing ugly clothes. (laugh) When we were shooting in Japan, she had a little injury where her eye rims got a little torn. It is an extremely sensitive thing for an actress to get injured on their face, and I hadn't worked with her in the past so I didn't really know what to do. I approached her carefully, thinking she might be a bit of the high-maintenance type, but her first words were "I think we should shoot the scene quickly, I feel that it's going to swell up." So we shot her from the 45-degree angle to cover the injured side and finished the shoot. But the next day, she went to the hospital and in the evening, when we were filming a jogging scene with Jae-wook and Nam-gil, she showed up at the set with ice cream even though she didn't have any scenes to shoot. I was very grateful.

About Oh Yeon-su :
I have never worked with her but I have always thought she is a truly remarkable actress and wanted to work with her. Tae-ra is the eldest daughter of a conglomerate family who wed her husband through an arranged marriage, but she changes when she meets Gun-wook. They say that when a woman has an affair, she feels more apologetic toward her child than her husband, so I think there will be a lot to show in her relationship with her daughter and many female viewers who are married will relate to her character. There is a slight age difference between Tae-ra and Gun-wook, but the story is very vulgar so she has to be attractive in a sexual way. There aren't many actresses in Korea who can play this part but I thought Oh Yeon-su would be the best out of them.

About Kim Jae-wook :
For the character Tae-sung, I actually wanted to find a new face rather than hiring a busy working actor. Kim Jae-wook appeared in "The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince" and "Antique" and also does modeling and music work. When I met him, he seemed very appealing and passionate so that is how we came to work together. Tae-sung is a son of a conglomerate family who is a little crazy, and Kim expresses that side incredibly well and he has a lot of charms. Unlike his image in previous dramas, he actually has an extremely masculine personality and he has gotten very close with Nam-gil, whom he really likes. (laugh) Of course, he gets along well with the actresses too.

About Jung So-min :
She is an actress who is making her debut through our drama. She is a junior at Korea National University of Arts, a great dancer and has a little experience in movies. I thought the part of Monet should be played by someone who has a clean, innocent feeling and energy, and I like Jung So-min's pure face. There are many actors who undergo plastic surgery these days but I like her face, which doesn't look like it had surgery and has a certain young vibe to it.

About Shim Eun-kyung :
She appeared as a young Sujini in MBC TV series "Taewangsashingi" and starred as the main character in KBS' "Kyung Sook, Kyung Sook's Father". She plays Moon Won-in, the younger sister of Han Ga-in's character Moon Jae-in. She was actually the first to be cast for "Bad Guy" and although she is not the main character, I think she is a really good actress.

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr, Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr