Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| A scene from "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo" / Courtesy of MBC |
By Kim Jae-heun
 |
| Lee Sung-kyung poses during an interview at a cafe in Hapjeong, western Seoul, last week. / Courtesy of YG Entertainment |
 |
| Nam Joo-hyukposes during an interview at a cafe in Hapjeong, western Seoul, last week. / Courtesy of YG Entertainment |
Although the drama's viewer rating only recorded 5.2 percent on its last episode according to Nielson Korea, which is not considered as high for a show on a public TV network, Lee and Nam said they could not be more fortunate to portray the characters they have played for the last three months.
"We did not have any expectations for the audience rating as we were still newcomers and we would be playing cute characters the viewers could meet in their daily lives," said Lee during the interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Hapjeong, western Seoul, Friday. "The drama depicted the innocent and pure relationship of athlete students and we wanted to make a respectable product. As it was a coming-of-age drama, we were able to put ourselves aside and have fun rather than worry about the viewers' rating," said Lee.
Lee, a model-turned-actress, stands 174 centimeters tall and weighs 54 kilograms _ remarkably lightweight for an amateur weightlifter. Lee had to gain an extra five kilograms to barely fit her character as a thin female weightlifter.
Many audiences doubted that Lee's physical condition would fit the heroine character of the story of "Kim Bok-joo," which took inspiration from the Korean weightlifting Olympian Jang Mi-ran.
However, the actress focused on her acting rather than her appearance to calm the controversy over her casting.
"Of course, I made many efforts such as consistently gaining weight throughout the scenes and going to the gym every morning to practice weightlifting. But, I focused more heavily on acting Bok-joo's life and emotions so that people could immerse themselves into the story better. I actually lived like Bok-joo," Lee said.
Unlike Lee, her partner Nam Joo-hyuk did not have too much difficulty in adapting himself to the role of an elite swimmer Jung Joon-hyung. Jung is a talented swimmer with a playful personality and the best friend of Bok-joo in the story.
"Playing Joon-hyung made me think of my childhood a lot. I was a basketball player and a swimmer at school," said Nam during the interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday. "It gave me a chance to refresh my mindset."
"Also Joon-hyung's personality and mind are quite similar in that we both don't show our feelings easily. We are playful and behave naughtily sometimes but we take care of our friends behind the scenes," said Nam.
Whereas Lee gained weight, Nam said he lost five kilograms due to a packed schedule. Nam did not have time to work out while shooting the TV series and he had to swim in many scenes. He ultimately chose to sleep rather than eat during his free time, which resulted in weight loss.
Nam focused on various sides of the character in his portrayal of Joon-hyung and did not limit himself to a one dimensional portrayal.
"I wanted to be cute, cool, handsome and playful. I wanted to make Joon-hyung a charming person in the story," said Nam.
