| Park Yoo-chun talks about his role in the drama "The Girl Who Sees Smells" at a press conference, Friday. / Courtesy of SBS |
By Kim Jae-heun
Park Yoo-chun, a member of boy band JYJ, and actor Namkoong Min said they want to switch roles in the next series of the drama "The Girl Who Sees Smells," on Friday during a press conference held at a cafe in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
"I want to play Kwon Jae-hui (the chef character played by Namkoong, who is a serial killer). I have done detective characters like Choi Mu-gak a number of times," said Park. "I watched an episode of our drama on TV and Namkoong's character Kwon looked cool when his eyes glared red. I want to play a villain."
Namkoong, who has had enough of acting villains _ including a man who rapes and kills his wife in the 2007 movie "Beautiful Sunday" and a movie director who betrays his old friend in the 2006 film "A Dirty Carnival" _ took Park's answer and returned wittily.
"I want to be a detective in my next work," said Namkoong. "I expected some romance but my character did not get involved in any relationship in this drama."
The multi-genre television series has been airing on national broadcasting network SBS since April 1, starring actresses Shin Se-kyung and Yoon Jin-seo as lead roles along with Park and Namkoong.
The surrealistic drama features the story of a romance between detective Choi (played by Park) and Choi Eun-seol, who later adopts the new identity of Oh Cho-rim (Shin). Choi Mu-gak's younger sister and Oh's parents were killed by a serial killer Kwon (Namkoong) and Choi loses his sense of smell, taste and ability to feel pain from the trauma of his sister's death, while Oh gains the supernatural ability to see smells, which becomes crucial to following the killer's trail from murder scenes.
The 12th episode of the drama aired last Thursday and four more are due until the finale. The actors are on a tight filming schedule, shooting episodes in the daytime that then air in the evening.
"We just finished shooting our 12th yesterday and enjoyed it the most," Park said. "Although we didn't get enough sleep, the whole process went smoothly. All the staff and seniors had good relationships."
All four actors and actresses denied knowing how the story ends. Namkoong, a serial killer, particularly refused to give away any spoilers and said "I am curious myself."
"The writers gives us scripts for each episode on the spot. I don't know if Jae-hee will get caught eventually or not. But so far, he has managed to escape every crisis," Namkoong said.
Park also commented on the recent issue of his team member Kim Jun-su performing on a network broadcaster's music program for the first time in six years, EBS' "Space Sympathy" last month. JYJ _ a three-member boy band consisting of Park, Kim and Kim Jae-joong from TVXQ _ has had limited promotion and coverage in the media due to their former agency's interference that resulted in a ban on the group appearing on all three main terrestrial broadcasters.
"I want to congratulate Jun-su that he sang on a TV music show. I know the situation (for JYJ) will get better, so don't take it too seriously. I am grateful when both an agency and an entertainer can work in a better condition," said Park, who is currently concentrating on his acting career.
"The Girl Who Sees Smells" airs on SBS every Wednesday and Thursday at 10 p.m.