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| Actors Ahn Hyo-seop, left, and Kim Yoo-jung pose during an online press conference for SBS's upcoming series, "Red Sky," Thursday. Courtesy of SBS |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actress Kim Yoo-jung will star in a period series for the first time in five years ― SBS's upcoming drama, "Red Sky" ― after she played the lead in the 2016 hit period romance series "Love In The Moonlight."
Based on a bestselling novel of the same name by Jung Eun-gwol, the writer behind the original novels for the TV dramas "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" and "Moon Embracing the Sun," the new fantasy series follows a romance between two royal officers.
Hong Cheon-ki (Kim), whose name in classical Chinese characters translates to "red sky," is a genius painter who becomes the first woman to work at the Korean Royal Academy of Painting. One day, she runs into a blind man, Ha Ram (Ahn Hyo-seop), who is an officer at a royal unit in charge of astronomy, geography and meteorology, and finds herself instantly attracted.
The actress revealed that she has been a fan of the original novel, which led her to take the title role in the series.
"I've read the book in the past and really enjoyed it, which influenced me to decide to take the role. The elements of the character were appealing to me," she said during an online press conference for the series, Thursday. "Cheon-ki is a bold, high-spirited person. She defies all the odds against her in her own way and becomes the Joseon Kingdom's only female royal painter."
Kim shared her difficulties in working on a period series and make it appealing to the audience.
"I tried not to put myself in any boxes, although I also tried to maintain the nuances of the specific historical period in my acting. Factoring in historical elements put limitations in certain gestures and aspects of language," she said. "So I tried to put focus on how I can make my role convincing and express it in a way so that people, living in modern times, can understand it."
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| A scene from "Red Sky" / Courtesy of SBS |
The series is directed by star director Jang Tae-yoo, who directed the hit series, "My Love From the Star," "Deep Rooted Tree" and "Painter of the Wind."
The director said that his latest series will be a combination of his previous works.
"Red Sky is a fantasy period series that centers on romance," he said. "It has the melodrama and fantasy of My Love From the Star, the political tension of Deep Rooted Tree, and the artistic beauty of 'Painter of the Wind.'"
Noting the network's previous fantasy period series "Joseon Exorcist," which was canceled after two episodes in March, after facing a backlash for featuring Chinese-style costumes, hairstyles and food props, the director expressed that he was being extra cautious with mixing fantasy with period drama styles.
"I had a lot to think about. And unlike the original novel, I decided to change the setting from the Joseon Kingdom to a fictional country, as I developed the fantasy part of the series," he said. "I took the lead characters' name from the original work, but the places and other names were all fictional. I tried hard to refrain from distorting history (by doing this)."
Ahn plays an officer of the astronomical department of the palace, who lost his eyesight and his family in a mysterious accident when he was young. He does not realize that a demon has been trapped in his body since the accident, until the dormant demon wakes up one day.
The actor explained that taking on the role was a challenge for him. "I've always wanted to work with director Jang, and I've been a fan of Jung Eun-gwol as well. But I thought this piece would be a challenge because the character doesn't have eyesight, and there are a lot of fantasy elements," he said. "There was a lot of pressure on me and I was worried about whether or not I could do it, but I realized that I could."
