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| From left, actors Yoon Kye-sang, Yuna, director Park Yoo-young and actors Kim Shin-rok and Park Sung-hoon pose during a press conference for the new ENA series 'The Kidnapping Day," held in western Seoul's Mapo District, Wednesday. Courtesy of KT Studio Genie |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actor Yoon Kye-sang plays a desperate father who turns into a clumsy kidnapper in ENA's new comedy thriller series "The Kidnapping Day."
"After getting married, I started to think more about family. And that's when I came across this series," the actor said during a press conference for the series held in western Seoul's Mapo District, Wednesday.
Based on the novel of the same name, the 12-part series, which premiered on the day, follows a former judoka named Kim Myung-joon (Yoon), who has been raising his sick daughter alone after his wife, Seo Hye-eun (Kim Shin-rok), ran away three years ago.
One day, Seo reappears in his life and suggests he kidnap an 11-year-old child, Choi Ro-hee (Yuna), to make money for their daughter's hospital bills. But the kidnapping leads Kim Myung-joon to be falsely accused of murder, pursued by detective Park Sang-yoon (Park Sung-hoon). To prove his innocence, he forms a special bond with Choi to uncover the truth behind the murder mystery.
The series is directed by Park Yoo-young, who took part in the Netflix series "A Model Family" and "Love Alarm 2," and is scripted by filmmaker Kim Je-young, who directed the 2016 film "Cheese in the Trap."
Yoon shared that he was drawn to the heartfelt story of the series.
"As I was reading 'The Kidnapping Day' (script), I thought about what I would be able to do if I had a daughter and she was sick. There was a sense of warmth to the script. And in the end, it has a happy ending story so I was drawn to decide on the role," he said, adding that he was pleased with the character, which is far different from his previous roles.
"Most of the roles that come to me are usually sensitive and are either playing doctors or lawyers. But with this series, it wasn't like that. So I got curious … I tried my best to show my old self, as bright-spirited and funny."
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| A scene from the series 'The Kidnapping Day" / Courtesy of KT Studio Genie |
The director noted that the series adaptation will have a combination of different genres, unlike the original novel which focuses more on the murder mystery.
"The original novel develops as a detective genre, revolving around Sang-yoon's perspective, for about one-third into the story. But as it is adapted as a 12-part series, the story revolves around Myung-joon and Ro-hee's chemistry," he said.
"Because the original novel isn't that long, we expanded the case and added more characters to put more thrills and tension into the script. You can call it a gift basket, genre-wise. We've beautifully wrapped a range of genres, like comedy, action, buddy, thriller and drama, into this one series."
He added the series will deliver a message on family, saying "You will be able to remember the meaning of family after watching this."
Yoon shared his satisfaction with his role and his co-star, Yuna.
"I felt Myung-joon would have an extraordinary strength as a former judoka. So, with the director's consent, I increased my weight to 78 kilograms. This was the first project that I didn't have to go on a diet for," he said.
"I was really happy filming this. I came to think that I wanted a daughter, looking at Yuna. And it has been a really interesting job."
"The Kidnapping Day" airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 9 p.m.
